Aerobeds are great, easy/quick to blow up, and we hear from our guests that our pillowtop version is very comfortable. I will say that they are quite heavy once rolled up and can be a pain to store in small NYC closets. Also, you can get MUCH better deals on ebay than buying them retail at a store. I got a new one from a company called DealYard on ebay.

While I would rather sleep on an Aerobed than the floor, and appreciate their existence, I find them quite uncomfortable to sleep on. And many a time I have found that they slowly leak air and by morning I am pretty much sleeping on said floor.

One with a pillowtop sounds better because then you wouldn't be able to feel each and every one of those divits on your back. . .

We've got one of those raised aerobeds. It works well enough: inflates quickly, it's easy to roll back up, but you do have to re-inflate it every night as air escapes during the night and we also found the grooves to be uncomfortable. We ended up buying a cheap eggshell pad that makes a huge difference.

I've had my full sized aero bed for the last 5 or 6 years and it has logged more than 100 nights from family and friends. I've not had one complaint. I bought it because I slept on a friend's while visiting her in NYC and it was a positive experience. And I like that you can make the bed as firm or soft based on your preference. They are inexpensive for the relative comfort and they do last a long time. I don't know if the upgraded versions are necessary- the no frills one that I paid less than $100 when I bought it years ago and it's fine.

When we moved to our New York apartment, I polled my family and friends to see which they'd prefer to sleep on when visiting, and they almost universally voted for an Aerobed over a sofabed. We use our Aerobed with the mattress pad that comes with it, and people have been very comfortable. We haven't had any trouble with leaking air (especially since reinflating is so easy) and the aerobed deflates and rolls up easily during the day. I'm convinced that it's the perfect solution.

I have a question..I sleep on a raised aerobed when I visit my sister. It is OK and better then the earlier models ...much easier to reinflate etc. but the one complaint I still have is that I find it kind of sweaty..even with a light mat. pad and sheet I think the plastic mattress...I don't know... doesn't breathe....so my question is has anyone else experienced this and, if so, how did you alleviate the problem?

has anyone ever slept on the bed in a box? daniafurniture.com, "bed in a box." it's an alternative to the air mattress and the sleeper-sofa but it looks a little uncomfortable to me.

We've had an aero bed for several years now. It's more comfortable than the couch, floor, or the guest bed at my parents. We are, however, on our 2nd aero bed. The first suffered from a slow leak, probably from a sliver from our terrible wood floors. My parents slept in it once and won't do it again because they had trouble getting out of it!

My only hint, put a thick blanket under the fitted sheet to stay warm, especially in the colder weather. The air in the mattress tends to cool down rather quickly.

i'm a college student and use an inflatable coleman queen size mattress as my primary bed (i have a small car and can't move a mattress with me everytime i move). i put a standard mattress pad on top of it from bed bath and beyond and it's actually very comfortable. it doesn't leak air, it fits pretty much standard sheets, i can move it around my room depending on what i'm doing. the one downside is that it does make noise. i think i've come to ignore it, but other people do comment on it.

have an aero bed (i think it's called deluxe, the one with the mattress pad) and we love it. we have also put an egg-crate on it in the past and it's really quite comfortable.

After sleeping on an Aerobed at a buddy's place, I immediately bought one for my apartment. My couch is narrow and isn't the best for sleeping...naps, yes...full nights, no. I have the pillow-top version and have had no complaints. In fact, I have gotten several comments about how surprised people were at the comfort level of the mattress. Luckily, once it is all rolled up, it fits under my own bed. However, it can be annoying for people staying more than a night --- to have to roll it up every morning and inflate it every night.

We have a raised AeroBed. We absolutely LOVE it. It comes with the patch kit (which is the only thing I don't love about it - it was hard to patch but worked out just fine), and it holds air overnight pretty well. As with any air mattress, you do have to refresh it with an extra little bit of air by the next night, but that's no inconvenience. We slept on one for a month when we moved and couldn't decide on a bed. We actually procrastinated because we didn't mind the aerobed.

