Outfitting New Venue

[Jetty401]

Hi all, I’m new and have been stalking this blog for the past week. Thank you to whomever started this thing… funny, informative and worth its megabytes in gold! Looking for advice (Specifically… yes, I am asking for your opinions based on your collective vast experience over my ‘Just listed yesterday and haven’t hosted a soul yet… my listing basically says coming soon.)

I just purchased a 2 bed, 2 bath condo as an investment. Thought I would give Air a whirl for a year and see how it goes. Guest will have entire place. I have a furnishing budget, but struggling to make a decision on beds. Was going to put a queen in the master and considering two XL twins in the 2nd bedroom with the ability to convert the twins to a king using a belt to strap em together and a bridge to prevent folks slipping thru…they are specifically made for this. My location is geared for the business traveler, families and overflow guests from our community.

Anyone have any experience with the two twin beds converting to king for flexibility? Would you just put another queen in? I could put a real king in the master, but it would be a little cramped. Recommendations? Any particular furnishings gotten you rave or bad reviews?

[jaquo]

Others will have different view, but I’d be inclined to use queens in both rooms. Then I would have a queen sized sofa bed in the lounge. Then you’ve covered couples, friends travelling together who don’t want to sleep with each other (business colleagues for example) and families.

The huge advantage of this is that you can interchange linens. You won’t have the added hassle of differentiating between assorted sheet/duvet/duvet cover sizes.

[KKC]

@jaquo has a good point about the linens. If you had the convertible set up you’d need xltwin and king linens. And you always need at least two sets of everything to start out in case of not having time to launder everything if you have back to back turnovers.

To answer your question we have had forum members who successfully use the king conversion bed. But they also live at the home and have a lot of time to deal with converting the bed, moving furniture and so on. If you think your market really needs a room with two beds, who am I to argue? But it seems like a hassle. If you are attracting families with kids, a room with two beds is a must. If you are attracting older couples it’s not.

Any particular furnishings gotten you rave or bad reviews?

You must get new, comfortable beds. I have a Nest Bedding mattress (Alexander Signature Series medium) that has gotten rave reviews. It’s one of those mattress in a box companies. I’ve also slept on the same mattress 3 nights at another host’s listing and it was awesome. Be warned though, there are people who don’t like “foam” mattresses and only want a traditional mattress. I know this because I lost one booking because of the Nest Bedding mattress, but that’s only one that I know of.

At least one bedside table, but better one on each side.

It’s not a furnishing but my walk in shower with no door or curtain and strong water pressure gets me rave reviews.

[BurmaPark]

I have a two bedroom apartment each with king size bed. I typically get booked over others in my area because of the two king size beds. I live in wine country and most of our guests are on the mature side so that may make a difference on why they like the big beds - just guessing. I get quite a few repeats and aside from our great views of the vineyards they all say they love the beds and that’s why they keep coming back. One bed is a traditional pocket coil and the other bed is a high-end memory foam with cool gel; both are equally praised by our guests.

[AlexSJ]

If your rooms are big enough, … King beds are just better and I would say in higher demand than Queen. For years I advertised in my listing …could be converted to 2 twin …but might have gotten just one request. We converted a bunk bed into a King with a piece of foam in the gap …hidden under the mattress cover and while a little big for the room, it is what we had and it works.

[Jetty401]

Thank you everyone. I prefer a king myself. Great point about the linens. I have ruled out the two xl twins and will consider the kings… just don’t want the rooms too cramped. I was going to buy two twin aero beds that could be set up in living room for kids. I hate pull out sofas… they never seem comfy. Thoughts? I’m sure I will over think it in no time…lol. Contractor is changing out flooring next week, so I have a week to decide. Comfort/quality will be high priority… I’ve traveled a lot and can’t stand old worn out beds.

[Brittany_Anderson]

Goes without saying @Jetty401 but make sure that transient rentals are allowed in your town/county/state. Also, if there is a condo association or bylaws for the complex that they allow transient vacation rentals. If there are residences nearby with tenants/owners you might want to do a round of PR just introducing yourself, hand out a card with your name and phone number, and let them know to call you if they ever have issues with your guests. You don’t want to get into some of the crazy residents vs Airbnb-host issues going on in my neck of the woods.

[Alia_Gee]

I’ve only sat on one comfortable sofa bed, and it was over $5k- I use a daybed in my shared room. It works as a couch with enough pillows on it, but you can use a quality mattress as the base.

[Brandt]

I consider a pull out sofa a torture instrument. In my rental I have a standard sofa that I keep extra linens for. Allows for 1 extra guest to sleep there.

[Jetty401]

Thank you Brittany. Yes, I did quite a bit of due diligence before purchasing. Also found a wonderful little loophole in the condo and community development bylaws that will allow my guests to use the the vast amenities (pools, tennis courts, parks) and have already started my PR tasks.

[Jetty401]

[quote=“Brandt, post:10, topic:22278”]
torture instrument
[/quote]Lol…exactly! Both just sitting on and sleeping.

[TotalAirHead]

50 upvotes. Agree with Jetty 401. Yes pullout sofas = torture instruments.

I have a regular Ikea Karlstad couch that can be made up with linens and is VERY comfortable to sleep on.

[nolabelle]

I’m glad you asked this question! I’m in the planning stages myself and have been wondering about a queen and two singles vs. two queens. Our rooms are too small to accomodate kings but queens would fit nicely. I’m just wondering if the twins wouldn’t be a better option in one room as we might attract families with kids as well as groups of adults travelling together who may not want to share beds. I guess it really depends on your market. I’m in New Orleans so am likely to get all sorts of combinations. Not necessarily a “couples” specific destination. Still, I’m following all the responses here. I love this forum. I haven’t had a chance to post much as I’m not actively hosting yet. I’m very grateful for all of the wonderful advice the folks on here are good enough to share!

[Jetty401]

Nolabelle, I’m leaning to going with the two queens. The condo is only 1000 sqft and and I’m worried it would look too cramped with kings. I booked it with a Coming Soon meme and already have a booking for late June for a party of 6… lol. The rest of the pictures are of an empty place . I did promise the guest to let them know when it’s finished and new pictures are available. Kids can sleep anywhere… figured @jaquo had it right… take care of the adults first.

[JJCatfinder]

I went with two twins and have found no problem booking. Most of my folk are either a couple, or a couple with kids / friends. The last booking I got, for 4 people coming back to town for a wedding – I asked if availability to convert to a king would be appreciated and client said no, two twins would be preferable. I think it depends much on your area – but I doubt the times I will book with two couples will add up on one hand, over the year.

[SunsetView]

We have a one bedroom apartment. We had two beds custom made so that together they make a king. They are made out of heavy wood so do not slide around on the floor. Also, they are made in such a way that the mattresses butt up against each other. We bought 2 decent spring filled mattresses for them and use a king size mattress protector over them. Our reasoning is that when we get a booking for 2 sisters or 2 brothers, or 2 friends, they would not want to share a bed. This has worked out really well for us and no one has complained about the join of the mattresses but we do have that explained on our W’sA page. I would do it exactly as you have planned as it gives the most versatility.