I have two twin Aerobeds (not raised) and have used one myself for as long as a week when moving house (four times since I purchased the first one!).

I find it satisfactory as a bed and have always slept well on it, but it's hard for me, at my advanced age, to get off the floor. I am guessing that your DD is quite a lot younger than I am.

I was less comfortable on a sofabed, when I had one, because of the thin mattress, but some new sofabeds are available with air mattresses (!) that might be more comfortable.

Do you need to add a sofa to the den? An Aerobed (and I mean that brand) will cost less than a sofabed, but if you would be buying a sofa anyway, that makes a difference.

I have experience with both! We just bought a queen Crate & Barrel sofa bed for our place at the lake, to replace a REALLY uncomfortable one. I found it very comfortable (we've slept on it a night or two). It wasn't all that cheap - $2,000 or so. I think if you go the cheap route, which we did with the previous one, you'll regret getting it. I think you get what you pay for with sofa beds.

We have a raised queen size Aerobed here at home, for when we have extra company. I would definitely go with the taller one for anyone over the age of 20. ;) We've had some pretty *large* friends sleep on it, and they said it was comfortable. (Of course, they could have been being nice!) I think they're fine for a night or two. They go up very quickly, and come down very quickly. We roll ours up and put it in the closet - ta da! Very handy to have.

We have both, for when the kids come to visit, with our grandkids, most of who are now teenagers. They've tried both the sofa bed and the aerobed, and they all prefer the aerobed to the sofabed. Ours is very sturdy and will stay inflated forever, if you want it to. I found out that they stored one still inflated in an upstairs walk in closet last week that they'd used at Christmas and never deflated....it was still fully firm.

We've used the Aerobeds for years when visiting our children or they visit us. They're really not bad. We had a friend use it last winter. I had it made up with nice linens and a down comforter. She said she didn't know it was an Aerobed until I told her a couple months later. Then she called to get the details because she wanted to buy one for her home. I also recommend the higher ones. When we first used them and had the lower ones, that's the part I didn't like. It's just too hard to get up and down. It doesn't matter how old you are. We've bought both our kids one to keep at their homes for when we visit or they have company. It's been a really good investment.

I recently redecorated a guest room and bought a raised aerobed that received rave reviews from our guests. It was also a lot less expensive than a new sofa bed, plus I liked the fact that it's portable. My old sofa bed was great when it was new but we also spent more money on it for the upgraded mattress. Unfortunately, the mattress did not hold up that well over time. I'd go with the Aerobed no matter what the budget is as long as you get a raised bed.

I vote for the aerobed. We've had one for about 5 years now. We host a family for a week every April. (Long story, they drive down for a church event.) At first they always brought their own camping mattress. However, the man was having back problems so we convinced them to try our pillow-top aerobed. Now, we just have it ready and waiting for their visits. DH and I (and at least one child) slept on it for a few weeks while we were moving. I liked it much better than our sleeper sofa. (BTW, sleeper sofas weigh approx. 300 lbs. I'll never have another one!) Our aerobed is the floor version, but if I had to buy a new one for guests, I'd buy the one on legs. If I had to buy a new one for my children's slumber parties, I'd buy another floor version.

Be sure and read a few reviews to make sure you are getting the best model for your dollar. DH read a few reviews first and quickly discovered that not all aerobeds have the same quality.

How about yet another idea? I've slept on raised and low aerobeds (ok, but not like a real bed IMHO) as well as "high-quality" sofa beds (worse than an aerobed usually).

So since you said guests will be using DD's bed, why not have DD just sleep on the sofa? Our DD has a sofa with removable back cushions that is far more comfortable than either of the other options mentioned. She makes it up as a bed and that was my preference until she recently converted their study into a guest bedroom with bed.

Plus you may already have the sofa available. Just another idea.

Have you thought about the thicker futons? There's some that are made very well with layers of high density foam and inner springs. If you don't need the sofa though I'd go with an aerobed or something like it. We have a camping bed with "legs" like that those fold-up chairs so many use at ballgames. Attached to the legs is a zipper case that you slide the mattress into before you add the air. Hubby and I slept on it and it's really quite comfortable. One thing nice about air mattresses is you can adjust the comfort by how much air you put in them. I'll see if I can find a photo online of the type we bought. It has it own suitcase on wheels to store it in too.

Just to give a little more info...my DD had the raised Aerobed in SLC for over 4 years and now my SIL has it in her house...it has seen a lot of use. Everyone that has ever slept on it says that it is very very comfortable. The only negatives are...it is "slippery" for bedding, it is hotter than a regular mattress, if 2 use the Queen size they will "come together" whether they want to or not. That said it is still a bargain ( we bought the expensive one) .

Now about sofa beds. My DB in NYC has a queen size that we use. He had the regular mattress changed to an airmattress fit to the sofa bed. Talk about COMFORTABLE. It is the best. You deflate when you fold up the sofa bed and inflate when you are ready to use...electric pump...takes seconds. Can adjust hardness...it is a dream to sleep on and DH and I have shared it a lot of nights. So now you have a good idea of what is available. Good Luck. c

I found one linked below at Cabela's. We bought ours as Shopko but it sounds like it's the same one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabela's Folding Air Bed

Interesting that trailrunner found the aerobed to be hot. I have one. At one time or the other my neice and my nephew have slept on it (not together). They have both complained that it is cold. I, too, have slept on it, but I didn't notice if it were cold. When one of them has to use it, we put a sleeping bag on it and then make it up with mattress pad, sheets, etc.

Regardless, the aerobed is much more comfortable than an inexpensive sofa bed. We bought ours at Costco 6 or 7 years ago.