Here's our little trick - when we have guests, we break out a sleeping bag and use it as a mattress pad. In the morning (afternoon, actually) I have to pry my friends out of it.

sorry, you must type "bed-in-a-box" if you are interested.

my aerobed is great. i have a twin for guests, but i have slept on it myself during moves (and used it as a makeshift sofa, even). 99 bucks well spent.

Wow. My aerobed never got as much traffic as some of the others mentioned here. However, I had no complaints. The only reason why I got rid of mine was that I decided that I didn't want to host that sort of overnight guest anymore. You get old; you get grouchy.

We had to buy two blow up beds to use for several months. The other bed we used we got from Frontgate, they probably still have it, it's more supportive. It has some sort of framework that is attached to it and easily folds up. I liked that bed better. Both beds, to my comfort, shouldn't be fully inflated, just short of that.

My raised aero bed leaks a bit too. That and the fact that it isn't too comfortable is a good thing. Fish and houseguests...

I am glad we bought our bed (which we slept on the 1st 4 months we moved here due to our poverty).

That said, wish we could find the leak in our aerobed. But we'd need to float it in a swimming pool given its size.

Hmmm, so many positive reviews. I don't know anyone who has one who hasn't complained that it no longer holds air and guests are sleeping ON the floor by the morning. I opted to buy a sofa that has a deep seat and is comfortable for a guest to sleep on.

I love my queen sized Aerobed. I bought it in 98 and it still works fine (use it about 2x a year and lend it out on occasion). It works best for me with a nice mattress pad and jersey sheets. Also, a soft cotton blanket on the bottom helps with the squeaking. Who wouldn't like sleeping over at a friends or relatives house on a nice queen sized bed vs a twin sofa or cot?

I am one of those miserable cases where I live in a studio and could not afford the modern, sleep, pull out sofa I wanted, so I got the regular sofa that was aesthetically pleasing to my modern decor and sleep on a queen sized aerobed every night... it's comfortable, yes, but after about three months or so a hold comes up every other evening. so for guests, they're perfect and should last several years but if any of you out there are nutty enough to sleep on it every night, like myself, plan on buying a new one every four months or so.

We have a full size aerobed - I think it's thePremier Classic, and not only do we love it, but I have to report that they have great customer service.

We used it the first time with no trouble, except that the escape valve was hard to open. I ended up having to use a butter knife to open it, and I must have damaged something because the next time we got it out, it leaked. We don't have guests stay over often, so it was out of warranty by the time I discovered the leak. I sent an email to customer service, and they replied quickly and sent me a replacement valve to install. Since then, it's been great and the new valve is much easier to open.

I haven't slept on it myself, but everyone who has says it's comfortable. My mom prefers it to any pull out we've had.

they're pretty good, in my opinion. my only complaint is that they get cold- the air inside the mattress is basically circulating against the floor and cooling off all night, so the aerobed doesn't absorb and hold your body heat like a regular mattress. we tried to solve this by putting the aerobed on blankets, and putting more blankets under the fitted sheet- moderate success. i think an eggshell topper would solve the problem, though.

I slept one one for over a month upon moving to the north. The only fault I found is that it was cold in winter months (the air in it never warms up like a real bed does). And no leaks in my case!

Anyone know how well this holds up with cats that INSIST on climbing into bed?

As an aside, JonathanB just cracked me up with the old and the grouchy. Thanks for the laugh.

I've slept with an aerobed as my sole mattress for 18 months. On my bed (which is a futon bed with the slats underneath) it only needs air about once every 3 months.

Here is the CURE for the cold bed problem: two foam toppers like the ones they sell at target. No more cold.

I was GONNA get a new queen mattress (hated the futon) but the aerobed was so comfy and delicious with the 2 toppers, I can't bear the thought of every sleeping on anything else.

I had a 2 twins that i used for guests on the floor, they died rather quickly of leaks, so all i can say is it must be the fact I have this one on the slats of the bed. No air loss, no problems, 18 months so far.

Of course, this is probably like saying "I never get colds"... psssssssssssssst.

am o the only one who doesn't like the aerobed's bumpiness?

i have one. i even slept on it once b/c my grandma fell asleep on my bed. hehe it's comfy, but you have to pump it back up everyday

I have been sleeping on an aerobed for the last 9 months. I am finally moving to a new place, and while waiting for a real bed to arrive, I am sleeping on it a few more days. While I complained bitterly about the squeaking noise you mention, I have discovered that this is an indication that it isn't fully inflated. If there is enough air inside, the squeeking should completely disappear.

