What I liked about ours was that the bed height was adjustable, so you can start out with it on the highest setting so you don't have to bend over very far, and lower the bed as the child progesses through rolling over to sitting up to standing up.
We've got a one of those (I think it's
this one, or similar -- we got it on eBay). When the baby's new-born, you set it near the top. As the baby gets older, you move the base down. Now that Alice (our youngest) can pull herself up, the base is set to the lowest height.
But don't put a gate right at the bottom. Let the baby have a stair or two to practice with.
We don't have a choice -- our banister doesn't start until the third step.