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We are new to hosting on Airbnb and are currently decorating a small 1 Bedroom Apartment. We don’t have room for 2 single beds so will have a double bed only. Our question is whether we should consider getting a Sofa Bed for the living area? Would this increase the bookings? Does anyone have experience with sofa beds and if people book them. We’re thinking it would offer extra options for travellers that might not want to sleep in the same bed.
Any advise would be much appreciated.
Personally I hate traditional sofa beds. They never give you a good night’s sleep. If you have the room, skip the double bed and go with a queen. I did see, last year, at an AirBnb in Edinburgh, the only “fold out bed” that I would personally ever buy – it was a two piece sectional couch and one section had a pull-out-horizontally piece that locked up and joined the others to make a queen sized bed. No back-breaking center bar, no folded over mattress that is never flat or soft…
I think most people have a negative perception of pull out sofa beds, for good reason. We have one in one of our rooms along with a real bed. It is very comfortable. What we did was buy a new mattress for it and stacked it on top of the old mattress. We leave it set up all the time because it won’t fold up otherwise. You could take the new mattress on and off I suppose. Guests always say how comfortable it is. Still, I’m sure there are those that skip right over our listing because they think it will be uncomfortable.
Thank you Mike for your advise
As KenH says, if you can, upgrade the double to a queen. We are still sleeping in a double, but often it’s not ideal 
.
On the sofa bed: Yes, me and my mum would prefer your place. And like you indicated yourself, there are more people traveling together who would prefer not to sleep in the same bed.
If you would consider allowing more than 2 people, 3 or 4, a sofa bed will also allow you to open up to that market: Couples with children, 3 adults, etc. … Since a large portion of listings are only made for couples or two people who are willing to share a bed, there’s a whole other market still to be catered for.
Do think about extra storage, chairs, …
On the quality of the sofa bed. In Porto we have an IKEA sofa bed. The following but with a double bed:
For people that are not too heavy (=> make sure to put a BMI limit 
in your houserules 
= joke regarding other topic), this sofa bed is comfortable enough to sleep on for a few days. If you advertise it as a sofa bed, everyone will know they don’t have to expect a luxurious boxspring to sleep on.
If you have enough space, you can also consider designing your own sofa bed with two mattresses (e.a.190x80cm / 200x90cm). That way, sleeping comfort is guaranteed. To give a random example http://littlegreenbow.com/2012/01/detailed-diy-couch-plans/.
I prefer a high quality futon. It works like a sofa, and then easily flips out into a double (full) bed. They’re heavy and they aren’t cheap, but my partner says it’s the most comfortable bed in the house.
Cheers!
I have both a day bed (twin) in the office and a queen sofa bed in the living area.
The day bed is used more than the sofa bed. It uses a traditional mattress & boxsprings but “sits” like a sofa. Depending upon your living area, it may be an option. Also it can have a trundle which adds another twin mattress but closer to the floor.
My sofa bed has a 6 inch mattress and along the BMI comment, it has a weight limit of 300 lbs so it can’t accomodate two large adults. I’ve slept on it. It was comfortable enough.
Great, I will consider all your tips GutHend, thank you 
I think it also depends on the market and demographic you are targeting. If you will attract young backpacker types, the kind of people who camp, and couchsurf you will have no problem booking out a sofa bed. If you are trying to attract more upscale or older guests you have to worry more about comfort. I’m 60 and will still sleep on a couch, an airbed or even a pallet on the floor for the right price (like free at a friend’s house). But if I’m paying $50 a night and up I expect a comfortable bed.
We are trying to find it by all your superb advices over the personal experience with people in any age the best possibilty of sleep comfort for our future guests, thank you
For several years, we’ve been greeting guests to our one bedroom rental. Last year we added to the ‘portfolio’ with another apartment in the same complex. I mention that they are in the same complex too illustrate that they amenities/location/transport options are identical.
The second apartment has a sofa bed, the first does not. Both are at the mid 100s per night price point depending on the time of year and local events.
We’ve found that the addition of the sofa bed has made no difference at all to bookings. It has only been used once and the extra laundry was a nuisance.
We are mainly attracting couples in their 40s, 50, 60s and 70s - although we’ve had couples in their teens so we’ve hosted all ages. But we prefer not to have the backpacker-cram-'em-all-in type due to wear and tear, noise etc.
Jaquo, many thanks for the response
Hi Mike – Chiming in late here… when you put the regular mattress on, did you put any other reinforcements under it? Like a box spring/some other foundation? We have a sofa bed that people have been booking, and it is very comfortable with the mattress topper… but I was wondering how we could make it even better.
I have had lots of bookings on a futon but only a few that had so many people they needed to use the sofa bed as well. I had no complaints about it. The mattress is in great shape though it is an older couch.