4 bedroom house - what is the best bed layout?

Question

I'm prepping for my first AirBnB and want to get your advice on the best bed plan.

4 bedroom house, one queen-sized murphy bed in the upstairs bedroom. (Upstairs is a bedroom, 3/4 bath, and living space)

2 bedrooms in the front of the house share a bathroom and ensuite master bedroom in the addition at the back of the house.

Master is large enough for a King-sized bed.

What do I put in the two bedrooms near the front? Bunk beds? Queen-sized beds? (King will be too big for the front bedrooms.)

I like the idea of a kid's room, with 1-2 sets of bunk beds. If I go with the one set of bunk beds, I'd do the full-sized bottom bunk with the twin-sized top. If I do two sets of bunk beds, there won't be a lot of room for doing anything else, but gives me more space to put people.

I can advertise that it sleeps 10-12, but it's actually a pretty small house for that many people. If there were 2 sets of adults and a bunch of kids, the house would be fine but 10 adults is stretching it. House is 1800 square feet, 4/3 but almost no yard...

Thoughts? @Lucas Carl @Avery Carl @Paul Sandhu @John Underwood

Paul Sandhu · Answer

No bunk beds.  I've got 83 beds in all my rentals.  3 Kings, 3 twins, and about 40 Queen and about 40 Full.  The only benefits of a bunk or twin bed is that nobody will get pregnant or catch an STD in it.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

I fell out of one of these bunks on a pheasant hunting trip.  There was a lot of whiskey involved.

John Underwood · Answer

The more beds the more you can charge. I can't remember if Airbnb allows you to charge extra per person per night over a certain number, but Vrbo does allow this.I have 2 queens in every bedroom. Kings are nice but having 2 Queens instead of 1 King gives more sleeping options.

A fold out couch would allow for overflow.

I have some queen air mattresses as well, but I don't advertise that I have these or that I can sleep more. Sometimes you might have a group of guys that are below your max and it is weird for 2 guys to sleep in the same bed, girls don't seem to mind as much.

You also (in my opinion) don't want to advertise that you can sleep too many people to encourage parties.

Matt Ayoub · Answer

We have a 4 bed. Two king suites, 1 casita with 2 full sized beds, and 1 suite with 2 full sized bunk beds (4 beds total in the bunk room which has proved a hit with families or groups with kids of similar ages. Given they are full size they also sleep adults perfectly. What I like about having a combination of full and king size is only having to worry about 2 sizes of sheets.

Luke Carl · Answer

@Mindy Jensen I would sleep 10 as you'll come up in more search impressions than sleeping 8, but charge extra for persons 9 and 10 (15 bucks per night or so). This will weed out a bit of the riff-raff that try to shove extra people under one roof to save money.

I would put a queen bunk in one of the front rooms and a sleeper sofa in the other front room with a large TV for folks that want a breather. This way if you want to switch to 8 person max you just make the sleeper off limits (zip tie it shut). The alternative is of course 1 queen in each front room, but if you want to switch to less folks you'll have to ditch a bed. Not the end of the world.

Camera on the front porch (ring flood light) to make sure people aren't bringing more people than they paid for -although one of the biggest mistakes you can make is actually looking at the damn camera as it won't create wealth; yet it's addicting. It's your own private reality show.

Personally I don't know or care if they bring extra people. They're gone in two days. I gladly take their money and move on.

Most important part of this conversation.... You can ALWAYS change this setting. In the early days my brain would get stuck. "Man I'm sick of having 10 people they're annoying me" sometimes it wouldn't click that I could just change this, or any setting and any time!

Go with your gut as to what you think will work for you and tweak it as the weeks roll on.

Good luck!

John D. · Answer

I'm going to agree with @Ethan Cooke, this decision is highly dependent on the location, and add'l details about the property and target customer.  There's no telling what the right call is for a 4 bedroom without knowing additional details.Our bedrooms run the gamut from bunk rooms with two Queen over Queen over Full trundles (6 beds sleeping up to 10 in one room), to smaller rooms with two Twin XLs that can be converted into a King, to rooms with a King plus Full over Twin trundle day bed (to maximize sleeping spaces without making the room feeling crammed full of beds).There are riches in niches, and the devils in the details.

Ken Latchers · Answer

Bunk beds have ladders and insurance companies are starting to frown on this.

use trundle beds instead

Ethan Cooke · Answer

@Mindy Jensen - The ideal set-up really depends on who your customer is--long-term or short-term? Business traveler or vacationer? Economy, mid-range or luxury? I manage 25 furnished homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I focus on business travelers seeking value and convenience for 30+ day stays (with some STRs mixed in). Given this market, I put a Queen bed in every room (2 if they will fit), with a sleeper sofa in the living room as suggested by @John Underwood.

Why not put a bigger bunk bed in one of the front rooms? I just rented a big 5-bedroom home near SFO Airport from a landlord and ordered 2 Full-over-Queen bunk beds for one room so the place will sleep 12-16 people a la @Lucas Carl. More beds = more heads = more $$! This gives you great flexibility to rent to 4 business travelers or a 10-person reunion. And yes use the AirBnB feature where you charge an extra $5-$10 per night per person over 6 or 8 so each extra person brings in $150-$300 more per month.

I imagine you have great ideas already about amenities and furnishings. I like to use certain items that aren't expensive but demonstrate good mid-level quality and coziness, e.g. Keurig coffee maker, 10" Queen memory foam mattresses, 100% cotton sheets and oversized spa towels, 55" SmartTV, lots of new throw pillows & throw blankets, big art, cotton poufs, etc.

Have fun!

Pat L. · Answer

Every year we rent on Marco Island 5+beds/4+baths. We avoid Murphy beds, bunk beds & anything smaller than a queen for adults & if the property has ALL King sized beds it wins. Grandkids get the 2 twin beds in a smaller room. On any property we own around here to buy&hold etc we look for rooms large enough for a King & the rest as queens. Ground floor masters with an en-suite are a big positive.

Account Closed · Answer

I own a 2/2 condo in river north Chicago. I rented it on airbnb as a 1/1 that can sleep up to 5 since it has 2 sets of bunk beds. 1 queen / 3 twins and it performed great. I would lock out the master suite so it couldn't be used since we have all of our personal stuff in it. Everyone was very satisfied with the price point and accomodations and always received 5 star ratings. I rented it to every base. A family of 4 for the entire month of June, girl groups, guy groups, and couples. Never had an issue

4 bedroom house - what is the best bed layout?

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