Your guide to buying the best guest bed for you

The all-encompassing guest bedroom. Home to overflowing family gatherings, a surplus of teenage sleepovers and catch-up evenings extending into long nights.

But what if you don’t have a guest bedroom? Perhaps you’re sick of watching your long-legged guests struggle to squeeze onto a two seater sofa, or done with scrambling for spare bed sheets as the party winds down. A guest bed is a one-stop shop for snug sleep for all kinds of occasions – but with so many functions, how do you find a guest bed that works for you?

From storage solutions and space-saving tips, to size comparisons and mattress must-haves, read on for our best advice on buying a guest bed.

House Beautiful Aro Rust double ottoman bedframe

What is a guest bed?

As the name suggests, a guest bed is any bed that’s reserved for friends, family and overnight lodgers, used from time to time rather than every night.

You might need a guest bed (or several!) to host your family around holiday periods, or for the friend who likes to show up unannounced needing a place to stay. Whatever the occasion, owning a guest bed ensures everyone in the house has a comfy spot to rest their head – even when there’s more heads than usual!

What is the best option for a guest bed?

Whether you have a spare room primed and ready for a guest bed, or you’d prefer to swap out your current sofa for something more sleep-friendly, there are plenty of options to keep overnight guests comfortable.

Finding the best guest bed for you and your home is, of course, a matter of personal preference, but certain styles and sizes might be better suited for the space you have. You can find out more about the different types of beds available in our handy bed buying guide, and check out some of our favourite types of guest bed below.

Divan beds

Divan beds shine in spare, second or guest bedrooms. They promise a great night’s sleep for your snoozing guests, with extra storage capacities available – the best of both worlds!

Delphine

Sleep in luxury when you choose the Delphine bed, featuring a stylish, wrap-effect headboard and useful hidden storage.

Lucine

The Lucine brings contemporary luxury to your bedroom, with a vertically pleated headboard and footboard.

Tilly

The Tilly boasts ultimate comfort for a perfect night's sleep, with its spacious design and impressive panelled headboard.

Edna

The Edna bed range exudes opulence with a timeless twist. The winged, buttoned headboard, statement studding, and textured woven fabric upholstery are easy to fall for.

If you have a tendency to treat your spare room more like a walk-in wardrobe, a divan bed could be just what you need, with drawers to store spare bedding or any items missing a permanent home. They’re also available without extra storage, but it’s their 2 drawer and 4 drawer options that make divan beds a brilliant choice for your guest bedroom.

Day beds

A happy medium between your standard guest bed and a versatile sofa bed, day beds are designed to offer a comfy seating spot during the day and a snooze-worthy place to curl up at night. Simply swap out the scatter cushions with your pillows of choice and voila! A guest bed ready in seconds.

We recommend single day beds for smaller rooms that mostly accommodate solo sleepers, like spill-overs from your teen’s sleepover or single family members passing through. Some day beds even feature a trundle base and a pull-out mattress, so you can squeeze a second guest overnight.

Sofa beds

Love to have overnight guests but don’t have the luxury of a spare bedroom to fit them in? Sounds like a sofa bed’s for you.

A sofa bed perfectly camouflages as a standard sofa by day, with all the plush cushions and eye-catching details you’d expect, and transforms into a bed by night. There’s a range of sizes, too, from 2 seaters opening to snug single sofa beds, to king size frames hiding within sprawling corner sofa beds. Better yet, sofa beds vary stylistically just like their standard daytime counterparts – so you can always find one to suit your style and space.

Air beds

There’s a camping classic, air beds can be pitched up just about anywhere in your home, with only an electric pump or – if you’re brave enough – your own two lungs. better than curling up on the couch with a good book. A recliner with reading lights lets you find the most comfortable position while you get acquainted with your new favourite fictional characters.

While not the most comfortable option for a good night’s sleep, air beds are a quick, convenient and affordable option for a temporary lodger, easy to dress up with comfy sheets and blankets. What’s more, your air bed can even double up as your own portable guest bed when returning the favour and visiting your favourite guests for the night.

Folding beds

Folding, or camping, guest beds are the ultimate convenient overnight guest trick.

These beds can be folded by the frame into a compact, carry-able shape that’s easy to store in a cupboard or nook, and pulled out to become a sturdy guest bed when necessary. They’re a particularly handy option for smaller studio apartments where space is a luxury not to be wasted!

Different guest bed sizes

The size of guest bed you need will largely depend on the space you have available to you, along with how many guests you’re regularly taking in.

