Best mattress for a guest room 2024 − tried + tested for high comfort at low cost

The best mattress for a guest room should suit every sort of sleeper. After all, you never know who you'll have to stay: whether they sleep on their front, back, or side, and whether they run hot or cool or both, depending on the time of year. You're shopping for something versatile and durable enough to withstand wear and tear over the years.

The best mattress for a guest room should balance comfort and convenience with cost. Since you won't be sleeping on it every night, there's little incentive to spend thousands of dollars on a bed that gets used for a few nights a couple of times a year.

As H&G's resident sleep writer, I lead a team of expert testers in our search to find the best mattress for every sleeper and every situation. I've combed through our back catalog of reviews to bring you the most versatile beds. I've got plush memory foam models, high-tech hybrids, and luxury latex beds, all for less than $1,000 for a Queen.

Best mattress for a guest room 2024

If you're buying on a budget, and you're looking to save even more money on the best mattress for a guest room, then I suggest you shop the mattress sales. You'll find deep discounts on the best beds, all year round.

The Quick List

If you already have a particular mattress in mind, you can skip straight to that section using the jump menu. If you'd rather take stock of your options, you can browse our picks for the best mattress for a guest room below.

The best mattress for a guest room overall

The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress is suitable for all sleep positions. There's just enough give to cushion the hips, necks, knees, and shoulders of side sleepers and more than sufficient support for the spine. The memory foam fill offers excellent pressure relief to ease the aches and pains of your guests, who might have traveled some distance to stay with you.

Our expert tester, Casey, suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that extends all over her body. The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress didn't cure her condition, but it certainly relieved the symptoms. If this bed is good enough for Casey, it's good enough for your guests.

The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress is technically listed at $1,099 for a Queen, but according to my price tracker, it's almost always on sale for $649. You can save that extra cash or put it towards the rest of the guest room: the best bed sheets to dress the bed, for example.

Of course, the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress isn't perfect. The edge support leaves something to be desired and the foam tends to trap heat. Casey woke up in a sweat most mornings, but she's a seriously hot sleeper, by her own admission. You could always pick up one of the best cooling mattress toppers or pads to help your guests sleep more comfortably.

You can find more detail in our Nectar Memory Foam Mattress review.

The best affordable mattress for a guest room

This is the best affordable mattress for your guest room. The Siena Memory Foam Mattress retails for $799 for a Queen, but it's almost always on sale for just $399. That's about as low as I would spend on a memory foam mattress and still expect to get a decent bed at the end of it.

Our expert tester, Tonya, started testing the Siena Memory Foam Mattress off the back of an older bed, which was soft and sagging. She wanted something more supportive so that she could lie on her back without feeling as though she were sinking into the mattress. On a firmness scale of 1 to 10, she'd give the Siena Memory Foam Mattress a 6.5 or a 7. That should feel firm enough for back and stomach sleepers but not too firm for side sleepers.

This isn't just any memory foam mattress: it's a gel memory foam mattress, pumped full of a cooling infusion to dissipate heat and wick moisture. Tonya tested the Siena Memory Foam Mattress at the start of summer and still managed to sleep comfortably in the heat.

Tonya likes almost everything about this bed, but she concedes that the edge support leaves a lot to be desired. That's par for the course with memory foam: you don't get enough solid support around the sides. Still, for this price, I think I could forgive a lack of edge support and just be careful getting out of bed.

You can find more detail in our Siena Memory Foam Mattress review.

The best hybrid mattress for a guest room

A hybrid mattress combines all the best bits of memory foam and innerspring technology. You get plush comfort, firm support, and enhanced airflow to suit all your sleep needs.

Unlike a lot of the mattresses on this list, the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress has excellent edge support. That's thanks to a heavy-duty gauge edge shield, which is just a row of thicker spring coils around the sides of the mattress. That's good news for stomach sleepers, like me, who tend to lie on the side of the bed.

The DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid retails for $1,332 for a Queen, but again, I never see it actually selling at that price. Most of the time, you can get it for just $665 and still get a 365-night sleep trial, as well as a lifetime warranty to protect your purchase.

Our expert tester, Camryn, could only find one major flaw with the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress and that's the motion isolation. She shares a bed with her partner, as well as their 60-pound dog, and she could feel it whenever they rolled and wriggled in the night. I put that down to the spring coils in a hybrid mattress, which can create a lot of bounce. The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress boasts much better motion isolation.

You can find more detail in our DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress review.

The best memory foam mattress for a guest room

The biggest problem with memory foam is that it tends to trap heat: all that dense foam leaves little to no room for air to flow. The Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress solves this problem with a gel infusion. Cooling Cooper and green tea work to dissipate heat, wick moisture, and block odors, so that you and your mattress can stay fresh.

Camryn started testing the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress right off the back of the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress. It's fair to say that they got off to a rocky start. Camryn says it took a full 10 days for the foam to soften and begin to contour to her curves. There's medium-firm support, which is what Zinus claims to offer, and then there's straight-up inflexibility.

By the end of the testing period, though, Camryn had learned to love the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress and she could really see a difference in motion isolation. Memory foam is made to absorb movement, so Camryn couldn't feel it when her partner and their puppy tossed and turned on the other side of the bed.

