Sleeping on a sofabed or convertible sofa--have you done this?
 

I may have to rethink what I had planned for our week and a half apartment rental in Paris. So many of the smaller apartments seen to offer sofa beds. I had been steering clear of these thinking I'd want a real bed, but now I am wondering how bad these really are to sleep on. Have you rented an apartment that had a sofa bed? Would you do it again?

Dear J,

Whenever we visit relatives they put us up on a sofa bed, for a week or more.

We have survived.

((I))

Of course you'll survive a sofabed. But I wouldn't think of it as a terribly comfortable experience.

But Ira...you're not paying good money to be uncomfortable (or, less than comfortable)when you stay with relatives, right?

We've had two sofa beds in our households in the last 20 years, and neither one has been what you could call comfortable. And I certainly wouldn't want to spend more than a week sleeping on one.

Julies: Are there references you could search out to see what past lodgers have had to say about the accommodations?

Have slept on several - at various relatives' places. They were all quite uncomfortable - but bearable for a night or two. Would not - esp if you have back problems or need a comfy bed to sleep - do it for more than that.

Another thought - the ones I slept on were used occasionally by visitors - would not want to sleep on one that was used regularly - can't imagine there would be anaything let of the "mattress".

I once rented an apartment in Paris and slept on the sofabed with the dreaded "bar in my back". After a miserable first night, I went to Monoprix and purchased a fluffy down-like comforter. I folded it and placed it under the fitted sheet and was quite comfy for the rest of my stay. It only cost around $25 (a few years ago when the dollar went a long way in Paris!)and was well worth the investment for ten nights. :-)

Peg

I rented an apartment in Argentina, which had a sofabed. I could feel the metal bars from the bed sticking into my back - it was awful! It was very uncomfortable, and borderline painful.

I could not sleep the whole night.

The 2nd night, we lined it with the extra blankets - better, but still uncomfortable. The 3rd night, we decided to put the mattress on the floor. This was purfect, and I slept like a baby!!

Well you seem to be confirming my apprehensions about renting a place with just a sofa bed.

Never had a good night sleep on a sofabed.
Would never do it on vacation!

I'd take the mattress off and put it on the floor...pretend I'm in Japan for the night, ha.

I say, if the location is good, the apt is nice, and price is right, GO FOR the sofa bed. Just put the mattress on the floor (like love says, pretend you are in Japan) It worked for us.

Personally, I would do it again. In Argentina, we got an apt in a great location, and also cut our costs by more 75% by renting an apartment for a week, with a sofabed. We also enjoyed because it gave us a small glimpse of how it felt like to live there with the locals.

Definitely worth it, in my opinion.

Sofabed is not my first (nor second nor third) choice, but but if it is a well located and priced place, before you reject it out of hand see if you can get some more info, perhaps a photo. There atually are some decent sofa beds. The typical American foldaway type with that godawful bar across your back is not where I would want to rest after a day of touring. But if it is a decent futon or the type that does not have that bar it may be OK. And the previously mentioned strategies of placing a comforter or heavy blanket under the sheet do help make a sofabed more humane.

Hi J,

How about the kind of air mattress one brings on camping trips?

((I))

I have put an air mattress like the ones used for camping underneath the mattress of a sofa bed with great results. But, if you are willing to sleep on the floor on an air mattress, why not just pull the sofabed mattress onto the floor. Better effect, with less luggage to lug around.

There are sofa beds and sofa beds here - in more varietes than in the New World. Some are comfortable. Many are not.

Youch. I wouldn't pay for a "night of the living dead" experience for more than a night or two.

They really do have metal bars in the most inconvenient places.

Agreeing with metal bars comment. They are horrible. However, an airmatress on top of the sofa bed or even those egg foam cushiony things would help eliviate bars in your lower back.

Don't do it. I am in the middle of writing a 'rather long' trip report and one of the stories I am about to tell is of the most uncomfortable weeks we have EVER spent, on a sofa bed. It was a nightmare. After long days of sight seeing the one thing to look forward to, is a good nights sleep. Not possible on a sofa bed. IMO ;-)

I've done it and wasn't uncomfortable. I'm a light sleeper, but more noise-sensitive than bed-sensitive. I would think a futon-type sofa bed would be more comfortable than a bar-bottom type.

However, I have some friends, who admittedly have tons and tons of money, and in their NYC vacation apartment they have a king-size sofabed. This thing is like no other sofabed I have ever slept on: so, so comfortable. It's beautiful, too. I don't know where they got it. So, they're not all bad.

We spent four months sleeping on a sofa bed while our master bedroom was under construction. I wanted to jump out of the window, but since we were on the first floor, it wouldn't have ended my misery, lol. Instead we lit it on fire to celebrate it's demise ;)

If you can avoid a sofa bed, do it! If you cannot, get one of those temperpedic pads -- might make it okay for a couple of nights, perhaps.

Well after reading this I won't be renting a place with a sofa bed. I was surprised to hear though that a futon is probably more comfortable than a convertible sofa bed. I would have assumed otherwise.

It may be a matter of personal preference, but I'll take a futon over a bar across my back any day. Of course, just as there are different kinds of sofabeds, the are better and worse futons. In general, the thicker the futon the more comfortable, though some people prefer a softer sleeping surface.
As Dave in Paris noted, there are a variety of sofabeds and some are actually OK. I'll repeat my rec that if the apartment is otherwise good, get more info on the bed before dumping it.

All sofabeds are not created equal. We have a 24-year-old sofabed with a Beautyrest mattress that is as comfortable as a regular bed. When we lived in NYC with small children, their cribs and toddler beds weren't usable for guests (and we had plenty of company) so it was either the sofabed in the living room or our bed (if we could talk people into taking it).

Ours has a pull-down bar mechanism but apparently the mattress is thick enough to cover it comfortably.

If the price and location are THAT much better, I would try some of the recommended remedies above and rent the apartment. Just make sure that you are not traveling with someone who will complain if your mattress ends up on the floor!

Sofa beds are awful as beds and also as sofas.

When we travel, we appreciate a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed, each and every night, if at all possible.

You'd be fortunate to find a comfortable "real" bed, and all bets are off with a fold-out.

If you're not too fussy and can sleep on anything, a sofa bed would likely be okay.

But, in my experience, you just cannot get comfortable on any sofa bed.