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I’m thinking of offering a queen sized air mattress as an extra bed to our 1bed/1bath apartments. We currently allow up to 2 guests but with an air mattress we could allow for 4 guests. We would then charge something like $25/person/night more. Since we do all the celanings, we would not leave out extra the airbed, sheets and towels when it’s only 2 guests.
Anyone have experience with this? Is it worth it?
Is $US 50,00 for two persons on an uncomfortable air mattress not a bit steep?
(I’m probably just totally unaware of prices where you’re at.)
We offer a campbed or large sofa for a 5th guest but charge only £5 per person more per night, which covers the cost of the bedding. We reckon that being able to cater for 5 gives us a competitive edge,
I’d be nervous of charging a significant fee for an airbed as it’s not as comfortable as a normal bed and may also compromise the space, though a sofa bed may be more substantial.
Sounds fine, might need to find the right balance of fee for your market. A foam mattress could be another option if you have a place to store it.
I don’t know what I would actually charge, maybe $25 is too much. I’m just curious if others had tried adding an extra bed and if it had helped their bottom line.
I think you would be better offering a sofabed. They are more comfortable don’t take extra room and you could charge more.
Good point. Less work too I would think. I would probably start with an air mattress then upgrade to a sofa bed once it has proven to be worth it.
It’s not just a fifth, it could also be a third. One Airbnb I rented was listed as up to 4 people and there were three of us. I asked if one person could sleep on the sofa and was told yes but would have to move one piece (it was a sectional) from the bedroom to the living room, and make it up ourselves with spare linens, which which we did. If the host had not allowed this I would have looked for another rental.
We have a twin sized sofa bed and charge $10 per night for the third guest. We get couples with a child and also two friends that don’t want to share the same bed. I don’t trust air mattresses. It seems like they start losing air after awhile. We also have a twin sized folding mat thing that an occasional 4th person has slept on (flat on the floor or up on a cot), or a younger child that wants/needs to be in the bedroom with the parents. We only advertise as hosting up to 3, however. We’ve thought about replacing the sofa bed with a full or queen sized (it’s a small space so not sure what will fit) to hold 4, but haven’t made the investment yet.
I only allow 2 guests, however, if I have a good experience with the people during pre-booking I have set up a single blowup mattress in my office. I’ve charged another 1/3 of my usual booking. I do this only occasionally and because I appreciate their honesty in asking, however, it’s a case by case basis, based on my intuition.
@Helsi
We’ve only started hosting recently but up to now 27% are for 5 guests. The 5th guest has been an adult in some of the cases, I’d envisaged it would be children and families but we’ve had a number of bookings for friends meeting up from across the country - I guess we’re a fairly central position for that.
I offer an aero-style air bed. My maximum rental is 6 people. I charge $10 a night for the 5th & 6th person. Traditional beds can sleep 5. I also have two large sofas that are comfy to sleep on. I don’t regulate if they sleep on the sofas or on the air bed.
Renting out an air mattress in your spare room and advertising it online? That’s one business idea that will never take off.
Have you read how Airbnb started?
I think charging 25 for an air mattress is too much. If I paid that, I would want a real bed.
I should have added a 
Yep, Jam is frequently kidding and never puts an emoticon! He’s had me going a couple of times.
Hi All,
Thought I’d chime in since I had the exact same thought a year ago.
We have a queen-size bed, and several people asked if they could bring a third person in with their own air mattress. I didn’t feel comfortable with that so…I bought this:
It is VERY comfortable, folds up easily (and takes up little space), and people love it!
Easily paid for itself within a year, as I charge $25 for one additional person/night (FYI, I’m in Manhattan).
The nice thing is not only do I get additional income, but it opens up the possibility of booking with three people from just two. I’d say about 20% of my bookings are now three people! All I needed was 10 nights to pay for itself.
I grew up in a home with one of those. I didn’t really think about the fact that they would still make them. It was called a “roll away bed.” I’ve only had one request but my room is really too small. But it I had room I’d definitely consider this.