One practical point: the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress incorporates fiberglass as a fire retardant. This shouldn't pose too much of a problem unless you remove the mattress cover: that's when the shards could irritate your eyes, skin, and lungs.

You can find more detail in our Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress review.

The best box mattress for a guest room

The Emma Original Mattress is the best box mattress on the market, offering comfort and convenience at a low cost. I regularly see it selling for half-price, which means that you can bag this bargain bed for as little as $579 for a Queen.

Almost every sleeper benefits from firm support to maintain proper spinal alignment. The Emma Original Mattress delivers it in spades. Our expert tester, Chiana, sleeps on her side and found that the bed easily contoured to her neck, shoulders, hips, and knees. She shares a bed with her partner, who tends to lie on his back, and he found that the Emma Original Mattress lent great support to his lumbar region.

Like any memory foam mattress, the Emma Original Mattress sleeps a little warm. That didn't pose much of a problem for Chiana, but if you suffer from night sweats or hot flashes, you could always pick up a set of the best cooling sheets.

The only problem with beds-in-a-box is how long they take to inflate and the odor they emit while they're at it. You get that unpleasant mattress off-gassing smell with the Emma Original Mattress, though it should dissipate with a day or two.

You can find more detail in our Emma Original Mattress review.

The best organic mattress for a guest room

Your average organic mattress costs several thousands of dollars. For a lot of us, that's simply unaffordable, however much we might want to shop sustainably. The Earthfoam Organic Mattress caters for buyers on a budget who want to go organic: it's only $999 for a Queen.

Founded upon Dunlop latex for durability, filled with Talalay latex for breathability, and topped with organic wool and cotton for a bit of plush comfort, the Earthfoam Organic Mattress supports all sleep styles. I'd especially recommend it for hot sleepers and anyone who appreciates a softer surface.

The Earthfoam Organic Mattress comes in two comfort levels: Medium and Firm. Our expert tester, Alex, went for the former but wishes she'd gone with the latter for enhanced support.

Like any latex mattress, the Earthfoam Organic Mattress feels springy and responsive. That means it molds well to the shape of your body but it doesn't bode well for motion isolation. Alex found that she could feel it whenever her husband rolled over beside her in bed. Still, for a $999 price tag, I'd forgive a lot of things.

You can find more detail in our Earthfoam Organic Mattress review.

Earthfoam Organic Mattress | $999.00 at Earthfoam

I can't emphasize enough what a great price this is for an organic mattress.

How we test mattresses

We put a lot of thought into how we test mattresses. Our expert testers spend months, if not years, sleeping on beds to monitor their performance over time. We assess each bed against the same criteria: comfort; support; cooling properties; motion isolation; edge support; and weight bearing capacity.

Some of our tests are very subjective. The only way to get a read on comfort and support is to sleep on the bed and see how we feel. Others are more scientific: we use a system of weights and water glasses to measure motion isolation and edge support. Each of our tests has a purpose: our motion isolation test reveals whether a bed is suitable for light sleepers and bed sharers.

We like to compare our results against verified customer reviews to show a range of experience with the same mattress. Then, we bring it all back to the price of the bed to help you determine value for money.

Meet the team

Emilia Hitching

Emilia is our specialist sleep writer. She leads our team of expert testers in the search to find the world's best mattress. She curates our testing guidelines and edits each review to give you the fullest possible picture of what it might be like to sleep on this bed.

Casey Clark

Casey is one of our freelance writers, whose work appears in publications such as Tom's Guide, Forbes and Insider. She tested the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.

Tonya Pendleton

Tonya is one of our freelance writers, whose work appears in Essence, Philadelphia Daily News, and The Washington Post. She reviewed the Siena Memory Foam Mattress.

Camryn Rabideau

Camryn is one of our freelance writers. In her five years as a product tester, she has sampled hundreds of items first-hand. She reviewed the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress and the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress.

Chian Dickson

Chiana writes for our Solved team and covers decluttering, cleaning, and tidying content. She tested the Emma Original Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.

Alex Frost

Alex is one of our freelance writers, whose work appears in the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, Women's Health, and more. She reviewed the Earthfoam Organic Mattress.

Best mattress for guest rooms FAQs

Is memory foam good for a guest bed?

I think so, yes. Memory foam is made to mold to the shape of each body it supports, reacting to your unique size and temperature. It's great for pressure relief and promotes proper spinal alignment. Still, if your guests are used to sleeping on firmer beds, it might take them a few nights to get used to the softer surface of memory foam.

Should a guest room have a full or queen bed?

It depends on the size of your space. If your guest room is on the smaller side (10' x 12' or below), then I suggest you invest in a Full bed. If you're working with a larger room, a Queen might make more of the space. Of course, if your guest room doubles as a home office or living space, then you could always consider the best sleeper sofa for versatility.

Final thoughts

Once you've bought the best mattress for a guest room, it's important to take good care of it. I recommend you pick up the best mattress protector to guard against sweat, spills, and stains and elongate the life of your mattress.

If you'd love to help your guests sleep better, but you just can't afford a brand new bed, then you should consider the best mattress topper, instead. One thick piece of foam could transform the look and feel of your bed for a fraction of the cost.