Bunk beds and sofa beds?

[debk]

Long live the towel thread. Huzzah. Huzzah.

Just wanted to share a few other comments about sofa-beds and echo praise for trundles:

We started with one 3-bedroom rental home in 2003 and, at that time, I was singing the no-sofa-bed song. Absolutely no sofabed allowed, as that was not my 'target market', mostly for the reasons already discussed here.

Then we started getting lots of emails from people wondering if we had more and/or similiar places, especially requests for smaller homes. So we boldly bought two 1-bedroom apartments, located in adjacent buildings, and put trundle beds in the living room in place of a normal sofa. (Custom made, very comfy, with good orthopeadic mattresses.)

The first year was a grand success and we've had no "cramming" requests, nor cramming-type guests. We did have the family of a former US president rent the two apartments... and two of their adult daughters (late 20s/30s) were very happy on the living room trundles. Not everyone is overly concerned about having a bedroom for privacy; sometimes they just want a nice place where they can all be together, in a great location, and if that means sleeping in the living room, so be it!

On the other hand, I still wouldn't put a sofabed at the 3-bedroom house because I don't want that many guests there. (Would make too much of an impression on the quiet neighborhood.)

I guess I just wanted to point out the obvious: every situation is different and I've changed my sofa-bed tune. Sofa bed users aren't necessarily cranky, penny-pinching guests. Some are just looking for one more bed in order to avoid having to stay at the boring ole' Four Seasons.
debk

[Hells Bells]

Due to the expensive nature of Alpine property, we have a 1 bedroom apartment with sofabeds for up to 3 (I insist the 3rd person is under 12), in the lounge. For my own personal comfort when I visit (i.e. more seating space), one of these is a double and the other a single. Only my eldest son complains about putting it up and down. They are from IKEA and are full sized beds with comfortable (and easily replaceable) mattresses. On only one occasion this season were there 5 guests. They did mention they were a bit squashed (I had warned them as the youngest was 13) but said it worked fine as they were used to it. I would prefer it as a couples place really, but wouldn't get so many peak bookings as skiers without kids avoid February.

[Ju]

I'm not sure why a bunk bed doesn't constitute a proper bed, the ones I have are as big as a single bed and the matresses are the same thickness. It clearly states on the website that they are there, it is up to people booking whether or not they want to use them or not. They all have safely bars on the top bunk and children under 6 are not allowed to sleep on the top bunk anyway, so there doesn't seem to be much of a safety issue anymore.

My safety issue with bunks isn't just whilst the children are sleeping. Children are prone to use them as an indoor climbing frame, and this is when many accidents occur. If you have a 3 year old sleeping on the bottom and a 6 year old sleeping on the top, who is going to be able to stop the three year old climbing up to see his brother and down and up and down...

Ju

[Nightowl]

I got two enquiries today - one by email and one by phone, from two different enquirers, both French.

Both were enquiring whether we could take 10 people... our max with the sofabeds is 8!! It's quite clear from all the sites we advertise on that our house has 3 bedrooms and sleeps 6 with 2 single sofabeds making max of 8. So it seems to me that perhaps there are a lot of french holiday makers out there who like to pack people in... this is about the 6th or 7th enquiry I've had from France for over 8 people...they presumably have the choice of booking somewhere larger so I assume they want to squeeze that many into a smaller house
to save on costs.

So as you have a place in France, Maryjane, maybe you should think about several sofabeds, bunk beds or trundles!!!

However, I said no to both enquiries and when I discussed this with my other half tonight, he admitted that he isn't even really happy about taking 8 any more since we tried it out ourselves. So I'm debating taking the sofa bed info out anyway. I think it's mainly because they are in the lounge - if it was the case of a pull out bed or a bunk in one of the bedrooms I might feel happier about it.

And the sofa beds are IKEA ones so I guess the less they are used for permanent sleeping, the longer they will be likely to last as sofas. IKEA sofabeds do have a tendency to sag if they are used as beds on a regular basis.

So we might lose a few bookings where perhaps two families of four may have shared but we will see how it goes.

[SmileyT]

I started my property off sleeping up to 12 with a set of bunk beds. I also had a bed-settee and cot which in theory made it up to 15. After much deliberation I decided that this was way too much. While some people would be happy to 'cram' for the best value for money, I was sure that most would find the rooms over crowded. I have now now reduced mine to 1 familly room, two doubles and a twin. No sofa bed, no bunks. I also didn't like the thought of the bunks being used as a climbing frame. I replaced the bed settee with a large lounge suite with recliners. The house is much more comfortable and feels spacious. I'd rather lose the 'crammers' to give better quality to the majority. My biggest party this year is for 9 so it has worked out fine.

[debk]

Excellent point. I have personally never accepted a cramming group and never would. Too much potential for wear and tear on the neighbors as well as the home.

As you've noted, it is important to note the difference between things such as:
a) cramming as many beds as possible into a home
and
b)providing separate sleeping arrangements for couples

Big difference. Many thanks for clarifying!
debk

[Alan Knighting]

What bothers me about the “pile it high and sell it cheap� approach is the impact on the other facilities.

Are the kitchens and dining areas up to the task? Are there enough bathrooms and toilets? Has the hot water system the capacity to supply all the baths and showers required?

Alan

[la vache!]

Teeroe, did you start off with sleeping 12 - 15 with only one bathroom & toilet?
Alan, I would never advertise a house as sleeping a number unless there were a corresponding number of places at the dining table or seating in the lounge and on outside furniture. In our big house I also have the hot water balon on permanently in the summer so there is never a shortage. I would like to put in a couple more bathrooms though - although we have never had a complaint. I think people are getting used to having 1 bathroom per bedroom in modern house builds - my other half has a tiny semi detached new build in the UK which is only about 50m2 intotal, yet in this space the builders have managed to squeeze in 2 bedrooms (one very small), 1 bathroom, 1 en suite shower-room and in total 3 toilets!!!

[Fraise]

sorry- totally at a tangent but I like the new piccy Susan

[enid]

I was just thinking the same thing

[la vache!]

Thankyou Fraise and Enid, that is very kind of you both - I will tell my Mum, she took the photo when she came over at the end of April - you can tell it was a very late Spring! Talking of photos, Fraise, where has your avartar gone - don't be shy here!

[Fraise]

I deleted it cos I was fed up of seeing myself!!

[la vache!]

It's nice for everyone else, though! It breaks up the posts a bit!