Some are better than others and it depends of course on the thickness of the mattress and how much metal is exposed on the sides. But no folding sofa beds are THAT good.

A daybed or regular sofa is just as good an option in my opinion

I would go daybed. If you go with a fold-out, ask if there are mattress quality options for the model you’re interested in.

I saw a Murphy bed that when folded up, had a table on the bottom part of it that could be folded down, making that room much more versatile. The mattress is a regular mattress.

I can’t remember where I saw it, but it might have been on Property Brothers.

Then I just found this wall bed with a TV stand:

http://matrixwallbeds.com/projects/avant-garde-double-size-sideways-wallbed-tv-stand/

I like that idea @Kardamom.

I can sleep on concrete, but the wife has a terrible time on sofa beds, cots, etc. Her suffering prompts me to warn you to accept nothing without first trying it out.

Have good pillows for every joint one extra to hold and one or two extra for the head, so you can flip for maximum cooling. I sleep on the sofa once a month. For variety or to stay up for a television. Its good sleep because the sofa is under the Air conditioning unit.

Get an air mattress. There are many sizes and styles. Firmness can be controlled by how much air you put into it. It could be used on top of that flimsy sofa mattress.

^^ That’s a possibility. I’m going to be exploring options for a while and haven’t seen the room yet.

Historically, I have slept much better on a sofa than any sofabed.

What a timely question!

I actually slept well on a sofa bed last night—for the first time that I can remember! (I think I slept on a sofa bed with no issues as a young child. But can’t remember this ever happening as an adult.)

So much so that when I woke up I had to take the sheets off to take a closer look at the make of the sofa and mattress. It’s from JL Sleep Shop

Seriously thinking about getting one ourselves. (We’ve been looking for one too.)

I know you said no futons.
But what about this type of futon?

Also really like this daybed

A futon is decent with a thick Futon mattress—but they do not fold.

DO NOT GO THE ROUTE OF THE SOFA BED! It is uncomfortable as hell to sit on and worse to sleep on! (There is a bar that runs right across the back support and you sleep on that bar all night…or you try to sleep on that bar all night…) They are only good to look at, nothing more. Unless the mattress is always removed and just put by itself on the floor…
get a futon or a roll-away, or a day bed, but, for heavens sake NOT A SOFA BED! You’ll hate it like I hated the one Mom and Dad got and I couldn’t WAIT to take to the dump when the time came!!! WHAT a POS!

@kritiper That has been my experience too.

@raum I love the look of that daybed and i think the owners would too. I just wonder if a mattress without a box spring would be soft enough for me.

Never
My rack in basic was more comfortable

@janbb How do you fare on hotel beds?

@stanley Zolpidem

Murphy bed is the best. A real mattress, and way way easier to open than a sofa bed. If you’re on the shorter side you could get a horizontal open single bed or full. You can even get a horizontal queen. I only mention the horizontal because the TV can go on top of it, like it would on a dresser. Otherwise, the TV is on the side, which might be fine in their space.

Air mattresses on the floor can be fine also. My aunt had an air mattress sofa bed. It was a pain to open and close though.

@janbb That’s disturbing. Particularly since you travel so much. As if the dependency risks weren’t bad enough, there’s the possible bonus of induced depression. So the problem isn’t with a bed. It’s finding a storable yet comfortable mattress on which to rest your feathers.

I have always had two sofabeds in my house. I now just have one here in my new place. It’s a Natuzzi leather sofa with a pull-out queen bed. The bars are gone. That bed sleeps like a dream. I actually slept on it for two nights. My daughter slept on it for a week and loved it too. I would NEVER have myself or a guest sleep on a futon or a sofa that the back just pushes down to make sort of a bed. Sleeping on a surface where people sit is an offensive thought for me.

@stanley. I manage my medical needs just fine by now but thanks for your concern.

I don’t know if someone mentioned above that some sleep sofas have the option to upgrade the mattress, and again some are inflatable.

One other thing I like about the Murphy bed is you can have the sofa available to sit on even if your Murphy bed is open, assuming there is both pieces of furniture in the room.

I usually sleep on the sofa and don’t bother taking the bed out. I sleep reasonably well.

@Jleslie Can you send a link? I thought Murphy beds just fold down up to the wall?

Do you mean for the horizontal beds? https://www.bedderway.com Click on horizontal. I encourage you to go to see a Murphy bed show room near you. It’s much easier on the back than a sofa bed. Some moderately priced furniture stores have them too, like City Furniture. Im not sure if everyone carries the horizontal options. The vertical single beds can be a narrow side of a shelving unit.

What I meant by the sofa in the room, is the Murphy bed would be on the TV wall, with a sofa facing it, or a side wall. It’s two separate pieces of furniture. If you want to just leave the bed down while you’re staying there, the separate sofa is still in the room. It can be a pain to put away the bed every day on a sleep sofa.

Edit: one tip is google wall bed not only Murphy bed in your area. I think Murphy might be trademarked or patented in some way. However, some furniture stores call beds with shelves wall units a wall bed, but it doesn’t fold up into the unit.