3 hours both way in one day. yucky

A bridal suite? Really weird, or really convenient, depending on how you look at it.

I've been lucky enough to live pretty close to various Ikeas over the years. My trip now is the longest - about 45 minutes.

my mom flew 3,700 miles (Alaska to Burbank) to visit the IKEA by my house and place a kitchen order in person.

oh, i would definitely stay over. lived in guangzhou for six months, where ikea was the one place i felt safe buying furniture and meatballs. thk god they're building 'em over in china. otherwise i might've flown home...

I drove 4 hours each way to the one in Houston when I was in school. We went early in the morning and were supposed to spend the night with my friend's parents in Houston. But we were so excited to put together our new stuff that we drove home that night.

this amuses and creeps me out. however, i might just be willing to do such a thing.

i guess the furthest i went to an ikea was from kensington, brooklyn, ny to elizabeth, nj via the ikea shuttle at penn station. and even then, i only got a five dollar wardrobe rack.

I ordered kitchen cabinets and k-tops for my house in Seattle and when I moved to Alaska I did the same thing (this time over the phone). They shrink-wrapped my order on a pallet and barged it up here. Several people in my small town have ordered kitchen cabinets from Ikea -- they are reasonably priced and beautiful with a full selection. Go Ikea -- and Yeah, I'd spend the night! ;-)

Living in Baltimore, I'm in between 2 IKEA's. The closest one is the smallest one in the country (That's White Marsh). So if I want something and I'm worried it will be either sold out or not in stock, I go to the College Park location, (which is only 45 minutes.)

I feel VERY spoiled, since I could hit both in one day with only driving for an hour... ^_^" Since I live so close, I usually go to just walk around.

Ikea would be no where near the bottom of my "places I'm willing to sleep" list. A few years ago I would have probably included it in my plans for visiting certain towns!

Let's see... first IKEA visit was the one in Elizabeth, NJ. 2nd visit was outside of London. And then one in New Haven, CT.

Go figure I live in Miami. So it was quite a trek. You cannot imagine how I had to bring the stuff back. Lamps, shelves, drapes, utensils... I was a bit crazy.

The one in South Florida opens in the fall! Cannot wait, I wonder if they would offer the overnight stays here as well... I would be first on the list!

I'd never been to an ikea before one opened up about 30 minutes from me (and about 15 minutes from my parents).

Ah, Ikea memories...I've always been relatively close to an Ikea. My first Ikea experience was in 1995 or 96, when I went to the one in Pittsburgh, 45 minutes or so from my parents house, to buy a dresser. I was exercising my "new aesthetic" and sold my very real but also very child-like furniture to buy something very swedish and modern. I still have that dresser, though it's showing its age. In this time period, I also visited the one outside Philly with a college professor once--a 2 hour drive...but it was on the way to something in Philly, so I don't know if that counts.

When I lived in DC-area Alexandria, I went to the horrible one in Woodbridge, VA. Getting there and back was such a pain that it felt like 2 hours. And, it was always a mob scene.

Fortunately, now, I live within 20-25 minutes from the College Park one...my friend met some friends for breakfast there the other day!

I just got home from Ikea, a drive of 30 mins. every one worth it. I only picked up a couple of items, but I'm shopping for a chaise. Not excited with what I saw. Oh well another day perhaps. I would def. stay the night at an Ikea, great idea.

Hello? Free accomodations?? Considering that Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world, I would consider a free stay at Ikea to be an essential part of any budget traveler's itinerary!

If they open an Ikea in Hawaii with overnight accomodations, I am so there!

If only they had a hostel here in New York for when the Leather Invasion of Ikea happened last Summer... THAT I would have stayed over for!

Should I say it- I have never been to IKEA! Didnt have one in Boston when I lived there. Havent got up the nerve to go to LI or NJ since I have been here.

To Jamie:

You can also check if an item is in stock at a particular store on the website. Might save you some hassle.

Hmmm, sounds like a Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler kind of adventure. I'd do it. Hope no one forgets that the bathroom displays are not actually plumbed.

Actually, it reminds me of that lame Oprah book turned movie where Natalie Portman gives birth in a WalMart after staying there. Or that episode of Dawson's Creek where Pacey and Tom Cruise's hostage wife had got locked in a KMart overnight.

I dunno if I'd stay over night at an IKEA but it is an adventture one way or anothyer. :-)

I've been going to the IKEA here in Seattle since the mid 90's and have seen it grow and grow, and grow, and grow some more until now it's 2-3X it's original size and takes up a little over 2 hangers for covered parking. :-)

Yet, I've never been more than 45 minutes to an hour away from it. I have been once to the one in LA in 2002 and it was the first 2 story store I've seen.

No question for me. Yes, I would stay over night at IKEA. Just for fun.

sounds good, i love ikea. we live in the netherlands now, but when we lived in belgrade we went to austria for many things, including ikea visits.

oh, by the way, that was a ten hour drive.

one more thing - now i feel really old. as well as living in europe for a long time, i'm a native pittsburgher. you said that "while you were growing up" you went to ikea pittsburgh (robinson town center) annually??? in my mind that's still a new place, recently built. i don't think i look like a fossil, but i must be.

Woo hoo for IKEA Pittsburgh! Growing up nearby, I never knew it was a big deal to have one until my friends from college who were from Cleveland and Columbus would talk about the trips their families would make to come to Pgh, in an empty U-Haul.

this is genius marketing for ikea beds. don't know about you, but i've always been skittish about ikea mattresses and bedding. unlike the rest of ikea stuff, the mattresses are tainted by a low price point, regardless of quality. The bedding has always felt cheap (roughish 200 tc duvet covers, e.g.) so this is a great way of getting people to think about ikea along with the other mattresses you'd get at sleepy's. truly brilliant marketing. interesting that not a single comment here seems to see that.

I slept for 3 weeks on an IKEA futon mattress at my daughter's and son-in-law's apartment in Paris this spring, and woke up with far less aches and pains than on my much more expensive mattress at home. I'd buy an IKEA mattress in a heartbeat.

3 traffic lights

bromo: wth such a small number of beds I don't think it's done for marketing, at least not for genius one.

Jamie (and renata): you could also call actually.