Sofa bed vs. guest bed - pros and cons

Comfortably accommodate guests: Sofa bed or guest bed?

A sofa bed combines the best of two worlds: A chic seating option during the day and a practical bed at night. A guest bed can also theoretically be used for sitting, but its function is designed as sleeping furniture. Both accommodation options have their advantages and disadvantages. Thus, the question arises as to where you can accommodate your guests more comfortably.  After all, your visitors should feel as comfortable with you as they do at home. An air mattress is therefore out of the question for most people. A makeshift solution is not enough for a pleasant sleeping experience – especially if your guests are staying longer than just one night. Guest bed or sofa bed – what suits your apartment better? To help you choose between a sofa bed and a guest bed, we've put together the pros and cons of each.

The sofa bed as a practical sleepover option

Pros

The sofa bed can be found in more and more homes as a stylish seating and sleeping option. Its practical dual function is its biggest advantage, because thanks to its versatile uses, it is very space-saving. Especially in times when affordable living space is becoming increasingly scarce, single households appreciate this piece of furniture to make the most of confined spaces. Hardly any piece of furniture can be adapted so easily to everyday life. During the day, you can sit comfortably with your guests on the sofa bed and enjoy the time together. In the evening, you can convert the sofa bed into a comfortable bed for the night in just a few simple steps. Your guests have enough space and lie more comfortably than on an air mattress thanks to the soft upholstery. And when the guests leave, the sofa bed quickly becomes a piece of seating furniture again.

Cons

Probably the biggest disadvantage of the sofa bed is that it is usually placed in the living room - and thus the entire living room must serve double duty for the duration of the visit. During the day or in the evening, you want to be here for lounging and socializing, but this leaves guests with little opportunity to retreat as well. Compromises must also be made if your guests want to go to bed earlier than you do. 
Although the comfort of modern sofa beds is becoming more and more comfortable, the different nature of the seat and the fold-out part of the bed, as well as the resulting unevenness of the lying surface, can leave you feeling uncomfortable. Restless sleepers might also find the lack of stability of a sofa bed annoying.

The guest bed as a comfortable place to sleep 

Pros

With its undeniable comfort properties, the guest bed is a particularly luxurious accommodation option for your guests. A high-quality guest bed is both resilient and stable and offers enough space to relax. Mattress and slat base can be perfectly matched to each other, so that your visitor will have a comfortable lying feeling. But a guest bed impresses your overnight guests not only with its coziness. Since a guest bed is often placed in a dedicated guest room, your guests have a separate area during their stay where they can enjoy a bit of privacy - and their luggage won't be a nuisance, as can quickly be the case in the living room.  As nice as being together may be, a few quiet moments in between where you can be all to yourself are just as valuable.

Cons

A guest bed is particularly comfortable, but you need more space for this overnight accommodation than you do for a sofa bed. Folding guest beds can be an alternative for single households whose apartment is less spacious. However, if you have a separate room, you can easily accommodate the guest bed. And when your visitor has left, you can use the room as a storage space or your study, for example.

Conclusion: Which sleeping furniture is more comfortable?

Both a sofa bed and a guest bed have certain advantages to offer. For example, thanks to its multifunctionality, the sofa bed is particularly suitable for small apartments, where it acts as a comfortable seat and a practical bed in one. However, when it comes to lying comfort, the guest bed has the edge. Thanks to the high-quality materials and comfortable upholstery, your visitors can perfectly relax here and feel completely at home. With a sofa bed, the sleeping surface is often a bit firmer and less adaptable than a typical bed mattress. If you lack the space for a guest bed, a so-called "permanent sofa bed" could be an alternative. This can usually be customized with a mattress and slat base, and is padded softer, so you can better accommodate the sleeping needs of your guests.