There is a clear winner here at AT in the category of Air Mattresses. Thanks to everyone who chimed in about how to put up guests without having a guest room when you also don't want to ask them to stay at a hotel. See our winner and where to get her cheap after the cut.
The clear winner is the Aerobed mattress. You all had extremely positive things to say about her. So we looked up the best places to find one and it came down to 3 choices:
costco for the best value, the aerobed official site for the best selection and bed, bath and beyond for combination of good value and great return policy.
So now we just have to decide which one we want to get. And no matter what we will use the motorized blowing up mechanism, we still have bad memories of trying to blow up those inflatable rafts for the pool without a bicycle pump. Never again.
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see, i got the double high model so it wouldn't feel like sleeping on the floor. it makes a huge difference! for reals.
i got mine at target on a sale for $200. it was a huge expense at the time, but has been worth it!
Slate did a throrough analysis of inflatable beds... http://www.slate.com/id/2177978/
It's a good read.
Alex
Kdkaboom is absolutely right. The double high model is where it is at. I had to fight my spouse tooth & nail to get her to go for it, but the extra expense was way, way worth it. Spend the extra money, you'll be so happy you did!
We purchased the double high aerobed and love it. Our guests are always impressed with the fact they don't have to sleep near the floor, and with the right linens, you can't even tell it's an air matress. We found ours at Costco for $130 - super cheap. BJs on the east coast might have it as well.