Gawd, how I hate the Aerobed. It's better than sleeping in a bathtub, and better than an old pull out with a crooked bar, but that's about it. I don't care for the bumpiness, the slow leak factor, the 2-1 inflation conundrum (when comfortably inflated for two people, if one gets up, the bed is no longer comfortably inflated for one person), or the shitty amount of support it offers someone with a bad back (the least uncomfortable inflation level for me is less than fully inflated, so that there is something to sink into, but this just means that I end up on the floor a couple hours earlier). I'd rather sleep on a non-pull-out sofa, or a stack of folded blankets on the floor.

please advise: I just moved into a studio by columbus circle, and since a lot of my money is going to rent, I'm shopping for an affordable dinnerware set (for 4 or so). I've looked at the crate & barrel starter set as well as the pier one starter set. the links are below. I was wondering if you guys could help me decide on an inexpensive dinner set? which of those two would you go for and why? thanks in advance.

links:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=85&f=1667

http://www.pier1.com/catalog/productdetail.aspx?oid=113589&returnurl=%2fcatalog%2fgateway.aspx%3ffh_location=%2f%2fpier1direct%2fen_us%2fcategories%3c%7b124656%7d&fh_location=//pier1direct/en_us/categories%3C{124656}/categories%3C{124683}

ohhh, and what do you think of this stuff:

http://www.fishseddy.com/browse.cfm/2,104.html

THANKS!

We live in a studio apartment, and were appalled by all the modern/contemporary futons that we researched. The only thing that fit our fancy was something very very expensive. It was on AT that readers recommended that we get an aerobed. Five months and three aerobeds later - I find myself re-inflating this thing, as it springs a new leak every other night. I checked amazon.com, this is a problem people frequently complain about. I don't recommend this as a serious, everyday sleeping option for anyone.

Hi Sean,

I like the Pier 1 set the best, but I will say that I got a great (sturdy & simple) set of white dinnerware from the Ikea in Elizabeth for something like $35 and it serves six. It didn't come with mugs, but I picked up some matching ones at Target for two bucks a piece.

BTW, you might get more responses if you posted your question in an open thread:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/open-threads/open-thread-381-018663#comments

I owned and loved an aerobed for about a year and slept on for 3 months continuously during that time. However one day I was careless with the carrying bag, set it down quickly, and broke the plastic closure latch inside. A friend of mine had the same thing happen to her. Since then I have been buying the Coleman or other (Cheaper) brands at Target when I need to replace a mattress, generally every year or so when they spring a leak. I still use the Aerobod mattress cover with them, which helps with the clamminess. The cheaper versions are (almost) as good, but I would recommend getting one with a built-in pump.
These air mattresses have given me and my family members so much more ability to travel and see one another, its been great. Anyone remember those awful tubular air mattresses they sold in the 70s? HORRIBLE.

I purchased my queen-sized pillow-top Aerobed about six years ago, and it was probably the best money I ever spent!

At that point, I had no idea that I would have so many visitors! (Hmmm...maybe I should have stayed in my little studio...)

Although I can't imagine sleeping on one every single night, I do think that if you fully inflate it, it stays pretty comfortable until the morning. More so than the Coleman air mattress that I sleep on at my sister's house.

From my experience, the one constant downside is that guests never seem to be able to figure out how to roll it back up correctly so that it fits in the carry bag! I find that it is best used with my supervision.

I'm on my second inflatable, the first having been damaged by forgetting to use the hair dryer on "cool" for too many minutes. :)

My guests prefer it to the sofabed, and it allows my roommate and I to shuffle around where the guests are sleeping. (we both have big rooms with enough space to slap the queen-sized one on the floor by the bed)

With the sofabed and additional loaners from local family (there is a floating collection of airbeds), we've been able to tuck six extra bodies into the apartment when overseas family has been visiting.

I'd rather sleep on the ground with a couple blankets...

