When it comes to planning out a guest bedroom, it is easy to pick out the basics – a bed, some storage, and good lighting – and leave it at that.
However, if you want your guests to feel at home when staying in your guest bedroom, you need to go beyond offering them the best mattress and best pillows. These are the five guest bedroom essentials you need to include to comfortably accommodate your guests.
If you're hosting this holiday season, then you're in luck: I've combed through our back catalog of reviews and searched the sites of our favorite home stores to bring you plush pillows, silky sheets, and all the little added extras you need to elevate your guest bedroom.
How to make guests feel welcome − 5 easy, affordable upgrades
These guest rooms essentials won't just make your space feel more comfortable: they should make a guest room feel more homey, encouraging your friends and family to relax and unwind in your space.
1. Invest in a good mattress
‘I treat my guest room as I do my own bedroom,’ says Lauri Leadley, Founder and President of Valley Sleep Center. ‘I recommend starting with the mattress – buy the best mattress for a guest room you can find. Don’t treat the guest bed as an afterthought. Buying a quality mattress may cost more, but since it won’t sleep on every night, it’ll last longer than the eight-year “life of a mattress.” A good mattress lends support, comfort, and coolness.’
When you're shopping for a mattress for your guest room, a key factor is versatility. You never know who you'll have to stay, so you want to find a mattress that suits a wide range of sleep positions. This is where mattress firmness comes into play. You're looking for a medium to medium-firm mattress with plenty of give for side sleepers and solid support for back and stomach sleepers.
Another key factor is affordability: the best mattress for a guest room is the best affordable mattress you can find. Before you buy, I suggest you fix an upper and lower limit to your budget. On the one hand, there's no need to spend thousands of dollars on a mattress that only gets sporadic use: on the other hand, you should expect to spend at least $500 to get a decent mattress in a Queen size.
'This memory foam mattress is made to mold to the shape, size, and temperature of each sleeper,' says our resident Sleep Editor, Emilia Hitching. 'It's like giving each houseguest a bespoke bed, designed to their exact specifications.'
Read the full review: Nectar Memory Foam Mattress
Together, our expert team has tested a total of 30 mattresses, and the Siena Memory Foam Mattress is by far the most affordable. For a little less than $400, you get great central support and surprisingly good thermoregulation, though the edge support leaves a little to be desired.
Read the full review: Siena Memory Foam Mattress
'This hybrid mattress marries the plush comfort of memory foam with the airflow and support of an innerspring to suit every style of sleeper,' says Emilia. 'Best of all, for a self-described luxury mattress, it really isn't that expensive.'
Read the full review: DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress
2. Pick up good pillows
When picking out pillows, it can be helpful to offer a few different options to allow your guests to choose from. A firmer option and a softer option should help to accommodate everybody.
Personally, I'm a huge advocate for an adjustable pillow. That way, your guests can create their own best pillow, finding the pillow height and firmness that works for them to get their best night's sleep.
According to Lauri, it's important to learn how to wash a pillow between visits to keep your guest bed clean and comfortable. ‘Pillows harbor a lot of gross things like dirt, saliva, oils, sweat, bacteria, mold, makeup residue, and fungi, and these only build up more and more over time,’ she warns.
'This is the pillow I recommend to everybody,' says Emilia. 'It's super easy to adjust. All you need to do is push and pull the zippers to let air into and out of the pillow until you reach your ideal firmness and feel. The Marlow Pillow is filled with thermoregulating fibers, so it's great for hot sleepers and summer nights.'
'This is the other style of adjustable pillow,' explains Emilia. 'All you need to do is unzip the case and reach down to remove and replace handfuls of fluff. Just make sure you find somewhere to store the surplus so you don't make a mess on the floor.'
Sleep Number makes three different styles of pillow to suit different sleep positions. Emilia recommends the Classic (flat and firm) for stomach sleepers, the Curved (to contour around your neck and shoulders) for back sleepers, and the Ultimate (filled with three removable inserts) for side sleepers.
