mattress shopping

[gingerBcookie]

i need to buy a king size mattress and have no idea where to start! What do I look for? What''s a decent price range? Where do I look?

 

[glitterata]

We bought a queen size tempurpedic from 1-800-mattress, and we love it! It''s temperature-sensitive foam, not everybody''s taste, but it''s been almost a year now and whenever we get into bed we say to each other, "I love our mattress!"

In the course of researching, I found several websites where you can choose your own components to build a foam mattress. Many people love layered latex mattresses. There''s something of an online cult, like with diamonds. They argue about similar issues, too: it''s much cheaper to buy a foam mattress onlline, but you have to be confident that you''ll like it or can return it if you don''t test it in person in a B&M store first.

We could have saved a bunch of money ordering an imitation Tempurpedic online, but we decided to go with the real thing because the feel is subtly different.

We decided against a conventional spring-type mattress because that''s what we had before, and the springs seemed to poke me in the back. Also, it was very bouncy--my husband tends to thrash around in his sleep, and whenever he kicked, the old mattress would bounce around and wake me up. With the foam mattress, his movement stays on his side of the bed.

Whatever you do, make sure you buy from somewhere with a solid return policy. There are lots of horror stories about shops refusing to take back defective mattresses because they claim the customers soiled them.

 

[glitterata]

Here were a few of the websites we looked at:

http://www.foamsource.com/
http://www.foamorder.com/
http://www.foamsweetfoam.com/
http://www.flobeds.com/latex.lasso?id=IC


And most of all, check out this bulletin board full of obsessed people. As a pricescoper, you should feel right at home .

http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=wtb-mattress

 

[mrssalvo]

We bought a Sterns and Foster a few years ago. hubby thought the tempurpedic was out of our price range and didn''t really research it. We''ve since learned they are decently priced and wish we''d gotten one. We well be upgrading our mattress in the near future and it''s going to be a tempurpedic for us.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

We have a pillow top king. We got it from an outlet store here in NC. I *think* it was between $600-$700. I can''t remember. We love it. It is SOOO comfortable.

 

[MissGotRocks]

We bought a king size tempurpedic mattress set about a year ago and really love it. It would highly recommend it. It really conforms to the contours of your body and it does make you feel warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

 

[Miranda]

We are in the mattress market, also. Recently we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in San Clemente (CA) and they had the BEST bed. I did not want to get up. They said it was the "Do Not Disturb" mattress topped with a feather cushion. I''m trying to recreate that bed for our new house. I was just getting ready to do some online hunting to see what I come up with. Sam''s Club (if you have one locally) is having a mattress event this weekend and many stores have Memorial Day sales, maybe you can go shopping this weekend and try some out. I thought about a Tempurpedic, but, what would my kids jump on - They don''t bounce!

 

[dani13]

Ohh...mattresses...I love to shop, but I have to say shopping for our King size mattress in Jan was like a hellish nightmare for me...

First you and your hubby should go to stores in the area, I am not sure where you live, do you have Sleepy's by you, or 1 800 Mattress? Also, you can try major furniture and department stores. Go and physically try out all the different mattresses- there are so many to choose from, and the price ranges are ridiculous! They can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to 10K plus!! Can you believe that!?

Once you narrow down what you both like, then you can price-shop. We ended up getting a King Koil pillow top mattress (King size) on sale for like $1500 I want to say? It was closer to 2K, but we waited for the sale...King Koil is a smaller company, they dont advertise as much as say Sealy or Sterns and Foster, but from what I got from several professionals around here is that the King Koil company makes a very good product that far exceeds the major competitors...what it came down to was that we both loved how it felt when we tried it out, and the price was right...mattresses are so expensive though!

 

[tawn]

We went to stay at the Westin in Las Vegas, and slept in their "Heavenly Bed"...and my husband made me contact the hotel to find out what kind of mattress it was!

