Best mattress for a guest room 2024 − tried and tested for every sleep style

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; whether they run hot or cold; whether they prefer a firm foundation or a softer surface. In short, you're shopping for the most versatile mattress you can find.

There's no need to spend thousands of dollars on a mattress that only gets used for a few nights a couple of times a year. The best mattress for a guest room should balance comfort and convenience with cost. I've combed through our back catalog of reviews to bring you six options and not one of them costs more than $1,000 for a Queen.

As H&G's resident sleep writer, I lead a team of expert testers in the search to find the world's best mattress. Out of the 30 mattresses we've reviewed, these six offer the best balance of versatility and affordability. In this buying guide, you'll find plush memory foam models, supportive hybrids, and breathable latex beds, each of which is tested for pressure relief, thermoregulation, motion isolation, and edge support. The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress ticks all of those boxes, which is why it sits in pole position, but you might find that another mattress is a better fit for your guest bedroom.

Best mattress for a guest room 2024

Below, you'll find a bite-size summary of each mattress. Keep scrolling or hit 'read more below' to learn about the pros and cons of that particular mattress, according to our expert tester. I've also included some tips and tricks about how to choose a mattress for a guest room along with need-to-know info about how we test mattresses.

Best mattress for a guest room – at a glance

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Our mattress testing team comprises dozens of expert testers across America. Together, we represent a wide range of ages, sleep styles, and body types. Read through our back catalog of reviews you should be able to find someone who sleeps like you. We test each mattress for a minimum of 30 nights in our own homes to give you the most accurate indication of long-term performance.

We assess each mattress against the same criteria: pressure relief; thermoregulation; motion isolation; and edge support. To assess pressure relief, we lie on the mattress and flip between our back, our side, and our stomach, noting how comfortable the mattress feels in each position. To assess thermoregulation, we sleep through heatwaves and cold snaps, making note of any times we wake up in a sweat. Where possible, we assign hot sleepers to test cooling mattresses.

To assess motion isolation, we fill a glass with water and set it in the center of the mattress. Then, we take a weight, place it on the mattress cover, and move it incrementally closer to the glass. The more the glass moves, and the more water spills, the worse the motion isolation, and the less suitable the mattress for couples and light sleepers. To assess edge support, we sit on the side of the mattress and measure how far we fall. The further we fall, the worse the edge support, and the harder it is to get into and out of bed.

We like to compare our findings against verified customer reviews to pick out recurring pros and cons. We also consider all the practical parts of buying a mattress, from the length of the sleep trial to the extent of the mattress warranty. Finally, we bring it all back to the price to help you determine value for money. To learn more about how we test mattresses, consult our expert guide.

How to choose the best mattress for a guest room

Here are some key considerations to keep in mind when shopping for a mattress for your guest room:

• Firmness: it's common consensus among mattress testers and medical professionals that the best mattress firmness for most people is medium-firm. That's soft enough to cushion your hips, knees, and shoulders, but firm enough to keep your spine straight. A medium-firm mattress would make a safe middle ground for your guest room.
• Cost per use: the mattress in your guest room might only be used a few times a year. In order to get the most value for your money, it makes more sense to opt for the best affordable mattress and miss out on some specialist features than it does to buy the best luxury mattress that lies empty most of the year.

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're buying on a budget, and you're looking to save even more money on a mattress, then I suggest you shop the mattress sales. There, you'll find deep discounts on big brands, including Saatva, Nectar, and Tempur.