3. Buy the best bedding
'You shouldn't reserve your best bed sheets for just your own bed,' urges Artem Kropovinsky, interior designer. ‘One should invest in high-quality bedding with breathable materials and a good thread count that promises softness and comfort. A thread count between 300 and 500 is desirable for balancing lavishness and coziness, perfect for helping your guests sleep comfortably.'
No guest bed is complete without the best comforter. You might like to keep two in your linen closet – one for warm weather, one for cold nights − and switch depending on the seasons.
The more people you have to stay, the more dirt, dust, and dander might build up on your mattress. The best mattress protector is an invaluable bit of bedding, working hard to keep your bed and body clean. The more people you have to stay, the more dirt, dust, and dander might build up on your mattress.
Cotton percale feels crisp and cool. It's the sort of thing you find in high-end hotels and luxury spas. It's a safe bet for hot sleepers. Wrinkle-resistant, cotton percale makes for low-maintenance bed-making.
I suggest you opt for a down alternative comforter over real down: you never know if one of your guests will be allergic to feathers or prefer not to sleep under animal products. The Buffy Cloud Comforter is the best of the best and plenty breathable for hot sleepers.
This mattress protector boasts 200,000 verified five-star reviews on Amazon. 'When my wife was pregnant, her water broke on our bed,' reads one recent review. 'Niagara Falls levels of water breaking – but thanks to the SafeRest 100% Waterproof Mattress Protector, our mattress stayed bone dry. Don't know how to give a better recommendation than that!'
4. Improve the air quality
One of the simplest ways to sleep better is to use a humidifier to add moisture to the air and prevent dry airways. Ideally, you should have one in both your personal and your guest bedrooms, says Lauri.
‘If I were to choose one thing to equip the guestroom with that may be a little unexpected, it’s a humidifier,' says Lauri. Moisture in the air can alleviate dryness in the skin, eyes, throat, and nasal passages, making the indoor environment more comfortable. Dry air can irritate the respiratory system, especially for individuals with asthma, allergies, or other respiratory conditions.’
Of course, if your home suffers from high humidity levels, you may wish to skip this step and instead opt for the best air purifier to improve the air quality of your guest bedroom. Alternatively, you could infuse the room with essential oils and calming scents.
This humidifier has a 'turn off the lights' feature. 'We sleep odd hours because of working overnight shifts and have blackout curtains,' reads one recent review. 'Any small pinprick of light is really bright when it's so dark in the room, and my husband swears he can't sleep unless it's pitch black. Having a humidifier that turns off the lights is amazing and thoughtful and I LOVE IT.'
'This is an old-school air purifier,' says Home Tech Editor Dan Fauzi. 'Although there's no Core 300 app or smart interface, this machine has many of the same features as the best air purifiers. There's a sleep mode, for example, than runs at just 24 dB.'
This natural candle blends calming camomile, soothing lavender, and warming sweet orange. I bought my first Eym Candle years ago and keep them in regular rotation on my nightstand.
5. Consider a sound machine
'Even if bedroom soundscapes aren’t for you, offering your guests the choice of using a sound machine (especially if you live in a loud or busy area) can make them feel more comfortable when sleeping in a strange place,' suggests Jack Dell’Accio, CEO and Founder of Essentia Mattress. A sound machine will help drown out any noises you may be accustomed to that guests may find bothersome.
‘Adding a sound machine to the guest room that can offer your guests several choices such as ambient music, white noise, or pink noise is a great addition to the room and can help your guests feel more relaxed when it’s time to go to bed,' says Jack.
I live in a small bedroom, so I'm always on the hunt for multipurpose machines to do more work in a smaller space. That's why I like the Hatch Restore Sunrise Alarm Clock and Sound Machine. This dimmable clock makes it easy to unwind at night and get out of bed first thing in the morning, especially during the colder, darker months.
If you're hosting this holiday season, go the extra mile and make a guest welcome box. Fill it with spare towels and toiletries and finish with personal touches, such as a scented candle to make a bedroom smell good for sleep.
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