Full, twin or queen in basement location

Im adding a basement room and i was wondering if a full would be acceptable, since it is pretty tight to get a bed in, and also i am offering it as only a bed with a half bath. Currently it is classic airbnb with a blowup bed, which is queen.

have you considered a futon? there are some super nice one’s out there now that are queen sized and really comfortable. easy to fold back in if the guests want more room.

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I’d go for a twin and make it a shared room so you can effectively rent it by the bed.

Full is totally fine in my opinion, but do make sure you state that in the listing.

Good Morning Bob - It’s airbnb - that means, you offer what you want. It’s the personal touch people are looking for - otherwise they’d be on the Marriott website.

Personally, I’d be fine with full but if I have a choice will pick queen. Usually a room with a queen bed (speaking of hotels) are a bit more expensive, so, having a family of 5 and a budget I usually choose the full and save the do-re-mi.

If I were you I’d shop around your area and find out what other people are offering at what price. For instance, my closest ‘competitor’ has a private-entrance suite with a private bath and her set up is overall more attractive than mine; she’s invested money that I don’t have right now. My guests have to come upstairs to shower, but I provide a very nice breakfast and a family atmosphere. I set my rate so I’m usually $15 a night cheaper. Yes, I could invest the money and make my space much nicer, I could even add a bathroom in the basement, but, then I’d have to raise my rates and would fall out of my niche. Meanwhile all my guests have been extremely happy with what I offer. (As far as beds it’s a queen airbed and a twin - but, hint - I put a fluffy flannel sleeping bag under the mattress pad so the bed is warmer and cozier

So evaluate the competition, evaluate who you are - would you be comfortable with different people sharing the room? Who do you want to cater to?

Remember, for all the ‘we are the world’ promotion of airbnb, it is a business, so you want to put on your business-man’s hat, make sure you’re paying the correct sales and occupancy taxes, are properly insured, and able to withstand the rise and fall of the tourist industry.

Good luck!!

…and I’m sure you know this, be sure your basement bedroom has full egress (they can get out during a fire) and proper smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

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Full is acceptable if that’s what you can get in. I say get the best mattress you can afford. Personally, I would go for foam. As foam can be folded and squished, you could very easily get a queen in there too, if the trouble with the space is the doorway rather than room size. Assessing what size bed best suits the room is important. You don’t want the room all bed, but you want the biggest you can get comfortably (up to a queen I think, as King is overkill generally - although we sleep on one ha!).

Here’s a place that will help you custom make your own mattress for cheap. (There are others with more luxurious covers). Nothing beats a good foam or latex mattress!

http://www.foambymail.com/custom-foam-mattresses.html

We are hoping to Airbnb. The current one was an experiment to see how this whole thing works, even as we prepared to list the rooms in the other one, once we finalize the legal process.

Before we actually began hosting at our current property, our intention for the other property was just get in as many beds in each room as possible to maximize potential returns - potentially using DIY Murphy beds to give more options with room configuration.

Now that I’ve actually started hosting, and actually looking at booking patterns and the competition, I’m thinking we’ll probably mix it up with different rooms having different configurations, and some rooms having fewer beds (eg one room with a king bed very well decked out but targeted at a higher end of the market) and see how that goes.

Yeah Aquaticguests, you don’t want to make your place into a hostel like environment. People are definitely hoping for a more upmarket experience than that, well from my experience they definitely are! I would aim for Queen beds at least in most reasonable size rooms, and in smaller rooms that might not accommodate a couple perhaps a single or two singles for kids if you are thinking of accepting them (think very hard about this), or single travelers.

Very true Sandy, and something we’ve also realised as we’ve been hosting.
The other property will likely be a four bedroom one with 2 of the rooms with their own bathroom.
So probable breakdown for that will be:

  1. master bedroom with a king that can split into 2 singles if needed
  2. Queen in the other room with its own bathroom
  3. full (and possibly single/ twin Murphy bed hidden away for when needed) in the third room
  4. same as in number 3 above

Those Murphy beds don’t come cheap so they will be the last additions as the business goes on. That way, if need be, we’ll be able to host the occasional big group and charge top dollar for that ability!

Sounds good. Hopefully it’s impossible to feel a split down the middle of the king. Just as a heads up I would be turned of if I read it was a king that could split into singles. Although some work ok apparently(such as the ones where the split is horizontal - although I have never tried this to know!), I think they are rarely as ideal as a ‘real bed’. Personally I believe the comfort of beds are the absolute cornerstone of a good stay in an Airbnb - a comfy sleep is imperative to a good experience, so would always strive to provide the best beds for the purpose. In the master bedroom if you absolutely wanted the flexibility to provide for two single travelers, how about a queen bed and a single mattress that couples as a comfy daybed when not in use? This is the set up in one of our large rooms, and although we have little need for it, we have hosted three guests for an extra cost for the third guest, and separate travelers i.e. Friends, mother daughter, older couples that prefer to sleep separately. Mostly the queen bed gets used by couples and is loved because it is uber comfy, and they enjoy hanging out on the daybed as a couch. Why Murphy beds? Are the other rooms particularly small? If not you might just buy regular beds and save the money for the myriad of other expenses that come up. But if the rooms are tiny, then Murphy beds are awesome (although I think few people would actually fold them up during the stay - I mean my guests can’t even be bothered pulling up the bed covers).

Thanks Sandy.
The Murphy’s in those particular rooms are because those rooms are smaller and I would prefer that the space in those rooms is not used up by a second bed unless when necessary, for a better guest experience.
But when needed, the beds would come down and stay down for the duration of the stay.
Forgot to mention Murphys also in family room for when the whole house is booked by a single larger party that is paying more.

I hear you on the single to king issue. Had thought of using the Create a King bed connector, plus a mattress topper on top of that as well for a seamless feel, but I agree with you that perception is very important, and if the room will primarily be used as a king, then it may be better just to use it as that!

Hmmm. Decisions decisions!

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Hey all, I put a Queen into the basement room, and was very happy when my first guest told me they loved the ‘giant’ bed. Apparently the bed dominates the space and the illusion is that the bed is even bigger!

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