At just £299, this is John Lewis's most affordable sofa bed – its 5-star reviewers say it's 'exceptional value for money'

The festive season is rolling in fast, and if you need a budget-friendly way to host overnight guests this Christmas, I recommend getting John Lewis's most affordable sofa bed on your radar pronto.

As Ideal Home's Sleep Editor, I've tested numerous sleeper sofas for our guide to the best sofa beds money can buy, and one thing I can tell you is this multifunctional furniture is *expensive*. It isn't uncommon for a top-of-the-range sofa bed to cost well over £2000.

In contrast, the John Lewis Clapton sofa bed costs a very welcome £349, and the even better news is it's currently on sale, so you can snap up the sofa bed that 5-star reviewers have dubbed 'exceptional value for money', for just £299 right now.

The Clapton sofa bed is a part of John Lewis's more affordable ANYDAY range, and having tested it in store, whilst it does look and feel a little basic compared to the brand's more expensive designs, it still feels like a solidly built option.

If you're looking for hosting solutions for a small guest bedroom or bijou home office, its compact footprint and armless design also make it a brilliant space-saver.

Another bonus is its angled backrest, which has two back positions so that it can be adjusted to suit upright sitting or lounging.

It comes in three colourways – including steel grey and a natural cream upholstery – but, like many of the sofa bed's 5-star reviewers, I loved the teal upholstered option. In person, this colourway is a far richer and deeper jewel tone than it looks online, and makes this look a much more expensive piece of furniture than its £299 price tag might suggest.

'Great quality product,' says one 5-star reviewer on the John Lewis website. 'Really like the fabric and sturdiness of the sofa bed. It's comfortable as a sofa, looks more expensive than it is, and converts easily into an almost double-sized bed.'

'Looks more expensive than the price tag,' agrees another happy owner. 'Perfect for me and for when my family stays over at Christmas.' 'Well-made and attractive,' shares a third owner, 'exceptional value for money.'

As a fellow 5-star reviewer sums up, 'I had researched sofa beds for ages, but so many had bad reviews. This one is good quality and a fair price. It's firm with a slight bounce to sit on and quite firm to lie on.'

In my testing experience, that firmness is standard for a sofa bed under £1000, and it's nothing some of our top tips for how to make a sofa bed more comfortable can't sort out.

As with any sofa bed, I recommend snapping up one of the best mattress toppers on the market in the upcoming Black Friday sales to use on top of it. That will also help to mask the join between the seat and backrest when this click-clack sofa bed is folded flat.

'The seat is lovely and firm, and conversion to a sofa bed is very easy,' says one final happy owner. 'The sofa is light enough for me to pull it away from the wall to convert. It will need a topper... for sleeping, as you can feel the join, but I expected this. It's a great size for a single occupant. I love the colour. This is exactly what I wanted, at a great price.'

However, if you're not convinced the Clapton sofa bed is the option for you, fear not, this isn't the only affordable sofa bed on the market. I've included two more of my tried-and-tested recommendations below for comparison.

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