Spare bed for older guests

I find anything foldaway is too low, certainly for me.

I used to have a solid single guest bed, sprung mattress, which folded up as a table---the headboard being the table-top when assembled. I don't know whatever happened to it after my final move but it was ideal and comfortable too.
Maybe they can still be purchased ?

www.jmldirect.com/at-home/home-accessories/ez-bed-durable-inflatable-automatic-air-mattress-on-folding-frame/?msclkid=ea49850dcdcc19e564f4d81d7ac1a86c&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=EZ%20Bed&utm_term=Easy%20Bed&utm_content=PM%20JML%20Old%20campaign

We have one of these. It's a good height, very comfortable and easy to put up because you just plug it in, switch on and watch it rise like the Mary Rose.

We'e got something similar for bedroom overspill to put in the living room, I can attest to the comfort, better than many traditional beds.

What about a bed settee, some are quite narrow so probably wouldn't take too much room up,or even a bed chair?
Z beds can be comfortable ,but usually fairly low

Tara would have a field day with that gorgeous inflatable bed as she knows how to "pop" a hot water bottle. That bed does look comfortable and would be ideal as a double for one of my bedrooms.

Have you thought of a day-bed they can be bought from many places now but the one we had was from Ikea a long time ago now,it was wrought iron on 3 sides and during the day could be used if you where crafting/reading etc.My DS1 uses the one we had in his conservatory now it has a nice selection of summery cushions.

We've got a solid foam one which folds into four. It's then about the size of a large pouffe. It's very easy to unfold and is very comfortable. It came from Argos and was about £70.

If you make them too comfy they might outstay their welcome.....
We have a cast off bed settee . I said ooh yes because it was John Lewis and had been expensive. However as a settee it is not very comfy . It's great as a bed but hardly used because it's in the sitting room.
We have space in bedrooms now that all the family have flown the nest.

My mum used to sleep on a Zed bed in DD's room when she was a toddler mum would have been 60-70 at the time, she said it was comfortable.

I have a folding, slat bed which is quite high off the ground and very comfortable.

I see Amazon do something similar.

Trespass inflatable mattresses from Argos are inflated using a built-in electric pump (wire and plug fold away in a compartment in the mattress). We have slept on a double one and the DGC have slept on single ones. They are very comfortable, not too expensive (£45-ish for the single ones when we bought them last year) and come with their own storage bags.

I recommend them highly, but have no ulterior motive for doing so - no connection with them or Argos!!

I’ve just given my rather expensive sofa bed to a charity, since it was not comfortable either as a sofa or a bed. I’ve bought a cheap single bed frame and a really nice mattress from M&S, 40% off in the sale. I reason that if I have a couple staying, which rarely happens, they can have my double bed and I’ll sleep in the single. In my experience there is no such thing as a comfortable sofa bed. You might try IKEA, who do a daybed (Hemnes) that can be a single or a double, with one or two mattresses, but I wasn’t convinced the mattresses would be thick enough.

I am about to transform my small spare room into a study space, but I am going to keep the single bed which is already there. My worktop will be built over the end of the bed so it is still usable, provided I can keep it clear of clutter. At the moment our winter bedspread is folded on top of that bed as there is nowhere else to hide the bulky item.

We stayed with friends who had a double bed which went up against the wall and looked like a wardrobe when not in use. It was as comfortable as a normal bed but it was probably very expensive.
It depends on your budget and probably who will be using the bed and how often.

My Sister had an expensive bed settee which was uncomfortable as a bed and someone else ended up on the floor when one of those full height air beds gradually deflated (it was brand new!).

Thanks for all your ideas. The inflatables sound promising. Will investigate further.

Not inflatable please. I tried sleeping on one recently. At first it wasn’t blown up enough and we just rolled into the middle. Then it was over-inflated and we rolled off it.

Could never get the happy medium and it smelled horrible...all synthetic plastic even though it had a flock covering.

Book them in to a nearby B&B and have them as day guests if you can’t privide a good night’s sleep or give up your bed and you try sleeping on the ‘guest bed’ .

Airbeds can be cold too - the air inside can cool down on a chilly night.
As mentioned above, a new airbed, full height like a bed, and thought suitable for a very elderly grandmother, deflated slowly in the night and she had to be helped up off the floor in the morning.

In my experience, you need to blow up an inflatable a few hours before you need it, as the air blown into it, whether by lung or by pump, is warm. When it cools, the bed appears to deflate a bit, so you just top it up before you go to bed. Any feeling of coldness or smell of plastic can be countered by using a sheet or blanket below the bottom sheet (which I always do on an ordinary mattress anyway). I have no qualms about using it again.

One of my daughters has what she calls a 'click clack' bed. This looks like a normal settee, but the back folds down level with the seat and there is an extra leg which comes out to support as a bed. Smaller than a normal double, but bigger than a normal single and quite comfortable.
When setting up anywhere that is going to be used as a spare bed, please do consider that it is useful to have some sort of bedside light than can switched off whilst in the bed.
Hate staying somewhere, in an otherwise comfortable room, but when I want to snuggle down after reading, have to get out off bed to turn off central light and then find my way back to a strange bed in the dark