How to Build a Hotel-Quality Bed Setup for Under $1,000

Mattresses are one of those things that I still see hosts overspending on or just not getting it right. And if your guests don't have a good night's sleep, well, you better believe they're not going to leave that great of reviews. And so, my team and I have tested dozens and dozens of properties. There is one in particular that we've stuck to for years. I want to give you that exact model, the price point, and a couple other details to make sure that your sleep setup for

your guests is topnotch and you get perfect reviews across the board. Welcome back to the Short Terminal Riches podcast. I'm happy you're here again. A long time ago, one of my best friends worked at a mattress store and he worked there for years, so he had some great discounts and he got me a 50% discount on one of the best mattresses at the time. It was the Tempropedic Cloud Supreme. I actually still have this mattress in a short-term rental today, years and years later. But I

would never spend thousands of dollars again on a mattress. Yes, prices on mattresses have come down pretty much across the board because there's a lot more options. But there's one in particular that my team and I have been using over the years. I'm going to share that with you second. We've tried a lot of different mattresses. Everything from literally the best mattress money can buy to some of the very inexpensive options that you'll find on Amazon today to options that are kind of in the middle

like a Tuft and Needle mattress. Those are not the ones we're using today, nor are the really expensive ones. I stopped spending too much on mattresses a long time ago. And so, after trying all of these other mattresses, our pick and the one that I use in my personal properties and recommend to all of our management clients is the Zenus or Zinus 12in Green Tea Foam mattress. It is a dream and it is very budget friendly. You can find it for around $350 to $400 on

Amazon. It can ship in as little as a couple days. we go with the 12-in one, not the 10-in one. You want your sleeping experience for your guests to be premium, right? And if a lot of guests haven't updated their mattress at their home in a long time, well, they're probably sleeping on one that's very likely not as thick as this Zenus one, but probably not as comfortable either. These mattresses truly are the best bang for the buck, and they lead to consistently good reviews. So,

that's it. You don't really need to shop around on Amazon. Believe me, we've tried lots and lots of different mattresses. We'll leave a link for that one in the show notes below. We're not affiliated with them in any way. We just want you to make sure that you're not overspending and also that you get good reviews from all of your guests because the mattress and the sleeping experience is so so crucial. Imagine someone loving everything about your property. You have this amazing backyard setup. you renovated

the property, but they don't like the mattress or what the mattress is sitting on. We're going to get to that in one second. They're going to wake up groggy. They're going to wake up sleepy. And when the day comes to leave the review, if they're not energized and in a good mood, well, it's certainly going to affect the review. There is no one perfect mattress out there. Some people might like a super firm one, and someone might like a very soft one, but trust us on

this one. This is the best overall, especially for the price. But you can't stop just at the mattress. And this leads me to the next point. You need to make sure you have a good frame for that mattress to sit on. Because if you buy one of those beds off Wayfair or Amazon that has the wood slats and they start to slag over time or break, which they certainly will, then your mattress is no longer going to be able to support the people sleeping on it.

So, the frame is almost as important as the mattress itself. We go with an option off of Wayfair. And believe me, we've tried lots and lots of different bed frames as well. The one that we use is a platform bed, which means you don't need a box spring. And it's also one that has a solid base that is smaller than the actual platform. That makes it easy for your housekeepers to go around the outside of the bed, easy for them to change the sheets. If you

look at a lot of hotels, you'll find that almost all of their beds are beds that have a really strong foundation and a lot of them have that lip on the side to make it easier for their housekeeping as well. So, let's take a note from the hotel industry. Let's take a note from all of our experience managing over a 100,000 guests now in properties across the country and in other countries. Our team has a lot of experience. We've seen a lot of reviews and believe

me, you got to get the frame right. So, we'll also make sure that there is a link in the show notes below. You can get your frame, you can get your mattress, and really you can get a king-size bed setup for under $1,000. The frame is going to run you roughly $400. The mattress, again, depends on the time that you're buying it, but $350 to $400. The mattress also comes shipped in a box, so it's very portable, although it is quite heavy, especially if you're getting

the king option. You're basically going to open it up. Takes a day or two to fully expand because it is a memory foam mattress. But believe me, this combination is going to leave your guests with a great night's sleep. Another note on frames. If you get some cheap metal frame options, they're going to start to squeak. And if your guests are turning over at night to sleep and the bed's going, it's going to wake their spouse. So, trust us, the frame is going to get as

much use as the mattress. And you got to make sure you have a sturdy one. If you're new to the show, well, we have hundreds of episodes. Sounds kind of crazy to say that, but we do have a lot of experience. Comes from real world experience. And way back about 4 years ago, I did episode 113 on the most difficult furniture item for your short-term rental. And today, nothing's changed. It's still the most difficult. And I would say it comes right after your bed and your

mattress. So, if you missed that episode, head over to strriches.com. Make sure you catch it. And also very, very important is your linen setup. Episode 167 is going to give you all the details on that. So, you've got the perfect mattress, you have the perfect frame, you checked out our past episode on linens, and you have the perfect linens. Unfortunately, at some point down the road, you're still going to get a review from someone that didn't quite like your mattress. It's one of those items that

there just isn't a onesizefits-all. Our Zenus recommendation is going to fit the majority of people, but there's always those edge cases. And so, when you get one of these reviews, you want to make sure that you respond to it appropriately. We always want to validate our guests feelings, right? We want to let them know that we take the feedback really seriously. If you have one guest saying that the mattress is maybe a little too firm or a little too soft, that's fine. Again, you're not going

to be able to accommodate everyone. A lot of times our guests are going to leave private feedback, right? If they love this day, and sometimes you'll find that private feedback in their review. But if you're getting feedback from more than one guest, just double check your setup. Make sure that your bed frame didn't come loose or something's not quite right. So, that is our setup after managing thousands of guests across hundreds of properties. There's one last thing. If you're in the market to replace your bed

frame or replace your mattress, where should you start? We always want to start in the master bedroom or the place where the person actually making the reservation is very likely going to be sleeping because they are the one leaving your review. So, consider that if you're out there shopping around, focus on the master bedroom first. So, thanks for tuning in today. If you want our full furniture checklist, well, we'll leave a link for that in the show notes down below. That'll include all of the basic

items that we put in short-term rentals. Make sure you get your mattress right. If you do, your guests are going to love you for it. It will be a premium experience to what they're used to. If you get it wrong, well, you're going to see it show up real soon in reviews. Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous week.