The list price for the CA King was about $2000, but I haggled them down to almost 1/2 that! Don''t pay list price as there is a HUGE markup on mattresses! We bought it at Sleeptrain, and got free feather pillows, mattress pad, delivery etc...

Our bed is awesome and has a terry covered pillow top!! Several of our friends were so impressed that they went and bought the same bed!

 

[noobie]

I am currently on a quest for the ultimate bed which is involving more research and time then a super duper ideal diamond search. I think foam beds are very personal. Some people love them, some hate them. I am one that hates them. Latex is very popular these days. I don''t like Tempurdic. I bought a couple of home theater seats with it and although it felt good initially, I switched it out later.

Right now, I am actively looking at hand made British and European beds made with natural materials (cotton, lambswool, cashmere, horsehair). I was in Harrod''s a few weeks back and they have the most amazing bed collection. The ones I am looking at now are Vi-Spring, Relyon, Hypnos and Hastens. Now, I''m almost ashamed to admit the budget I have set aside for this, but I figure we spend a thrid of our lives sleeping, so I want to be comfortable. Many here would rather have the really nice 1.75 carat rock instead! (I have actually found three beds that go for $20K for a king

)

That said, mattresses are really personal and they do behave differnently when someone is sleeping next to you. Make sure you try alot of them and have your SO with you and move around to see if it disturbs either of you. If you find your preferences are very different in terms of firm and soft you can buy a bed with two halves that zip together of different firmness.

Try lots of types, including latex and memory foam (Tempurpedic) and remember innerspring mattress will change a bit as it settles.


Tawn: The Westin is among my favs for hotel beds. They were the first to feature a nice bed, now many are doing teh same. They have a website were you can buy the linens as well.

 

[tawn]

Date: 5/26/

That said, mattresses are really personal and they do behave differnently when someone is sleeping next to you. Make sure you try alot of them and have your SO with you and move around to see if it disturbs either of you. If you find your preferences are very different in terms of firm and soft you can buy a bed with two halves that zip together of different firmness.

Try lots of types, including latex and memory foam (Tempurpedic) and remember innerspring mattress will change a bit as it settles.


Tawn: The Westin is among my favs for hotel beds. They were the first to feature a nice bed, now many are doing teh same. They have a website were you can buy the linens as well.

Love that heavenly bed! And my husband can be sleeping on one side and I do can a flying SuperGrover leap onto my side and his side doesn''t move at all! I''m an insomniac, so that was important for us!

For 20K, I''d want a mattress that could make me breakfast or something!

 

[gingerBcookie]

thanks for all the suggestions! we''re prob gonna go shoppingtomorrow and hopefull find some memorial day sales

 

[Miranda]

Date: 5/26/2006 4:14:43 AM
Author: tawn
We went to stay at the Westin in Las Vegas, and slept in their ''Heavenly Bed''...and my husband made me contact the hotel to find out what kind of mattress it was!

The list price for the CA King was about $2000, but I haggled them down to almost 1/2 that! Don''t pay list price as there is a HUGE markup on mattresses! We bought it at Sleeptrain, and got free feather pillows, mattress pad, delivery etc...

Our bed is awesome and has a terry covered pillow top!! Several of our friends were so impressed that they went and bought the same bed!

I was just mattress shopping today and tried this bed...It''s great. That''s a super cheap price. How did you haggle them down??? I was just at a Sit and Sleep today and they wanted $3300! I''ll have to try Sleeptrain. I think the one nearest to me is in Escondido.

Mattress prices are crazy. One was $8000. There is just no way. We went jewelry shopping on Saturday. That''s almost the price to upgrade to that 2.31 ct. vvs2 oval I''ve had my eye on

!

