Top 4 Best AirBnB Mattresses

How To Pick The Best Airbnb Mattress

Choosing a bed for a rental property or Airbnb space can be a challenge because you want to make sure that it will be comfortable for a wide range of sleepers. That means you need a mattress that’s going to be reasonably comfortable for all sorts of people. An accommodating mattress will be somewhere in the middle of the firmness scale, but leaning towards firmer. Medium-firm is probably a good option because it caters to the largest range of body weights.

We’ve tested literal stacks of mattresses, and we’re also very familiar with the online mattress shopping industry. We’re a bunch of normal people who value a good night’s sleep, just like you. We vary in height, body type, sleeper type, gender, etc., so we cover a decently diverse sleep experience. We’ve used our mattress expertise to identify the best options for vacation homes.

Compare The Best Mattresses For Airbnb & Vacation Rental Property

Editor’s Choice Best Mattress For Airbnb

Tuft & Needle Original
Tuft & Needle Original
Why it’s Great
Tuft & Needle is quite possibly the most popular budget mattress online. The bed is comfortable and accommodates all types of sleepers.
Best for
Shoppers who want an affordable foam mattress
All types of sleepers, including back, stomach and side
Sleep Positions
Back, Side and Stomach
Product Details
Firmness
Medium
Type
Soft Foam
Temp
Neutral
tuft and needle mattress review stomach sleepers
For a cheap mattress, Tuft & Needle is really comfortable

As one of the most popular budget online mattresses, Tuft & Needle checks a lot of boxes. It’s a comfortable all-foam mattress that’s good for all sleeper types and suitable for couples. It’s not as supportive as a hybrid mattress, but those aren’t incredibly necessary because your guests will only be staying for the short term.

Tuft & Needle has an accommodating neutral foam feel, coming in at a medium on our firmness scale. Plus, it’s incredibly affordable at $895 for a queen. We like to call it THE budget bed-in-a-box mattress.

Why we picked this mattress — If you’re trying to find the best mattress for beach rental or Airbnb but aren’t interested in doing too much research and you just want to buy a mattress from a trusted brand that you know is comfortable and performs well in almost all categories, it’s hard to argue with Tuft & Needle.

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Easy To Clean Mattress For Rental Property

Puffy Original
Puffy Original
Why it’s Great
Puffy is one of the best known online mattresses. It has three layers of foam and a comfortable, accommodating “feel.”
Best for
Shoppers seeking a comfortable, affordable foam mattress
All types of sleepers, including back, stomach and side
Sleep Positions
Back, Side and Stomach
Product Details
Firmness
Medium
Type
Mixed Foam
Temp
Neutral
puffy mattress review back sleeper
Puffy will work for all sleeping positions

Puffy is a soft-foam mattress that most people will find comfortable. Ultimately, Puffy is a good mattress for your Airbnb because it’s accommodating and budget-friendly. It even has a machine washable cover.

Puffy has a soft, neutral-foam feel (similar to Tulo) that works for side, back, stomach and combo sleepers. It offers a good balance between support and pressure relief, coming in at a medium on our firmness scale. It isn’t the cheapest option on our list, but at $1,150 for a queen (before discounts), it won’t break the bank. Like the Eve mattress, it also has a machine washable cover, which is pretty rare in the bed-in-box-industry.

Why we picked this mattress — Puffy has a machine washable cover, which makes it easy to wash the surface of your mattress once your guests check out. It makes your job as a vacation homeowner much easier. It also has a neutral-foam feel that’s very classic, and we think most people will enjoy it. This easy-to-clean cover landed Puffy a spot on our best mattress for short term rentals list.

Best Durable Mattress For Vacation Rental

Lucid 10″ Memory Foam Hybrid
Lucid 10
Why it’s Great
The Lucid 10″ Memory Foam Hybrid is a budget-tier coil mattress that’s comfortable despite being cheap.
Best for
People that like memory foam
If you want a surprisingly nice, but cheap mattress
Sleep Positions
Back, Side and Stomach
Product Details
Firmness
Medium
Type
Memory Foam
Temp
Neutral
lucid gel memory foam hybrid review edge support
The Lucid Hybrid sports an affordable price tag and will be fairly durable

The Lucid Hybrid ranks on our best mattress for Airbnb list for two main reasons: its affordable price point and its durability. In terms of price, you’ll pay around $500 for a queen, which is a solid value, especially considering you’ll be buying this mattress for a rental property.

When it comes to durability, the Lucid should last longer than all-foam mattresses because it uses pocketed coils as opposed to dense foam (and coils tend to be more durable). But it’s still decently comfortable and feels more like a mix between neutral-foam and memory foam. It also comes in at a true medium on our firmness scale.

Why we picked this mattress — If you’re trying to find the best mattress for short term rentals, you want something that’s well-priced and can withstand wear and tear — and that’s the Lucid Hybrid. It’s also accommodating for all sleeper types, which is beneficial when you’re hosting a wide range of guests.