More space than you know what to do with? Splash out on a super king size guest bed to treat your visitors to maximum sprawl potential. Apartment on the smaller size? A single guest bed or sofa bed might do the trick.

We’ve broken down the three most popular sizes for guest beds below. For a deep dive on all things size and style, explore our beds and mattresses size guide.

Single beds

The smallest of all adult-sized beds available, single beds are perfect for smaller spaces. Compact spare rooms and box bedrooms rejoice – a single bed, day bed or sofa bed fits snugly against the wall, offering your solo guests a sleeping spot without taking up too much room.

Small double beds

Working with a little bit more space but still concerned about overwhelming your spare room? Choose a small double bed. These in-the-middle beds give your guests more mattress space to spread out on, while leaving more access room than a full double. Save even more space by choosing a divan bed with storage drawers.

Double beds

Double beds are our most popular size, offering solo snoozers and couples alike a sound night’s sleep. From double sofa beds for ultimate versatility, to double ottoman beds with hidden storage, there’s a double guest bed to suit any style and space.

Are guest beds comfortable?

In short: yes! Your guest bed, like any other bed, is as comfortable as you make it.

While some types of guest beds aren’t suitable for every day use – such as air beds and folding beds – they offer a snug spot for one-off sleeps that can be customised to your and your guest’s liking.

The trick to making your guest bed as comfortable as it can be is to match it with the right mattress – so here are our recommendations!

Best mattress for a divan bed

As a solid base bed, you have the widest available choice of mattresses to pair with a divan bed. Match the size of the bed to the size of the mattress and the job’s a good’un!

We recommend choosing a medium mattress for your divan base, which accommodates most types of sleepers.

Best mattress for a day bed

Day beds in the UK are typically singles or small doubles, so first things first remember to match the size of your mattress to the size of the bed.

Keep in mind that your day bed will act as a sumptuous seat when not hosting overnight guests – we recommend a firm mattress to ensure comfort from sunrise to sunset, and back again.

Best mattress for a sofa bed

Along with being stylish and versatile, most sofa beds come with the added benefit of a pre–installed mattress attached to the frame. Other sofa beds are designed so that the cushions of your sofa can be reconfigured to become a soft and cosy base to settle into sleep on.

If your sofa bed does require a mattress, be sure to check the dimensions of the bed frame to find the right size for you.

Guest bed FAQs

Here at DFS, we’ve got years and years of experience helping customers find the perfect beds and mattresses for their homes. Still got questions? Explore our answers to some of our customers’ most common guest bed conundrums below.

What should you consider when choosing a mattress for a guest bed?

While you of course want your guests to have the best sleep possible, it’s unlikely that overnight lodgers will stay long enough to reap the benefits of specialist mattress designs. Equally, every sleeper is different, so choosing a mattress designed to tackle one sleep style – like a memory foam mattress to ease back pain – might not be the best idea.

Instead, focus your spare room mattress search on size and firmness. Consider whether the mattress you’re looking at will fit on your chosen guest bed, and whether there’s any part of the mattress that might overhang or loom over the dimensions of your bed. From there, decide what firmness you’d prefer – medium firmness accommodates most sleepers, but a firmer mattress is best for day beds.

Is a trundle bed the same as a day bed?

While not the same, day beds and trundle beds often go hand-in-hand. Trundle beds are a space-saving 2-in-1 design, with a base that rolls or pulls out to make room for a second sleeper. They’re especially handy for kids’ sleepovers and versatile spare rooms.

On the other hand, a day bed is a standard bed that doubles up as sofa-style seating when not being slept on. Day beds often feature trundle bases to make the most of the space they occupy.

What is the difference between a day bed and a sofa bed?

Functionally, sofa beds and day beds are strikingly similar – so we see where this question comes from! Both serve as cosy seating areas during the day, or whenever they’re not being slept on, and transform into snug beds when needed.

Sofa beds, as the name suggests, take on the sofa style and shape when not deployed as a bed, complete with backs and armrests. Day beds, however, resemble a bed no matter their usage, typically with a chunky base and sometimes featuring a tall frame for added cosiness.

A major difference between the two is where they’re usually placed in the home. Sofa beds take centre stage in living rooms, conservatories and anywhere you’d expect to find a sofa, whereas day beds appear in guest rooms and spare rooms as a more bedroom-specific piece of furniture.

Perfect your bedroom look

Whether you’re looking for matching bedroom pieces or want to add a new statement to your collection, explore our full range of beds, mattresses and bedroom furniture to find the right thing for you.

Your guide to buying the best guest bed for you

What is a guest bed?

What is the best option for a guest bed?