Reading lights for Airbnb bedrooms: three brands tested across five properties, one I keep reordering

There's a particular kind of 3-star review where everything is 5 except 'location' (which you can't change) and 'value' (which is code for 'I wanted to pay less'). I've had ten of those. Fine.

But the 4-star review that still bugs me, two years on, came from a couple who stayed at my Edinburgh 2-bed in March 2024. They'd had a good stay. The note under value said: 'One of the bedside lamps was too dim for reading — we had to use our phones.' They were in their 50s, had clearly been looking forward to a proper book-in-bed evening, and I'd failed to provide that.

I had a £22 touch-dimmer lamp from Amazon on each bedside table. Nice looking. Warm white. But on the lowest setting — the only setting that doesn't feel like a spotlight in a dark room — it's genuinely too dim to read by comfortably. I'd used it as a mood light; they'd wanted a reading lamp. These are different things and I'd treated them as the same.

What a bedside reading lamp actually needs

Adjustability. Not the cheap three-step touch dimmer that goes 'dim, bright, very bright, off.' Actual adjustable brightness with a low floor that's still usable.

Directionality. A lamp that throws light generally around the room is a mood lamp. A reading lamp needs to be aimable — a gooseneck, an adjustable arm, or at minimum a shade that directs light downward toward the book rather than outward toward the ceiling.

Warmth. Reading in cool white light (above 4000K) for more than an hour causes eye strain in most people. I use 2700K (warm white) bulbs or 3000K at most. The bedside is not the kitchen. The light should feel like a lamp, not an office ceiling.

Ease. The switch should be obvious. Not a rotary dimmer dial that requires two hands. Not a touch panel hidden on the bottom of the shade. Not a remote control that guests will lose within twenty minutes of arrival. A switch or a button that you find in the dark without thinking about it.

What I've tried

Ikea Ranarp (£25): Classic clip-on design, adjustable arm, simple pull-switch. The one I keep coming back to. Not a dimmer, which is a limitation — but the 4W LED it ships with is a pleasant warm white bright enough for reading and soft enough not to disturb a sleeping partner. I've had four of these across three properties. One got the arm joint snapped by a guest who was, I assume, very committed to repositioning it. The other three are still going. At £25, replacement is not a drama.

BHS-style ceramic base with fabric shade (£35–55 from various retailers): This is the lamp I had before, and it's the category I'd warn against for reading specifically. Beautiful. Does nothing for reading. Creates a pleasant glow. If you want mood lighting, fine. If you want functional reading light, the shade absorbs too much output and the direction is wrong.

Lumio Mushroom LED rechargeable (£38): I bought four of these on a whim after seeing them mentioned in a design publication. They're lovely objects. Warm, dimmable, rechargeable — no cable, which means guests can move them wherever they want. In practice: guests leave them on, fail to recharge them, and the next guest finds a dead light. I've switched all four to charging-dock mode (they come with a magnetic base charger) but they still die regularly. Not suited to a turnover environment unless you're checking and recharging every time, which my cleaner will not do and I don't blame her.

Anglepoise Original 1227 (£185–210): I have one of these in my own home. It's exceptional. I briefly considered putting one in the Brighton flat as a statement piece. Sense prevailed. At that price, I'd spend the whole stay worrying about whether a guest was going to bend the spring mechanism. They're not Airbnb furniture, however much I'd like them to be.

IKEA Kvart clip lamp (£10): I tried this on two bedside tables as a cheaper Ranarp alternative. The clip mechanism is flimsier. The cable is shorter. The positioning is less flexible. Still better than a bedside table lamp for actual reading, but not my first choice.

What I settled on

Ikea Ranarp on both bedside tables in every bedroom across all five properties. Simple, adjustable, pull-switch, easy to change the bulb, cheap enough to replace without a conversation. I pair them with a 4W or 5W warm white E14 LED from Philips — 2700K, 400–470 lumens — which is bright enough to read by without being harsh.

I added a small note card in each room: 'The bedside lamp has an adjustable arm — please don't force it past its natural range.' Roughly 20% of guests adjust it. Nobody has broken it since the card went in.

The twin-lamp question

For double and king rooms, both sides need a reading lamp. Not just the right side, or the host-is-right-handed side. Both. My first Edinburgh setup had a Ranarp on the right side and a ceramic mood lamp on the left. The 4-star review I mentioned was from someone who slept on the left.

Matching lamps are slightly boring and completely correct. Guests sleeping on each side of a bed should have equivalent, functional lighting. I know this sounds obvious. I got it wrong for eight months.

The ceiling light problem

Three of my five properties have ceiling light switches on the wall near the door. The relevant fact: if you're in bed and you've turned off the overhead light at the switch, you cannot turn it back on without getting up. This is why bedside lamps are not optional. They're the only light source guests can control from where they sleep.

If your property has a ceiling light operated by a switch and no bedside alternative, add a bedside lamp. Not as a luxury — as basic provision. A guest who has to get out of a warm bed to turn on a ceiling light and then navigate back across a dark room is going to notice, and not in a positive way.

The Ikea Ranarp costs £25. It is the cheapest way I've found to solve this problem properly.