How would you equip 3 bedrooms for sleeping?

Question

How would you furnish 3 bedrooms for sleeping? I am purchasing a 3 bedroom home with an ADU. My husband and I will be living in the ADU and using the main house as an STR.

The property is in a residential area and not really walk able to any restaurants/attractions. I am not sure what type of guest we will attract but I have a feeling it will be families. Looking at the numbers, being able to sleep 8-10 would be advantageous.

Here is what I am thinking...

Bedroom 1: King bed

Bedroom 2: Queen bed

Bedroom 3: Two twin bunk beds? Two full beds? two twin XL beds?

Living room: Daybed with trundle (doubles as a couch)? Queen sleeper sofa?

I am worried that bunk beds are too child-ish and might turn off larger groups of adults. However, I'd rather cater to families than large groups of adults that might have bad intentions... In your experience, do families with lots of kids use Airbnb? Is it better to keep a more mature look?

Any insights from hosts would be appreciated!

Patricia Taveras · Answer

@Jon Crosby

My husband and I gave the same set up in our two STRs - king, queen, and twin over full bunk. We do tend to attract lots of families and have had great guests so far.

We do not have pull out sofas in the living room because we are trying to cater to the small family since we are in a quiet neighborhood. Fun bonus, we put pool tables (and portable A.C. and heaters) in the garages.  That gets us great reviews.

I love STRs! Super rewarding!

Mark Miles · Answer

First thing I’d do is search for Superhosts nearby whose calendar is full & copy them. I did that in the past & it has worked quite swimmingly 👍

I’m sure now someone will copy me & it should work out quite well for them as well

Sometimes its good to be a leader. Other times it works just fine to copy others who have already figured it out

John Underwood · Answer

I have a 3 bedroom house. I have 2 Queens in each room to maximize occupancy and maximize revenue.

I have over 100  5 star reviews on VRBO so this must be working out ok.

Jon Crosby · Answer

@Rachel Hughes  You will probably want to get a better idea on your guest pool at least a little before deciding.  But we do King, Queen and Twin over Full bunkbed for our Vacation Rental which is meant to appeal to families.  If you are going to get Corporate travelers or some other demographic then the bunks might not work well and would be better with 2 twins or some other floor combination.

Good luck and congrats on your purchase!

Cliff H. · Answer

I have a 3BR STR myself and don’t think there is a one sized fits all approach here. As @Jon Crosby says, staring with the end in mind in knowing your target guest persona is really helpful in determining what types of beds you want to equip a space with.

To illustrate this, I’ll use my own: 3BR, STR. My target market from the beginning was young couples with a small children, since this particular persona will like split costs and be amenable to a higher per night rate, as well as being the type of guests that are young enough to be vacationing in that area and looking for lodging after hiking, skiing, etc.

For that reason I went with 1 queen, 2 doubles, 2 bunk beds. This gives me the flexibility of having a couple in the queen room, another couple (or unrelated pair) in the double room, and kids in the bunk room. Sure that bunk room’s not going to be one that most grown adults would choose, but I’ve had plenty of larger families where they make it work.

One thing I did not expect was feedback from cleaners that bunk beds are understandable harder to turnover, extending the time and cost required for rental turnovers between guests. Some cleaners actually refused to even handle a rental with bunk beds (and those cleaners are cleaning other rentals now).

Again, start with the end in mind, put yourself in the shoes of your ideal guest (even if it’s not what you’ll get to start), and base your bed choices off what arrangement suits them best (and your physical space allows). Personally, I’m not looking to maximize headcount and wear and tear on furnishings, but actually intentionally capping the number of folks using the space because I’m more concerned about providing a lodging experience as customized to my target market as possible.

Ken Latchers · Answer

This is a very simple solution. The largest bed that each room fits. Don't know why everyone keeps overthinking it. They're bedrooms. People sleep in them. It has been showing the larger the bed the higher the rate on average.

Chai Xiong · Answer

If you can squeeze in larger beds to each room that would be better

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Short of driving by ever few hours, it's pretty hard to verify and enforce. However, you should have a penalty in place so that you can whack them if they do get caught.

One thing you could consider is a RING doorbell or something similar that allows you to monitor the main entrance of the home. This would allow you to see who comes and goes. You can sell it to the tenants as a security device or a way for them to reach you upon check-in if they have questions, etc. Just make sure you disclose it.

Even that isn't fool-proof because they can just sneak someone in through the back door or a side window. But it helps.

Rachel Hughes · Answer

@Nathan G. Thanks for the input. Parking is limited and the home only has one bathroom. I hadn't taken that into consideration. How do you manage if the guest is not honest about the # of people?

How would you equip 3 bedrooms for sleeping?

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