What mattress should an Airbnb host buy? The bed is the review

Read a hundred bad Airbnb reviews and the bed comes up more than the wifi. Guests forgive a lot; they do not forgive a night on a mattress that dips, creaks or smells. Here is what experienced hosts buy, how they protect it, and when they replace it.

What is different about a rental

A home mattress is slept on by the same one or two people. A rental mattress is slept on by a different guest most nights, of every size, who did not choose it and will say so. That points to:

• Medium-firm, because it suits the widest range of bodies. Softer suits fewer; harder gets reviewed.
• Pocket springs, not open coil, because guests share beds and open coil transfers every movement.
• A firm edge, because guests sit on beds to unpack.
• A breathable knitted cover over a spring unit, not solid foam, because rooms run hot and guests cannot adjust much.
• Foam densities that last: 50 kg/m³ memory foam and 35 kg/m³ support foam and up. A rental mattress does the wear of three home mattresses; low-density foam dishes in a year.

The two rules

1. Buy what you would sleep on yourself. If you would not put it in your own room, the guests will notice. The bed is where the five-star review or the three-star review is decided.
2. Buy the same thing for every room. Three of the same mattress means one spare of everything, guests moving between rooms get the same bed, and made-to-order makers usually price three of a size better than one.

Size

King (150 × 200 cm) where the room allows. Couples are most of the bookings, and a king reviews better than a double. In small rooms a double; in single rooms a small double rather than a single if it fits, because it lets you list the room for two.

Protection, which is where rentals live or die

• A waterproof protector with a breathable membrane (Tencel or cotton face) on every bed, always, changed between guests. Not a plastic sheet.
• A full encasement underneath the protector, zipped around the whole mattress, against bed bugs and spills that get past the protector. Cheap insurance.
• Two of everything so the bed is remade while the other set is in the wash.

Replacement

Home mattresses last eight to ten years. A rental mattress slept on 150 nights a year with a different weight every night is done in four to six, regardless of the guarantee. Put it in the calendar, and check for a dip with the bedding off every quarter. The first review that mentions the bed is the signal you missed.

Delivery and disposal

A host with three rooms needs mattresses delivered flat by two people to the rooms, on a day between bookings, with the old ones taken away on the same visit. Rolled mattresses need a day to expand and someone to carry them up. Same-visit take-back is worth paying for.

The maths

A £450 mattress in a room that earns £80 a night pays for itself in six nights. The review it prevents is worth more than that.

How we fit in

The Empty Nester is the rental build: 22 cm, medium-firm, 1,000 pocket springs, a memory foam top, a firm edge, a breathable knitted cover, in single to king, delivered flat by two people with the old mattress taken away. Ask us about three or more of a size; made to order means we can price it. The Bad Back Years is the step up for a premium listing where the bed is the selling point.

The short version

• Medium-firm pocket springs, firm edge, breathable cover, densities that last.
• Buy what you would sleep on; buy the same for every room.
• King where possible.
• Breathable waterproof protector plus a full encasement, two sets.
• Replace at four to six years, not ten.