Best Cheap Mattress For Airbnb

Zinus Green Tea
Zinus Green Tea
Why it’s Great
Zinus Green Tea is a budget memory foam bed that offers ample pressure relief for side sleepers.
Best for
Budget shoppers looking for an affordable memory foam bed
Side sleepers who need ample pressure relief
Sleep Positions
Back, Side and Stomach
Product Details
Firmness
Soft
Type
Memory Foam
Temp
Warm
zinus green tea mattress review
The Zinus Green Tea mattress provides ample pressure relief for side sleepers

If price is your chief concern (i.e. you don’t care about body types, sleeper types or anything like that), this mattress is the clear winner. You can often find a queen-size mattress on Amazon well below the $200 mark.

Zinus is a good bed for people who like that soft memory foam feel where you sort of sink in and the mattress hugs you. It’s also a great option for side sleepers because it provides a ton of pressure relief for your hips and shoulders, but it’s on the softer side in terms of firmness, so it might not provide enough support for back and stomach sleepers (especially heavier folks).

Why we picked this mattress — It’s hard to argue with the price of this bed, especially considering it has the contouring dense foam feeling that many people enjoy. It’s also ideal for side sleepers, which we’ve found is the most popular sleeping position. 

Best Vacation Rental And AirBnB Mattress Pricing

MattressTwinTwin XLFullQueenKing/Cal King
Tuft & Needle Original$645$695$795$895$1,095
Puffy Original$795$825$995$1,150$1,350
Lucid Hybrid 10”$234$252$310$516$490 / $412
Zinus Green Tea 12”$252$329$374$464
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Why Trust Us

Get the kind of sleep you’ve only dreamed of with some help from our team of mattress experts. We personally test more than 175 of the best sleep solutions from over 60 leading brands on site, so you can be sure you’re getting unbiased reviews, fair comparisons and personalized recommendations.


The Review Team

  • dillon lopez slumber yard

    Dillon Lopez

    Combo Sleeper

  • JD

    JD Christison

    Combo Sleeper

  • kenzie

    McKenzie Dillon

    Combo Sleeper

  • Owen Poole

    Side Sleeper

What You Should Be Looking For In A Mattress For Rentals

Sleeper Types

You’ll have some guests that are back sleepers and stomach sleepers, you’ll have guests that are side sleepers, and you’ll have some that are combo sleepers. Unfortunately, there isn’t one single type of bed that will be perfect for all of them. However, you can find a good middle-ground.

Back and stomach sleepers need a firmer bed that offers enough support around the hips and trunk area. Side sleepers need a softer bed that offers enough pressure relief to keep the spine in proper alignment. Combo sleepers need something in the middle.

So, keeping everyone in mind, again, a medium-firm mattress is going to fall into the middle of the road. It will probably be a little firm for some side sleepers, but they’ll be fine for the few-night stay.

Reasonable Pricing

Mattresses can get pricey. In some cases, it’s worth paying more for the right bed. When you’re looking for a bed that you’re going to sleep on for the next 10 years, give or take, it’s probably worth it. But when you’re looking for a bed that an ever-changing stream of guests are going to sleep on for a few nights at a time, it’s not.

We think it’s perfectly reasonable to keep the cost below $1,000 for a queen size mattress. You don’t need to splurge on a fancy, luxury mattress that gets used by a wide variety of people because mattresses that come with big price tags are usually expensive due to their specific details that are intended to cater to the preferences of one person or couple.

Firmness

As we mentioned earlier, a bed’s firmness will feel different to different people, largely depending on how much they weigh. For example, petite people (less than 150 pounds) put less pressure on a bed when they lay down, making the mattress feel firmer. On the other end of the spectrum, the same mattress might feel softer to heavier folks because they sink in more deeply.

To pick the best mattress for vacation rental, you need to strike a balance. We recommend that you opt for a mattress in the medium range to accommodate the largest number of people. 

Contouring

Certain beds are designed to conform to your body, making you feel like the mattress is wrapping you up in a hug. Memory foam tends to have this characteristic, and soft poly foam also can contour to the curves of your body. Some people like this feeling, while others don’t enjoy it. The best bed for Airbnb rentals would be one that has a medium amount of contouring.

Temperature

You may want to keep temperature regulation in mind if you’re renting a place out somewhere where it’s very warm. You can keep your guests cool and comfortable through the night with a mattress that has cooling technology (or at least sleeps temperature neutral). We also recommend choosing a hybrid (the coils allow air to circulate better), or a latex bed (the material is more airy and breathable than memory or poly foam).

Durability

Durability is important in any bed that you buy, but it’s especially crucial when you’re trying to find the best mattress for Airbnb rentals. You don’t want to shell out to replace the mattress every other year, so select one that’s made with quality materials and backed by a reasonable warranty. 

Motion Isolation

Couples are a significant portion of vacation-goers, so you should ensure that your mattress is made to handle multiple people comfortably. Look for a bed with good motion isolation, so one partner won’t be overly disturbed when their significant other moves around. Foam beds are the best in this category, or hybrid beds that have comfy foam top layers.