Everytime you move it's a game of balancing the air so you don't end up off kilter...

We slept on our aerobed for 4 months when we moved and now it's in our guest room. It stays inflated the whole time (no need to reinflate every morning) but the noise and the cold are its negatives. We solved this by putting it on top of a thick rug on the floor and using a really nice old, thick wool blanket under the mattress pad. I suspect a sheepskin mattress pad would similiarly solve the insulation problem.

regards,
trillium

Aerobed.. for the ho on the go.

I actually have 4 AeroBeds and just love them. The first I bought back in 2002 and it's now in my Paris apartment as my guest bed (I use my transformer to inflate). Another is a heated model - incomparably cozy during cold winters. The last 2 we use as our daily (nightly?) beds. They were to be transitional while we shopped for traditional beds but we found them so comfortable we decided to just keep them. They are on a thick rug and dressed with feather beds, great linens, a down comforter, Euro shams, down pillows - you get it. They look and feel just like great beds. I have never slept on a comfortable sofa bed and invariably find futons too hard - like sleeping on a bag of sand.

I strongly suggest buying your AeroBeds - and everything really - from Bed Bath & Beyond. Those 20% off coupons make a huge difference and they often offer rebates - in the form of gift cards on AeroBeds. Plus they will take back defective items anytime.

That kind of peace of mind can help anyone sleep better.

i have an aerobed for guests and for extra bedding when i go on ski trips and such, when we want to cram lots of people into a small hotel room. it's the most awesome temporary bed setup i've ever had, it's so quick to inflate and deflate. it's pretty heavy, though, but that's kind of irrelevant.

hmmmm, maybe we need to reconsider the aerobed. we used to sleep on one at my parents house and hated it. but it was not the top of the line model.

I do want to warn people against the EZ Bed, which is like Aerobed but with a frame attached. it looks super cool (it unfolds itself like some sort of prehistoric spider and inflates at the same time) but my parents slept on it when they visited us, and by 5 a.m. it needed re-inflation. a total nightmare. luckily we'd bought it from Land's End and they took it back!

Regarding cats and Aerobeds, I'm convinced they don't work. The first bed-- don't remember the brand-- lasted a few times, then seemed to succumb to a leak somewhere. We blamed the cats but tried another aerobed. Maybe we got another cheap model, maybe we ruined it trying to blow "cold" air from a semi-functioning hair dryer (some don't even have a cold option), maybe it was the cats. Our guest ended up on the floor, again. On the other hand, I've ended up on the floor after a (partial) night on an Aerobed at a non-cat-habitant house, so maybe it's not their happy little puncturing claws after all. The sum of experience: some great inflated sleep on functioning Aerobeds--the deluxe motorized kind-- but just as much, if not more, waking up on the hard (if carpeted) floor.

We had to throw out our bed after a nightmarish bed bug infestation. That was in early August, and we've been using the deluxe raised queen sized aerobed since then. Our cat spends a lot of time on the bed--and she just scratched a hole in it for the first time last month. The patch kit worked. We have a large quilt that covers most of the plastic--and I think that's necessary when a cat's involved.

I find the bed extremely comfortable. That said, the bed bugs scared me to death and I'm still afraid of getting a new mattress.

When I went to grad school I left my real bed behind and took a full-size aerobed. I slept on it everyday for over a year, and even though that was five years ago, I still have it and it seals completely.

It's more comfortable than any other temporary bed I've ever slept on. Two things - 1) always put it on top of a thick rug, so it doesn't squeak and so you don't get too cold. 2) If anyone will spend more than a day on it, get a great cotton mattress top - it'll let the bed breath much more and give you some separation from the plastic.

I have found after 10 years on a aerobed there begining to suck. the quality has gone bad. I recently switched to the new suede version and had to take it back to bed,bath and beyond 6 times arrrrgh. I however do know if you take a fitted sheet and place it underneath the bed it wont pop or leak usually and it stops the squeak along with. i have also found the areobeds stretch so the seem to lose air alot of times but i have found it took about 3 weeks of sleeping on it to get to its full stretch potential..however the new bed suede is alot sturdier yet seems to pop bubbles up after 3 months use..so that being said I am giving them a 6 of 10