What is the nuance of 寝てもらう in this context?

Question

Consider the following sentence.

私のアパートは狭い上に家具がたくさんあるので、お客さんが来た時、寝てもらう場所がない。

What is the nuance of using 寝てもらう rather than just 寝る? The guest is sleeping for my purpose?

Answer 1

In a way you can say that, but the dictionary explicitly gives a definition.

㋐他人の好意などにより自分が利益を受ける。また、依頼してある行為をさせる。
(oneself is benefited by kindness of somebody etc.; or request somebody to do something)
（デジタル大辞泉）

So you can translate the 寝てもらう "ask them to sleep" or just "let them sleep".

Answer 2

The subject of the phrase 寝てもらう is implicitly お客さん, the guest. In too many words, there is no place for the guest to receive for sleeping from the subject of the overall sentence, 私.