Edge Support

Edge support is the other thing to think about when evaluating a mattress for couples. Good edge support will prevent your guests from rolling out of the bed, and allow them to sit comfortably on the side of it. We’ve found that latex and hybrid mattresses typically have the strongest edge support.

Shipping, Returns, Trial Periods And Warranties

All of these mattresses ship for free and will arrive compressed in a box. The unboxing process is fairly straightforward and shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes. However, you should give the bed 24-48 hours to fully inflate before using.

Once you’ve got the mattress all set up, the typical bed-in-a-box company gives you 100 nights to test out the bed. Some give you additional time (Tulo gives you 120 nights) and some less. For example, if you’re buying an Amazon mattress, you’ll be operating within Amazon’s policies. That means you’ll basically get 30 nights to test out the bed (Amazon’s return policy).

If at any time during the trial period you decide the mattress you purchased isn’t for you, just give the company a call and they will send someone to your house to pick up the mattress free of charge and issue you a full refund (usually 8-10 days after the fact). Just a word of warning, we have heard Amazon is a little more stringent when it comes to returns. Most online mattress companies also back their products with a strong warranty. The typical warranty most bed-in-a-box companies offer is 10 years. If you want to see the best mattresses deals, click here.

Best Mattress Materials For Vacation Rental Mattress

Mattress construction has two basic categories: all-foam beds and hybrid beds. All-foam beds vary in the number of layers and types of foam used, so they still come in different feels and levels of firmness. Hybrid beds incorporate foam, coils and some other material. They usually have a more bouncy feel that’s similar to the traditional innerspring feel a lot of people are used to. Mattress materials come in a wide range of feels, firmness levels, and functions. When you go to choose a mattress, it’s a good idea to look into what kind of materials are incorporated. Paying attention to the materials gives you a good idea of how the bed will feel and how long it will last.

Memory Foam

Memory foam is a denser foam that softens over time and when heat is applied. You’ll get that sink-in feeling if you lay in one spot. For some people, this feels like being comfortably cradled, but for others it’s like being stuck.

Polyurethane Foam

Poly foam is generally used for support in all-foam mattresses because it’s affordable and comes in many different densities. With any foam, the denser it is, the firmer it feels. It’s somewhat cooler than memory foam, but this depends on the density, as well. It also generally has a lower point elasticity, so when you press in on one area, it affects a larger area.

Gel Memory Foam

Gel memory foam is a newer technology that incorporates gel into the foam to help improve temperature regulation. It’s intended to help cool people down. It’s not a perfect solution, though, because the bed can still warm up a bit.

Latex Foam

Latex foam is a spongy feeling material. It’s very bouncy and airy and stays cooler than memory foam. See our favorite latex mattresses.

Pocketed Coils

Pocketed coils are individually encased coils that are woven together with the fabric. They allow for really good airflow, support, bounce, and responsiveness. They’re also fairly good in terms of motion transfer control since the coils are individual. You get much more precise support with pocketed coils than with non-pocketed coils.

Innersprings

Innersprings are more than likely what you remember from your 10-year-old mattress. These are larger coils all connected together. This is the traditional system. They’re great for airflow, bounce, and support, but terrible with motion transfer since the whole system sort of moves as one. In other words, very low point elasticity.

Gel/Hyper Elastic Polymer

This material is heavy and has its own unique feel that’s unlike any other material. It has great airflow, responsiveness, pressure relief, and support. It also tends to have high point elasticity (i.e. press in on one area and it doesn’t spread too much to the other side of the mattress), which makes for low cross-bed motion.

Caring For Your Rental Mattress

Once you’ve gone through the trouble (and money) of buying the best Airbnb mattress, you want to make sure it lives a long and useful life. Your first step is checking out the company’s information on how often or if you should be rotating or flipping your bed. You should also check out the cleaning instructions. Most mattresses have non-removable covers, which means you can’t just toss them in a washing machine. Even when the cover is removable, it’s rarely machine washable. In that case, you’ll need to spot clean if you have a spill or a stain to manage. Spot cleaning, while maybe not the most convenient or thorough, is pretty easy. You just need warm water with a little detergent. Use a washcloth to dab at the stain. If it’s a wet stain, use a dry towel to soak up as much liquid as you can before spot cleaning.

Best Rental Mattress Overview

MattressBest Of TitleFirmness Level
Tuft & Needle OriginalEditor’s ChoiceMedium
Puffy OriginalEasy To CleanMedium
Lucid Hybrid 10”Durable PickMedium
Zinus Green Tea 12”Ultra Cheap MattressMedium-Soft
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of bed should I buy?

If it’s just for your rental property or Airbnb, you may as well get an affordable coil mattress.

What is the best firmness level?

It’s best to buy a firmer bed because all beds soften as you use them, but a medium-soft mattress can also suffice since a large number of people are side sleepers and your guests probably won’t be staying at your place long-term.

How much is a good mattress?

Expect to pay between $600 and $1,000 for a new queen size mattress.

Will I get free shipping?

Most online beds ship for free and will arrive compressed in a box. The unboxing process is fairly straightforward and shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes.