London Retailer: Buying an air mattress
 

Hi Fodorites,
Could a few Londoners reply as to the name of some chain retailers that might sell an air mattress?
Will be renting an apt. in London, and we're thinking of picking up an inflatable twin mattress there in the city. Wanted to search online, but the only retailer I could think of was Boots.
Any ideas?

Argos.
Not Boots...they are a chemist.

Perfect! Thank you! Never heard of Argos... appreciate it.

Or plenty of online places

Right... but we want to walk into a place and pick one up. Just have to make sure they're in stock, I guess. Thanks for the store name!

Can I suggest also John Lewis (department store like Macy's in the states) or Tesco (like Kmart).

See http://www.johnlewis.com/26728/Product.aspx (and from that page you can get more information about "click and collect" where you buy it online and then pick it up at one of their stores which also include the Waitrose chain of grocery stores)

See also http://direct.tesco.com/browse/?Ntx=...907+4294961404 (they may have something like click and collect but I couldn't tell from their website.

Argos may have the same.

All those websites will let you find store locations based on the postcode of your flat.

Mind you depends where you'll be...nto sure where Argos in central London. If you don't need it immediately, then you can get it delivered

OK -- just to make sure -- have you cleared using an air mattress w/ the flat's owner? It might seem no big deal, and might not bother him/her at all. But many owners list an absolute maximum of how many can stay in the property and don't want extras. I'd definitely ask.

The thing with Argos is to have the postcode of more or less where you're staying.

Then the day before you leave home, go onto its site, find the mattress, press "check stock". It'll tell you which central London stores (most probably Camden High St or Old St, which won't be handy for you, but are next to tube stations) currently have one on its shelves. I THINK (personally I loathe the place, but...) they do a "reserve" service.

Flanner's plan is best...they do a reserve service. Not my favourite place either, but it has it's uses.

Just so you know, Argos doesn't have any stock on it's floor like a normal store. It has catalogues (online and in the shop), you select your item from the catalogue, give them the number, pay and they get your goods from 'out the back'. We had never come across such a concept before living in the UK and thought it very odd but we did end up buying a few things there. They have a decent range. I know there is a store in Ealing Broadway which is at the end of the Central Line (West London) if that helps.

Kay

Argos has three stores in Central London: New Oxford St (near Tottenham Court Rd tube), Marble Arch (on Edgware Rd) and Victoria (on Vauxhall Bridge Rd). They are not large Extra stores with greater range and stock, so you may want to reserve your goods a few days in advance of travel and get them delivered to the store for collection. In their current catalogue they have several air mattresses, from £17.99 for a double. More expensive ones (from £23.99) come with a pump.

Online Argos reference for air mattresses:
http://tinyurl.com/4lgs3xx

But first make sure that owner doesn't mind. Our friends with an apartment in Italy which sleeps 6 max, has had people wanting to put 8 or 10 people in it and the answer is always no. There's usually a max capacity for a reason

"There's usually a max capacity for a reason"

Fire regulations generally.

OP hasn't said what they want an air mattress for. Perhaps they prefer to sleep on it rather than the supplied mattress, or they want to camp after their London stay.

Certainly wait until you get there. We've rented several apartments that had air mattresses in the closet or storage space.

Thanks, all. Good tip on checking with the owner. Our concern was that the sofa bed one of us planned to use might be uncomfortable.

<<There's usually a max capacity for a reason"

Fire regulations generally>>

I don't think that's the main reason, I think it is just control of your property and what it is being used for, wear and tear, and not wanting complaints from the neighbors, etc. Nobody wants their vacation rental apt treated like a flophouse. If I had a neighbor renting out an apt that routinely had many people coming and going and crammed into it, you can bet I would complain about it.