 

[gingerBcookie]

so after a little research, which ended up mostly confusing me more than anything else, what i came away with is this...the Heavenly Bed and the Do Not Disturb bed are both made by simmons and the lure is the indivdual poceted springs. which helps with less bounce transfer and the nice cushy contour fit (less pressure point pain). Turn out its also the same bed (simmons beautyrest all of them) that we had in our honeymoon suite that hubby loved.

so great, go get a simmons beautyrest right? nope. big ole downside. after slogging through tons of online reviews, found out the simmons tend to break down relativelt quickly. 6 months to 4 years depending on whether or not you have a pillow top (pillow tops break down faster) and that simmons waranty isn''t worth the paper its printed on and their customer service is laughable.

downhearted, we give up and decide to just go and start lying down on mattresses and turn a blind eye to research (mattress research is just not as engrossing as diamond research

). We figure, we won''t spend too much, so if it turn out to be crap, it won''t hurt so bad. not the smartest move, but whatever.

so we go to mattress firm, and the salesguy starts doing his spiel and basically, he taught us an efficient way to mattress shop. First you figure out foam, latex, springs. WE chose spings. THen firm or soft support. We wanted firm. THen firm top, pillow top, or plush top (which is in between firm and pillow). We we decided we were a firm support with plush top couple. THne he said, now just go lie on all the different brands with all of their firm with plush top. So we did. And guess what we fell in love with?

Yep, the Simmons beutyrest with the pocketed coils. DOH! We couldn''t help it...it feel HEAVENLY... What to do?

So we decided to buy one, middle of the line, knowing it may break down, but being ok with the money we spent for one or so years of sleep heaven before we go into waranty hell

.

Anyway..we''re super excited for it to be delivered

It honestly feels like sleeping on a cloud. Yay, can''t wait! Hope we don''t regret this in a year

 

[dani13]

Didn''t I tell you mattress shopping was fun???? Congrats on finding one, and hopefully you wont have to do that again for a long time, right???

 

[aljdewey]

HAHA - this is SO funny - nearly identical experience that hubby and I had last Thanksgiving.

We went to buy a king bed. My last mattress purchase was 3 years prior (queen sized Lady englander that we LOVED, but moving up to king now). We tried EVERYWHERE to find the Englander - no go. Undergoing management change, blah blah.

Research online was damn near pointless. At the end of the day, we decided we wanted something with thick gauge steel (like the Englander) and comfortable.

What we ended up with? Simmons Beauty rest....and we got it for a STEAL! We tried it on the showroom floor - so comfy! Sticker shock at the $2100 price (last GOOD queen was $899, so huge jump). They had the SAME mattress out in clearance center......minor cosmetic dent in the steel frame at the foot of the bed, so they couldn't sell it new. We got the mattress, box spring and new frame for $750.....and it sleeps like a DREAM!

We went firm with moderate padding (not pillow-top, but not minimal either).....middle of the road. It has the same thing, Ginger - independent coils. Could not BELIEVE the improvement in sleep! I no longer wake up every time hubby rolls over.....I only wake up to alarm or to go to the bathroom. If he comes to bed later and I'm already asleep, I don't even stir anymore. I used to ALWAYS wake up if he came to bed later.

We SWEAR by this mattress, and I don't care if I only get 4-5 years out of it for the price we paid. We've had it since thanksgiving, and I'm delighted to far.

 

[tawn]

We got ours at the Sleeptrain in Point Loma...and you have to haggle like a crazy woman but they''ll come down!! There is another shop across the street (by Starbucks) and you can "back & forth" them!!

If all else fails, call me and I''ll talk to them. They told me that they would give everyone I sent there a good deal, and I brought my friend in and she got almost the same deal I did!

 

[gingerBcookie]

Date: 6/7/2006 12:55:11 PM
Author: aljdewey
HAHA - this is SO funny - nearly identical experience that hubby and I had last Thanksgiving.

We went to buy a king bed. My last mattress purchase was 3 years prior (queen sized Lady englander that we LOVED, but moving up to king now). We tried EVERYWHERE to find the Englander - no go. Undergoing management change, blah blah.

Research online was damn near pointless. At the end of the day, we decided we wanted something with thick gauge steel (like the Englander) and comfortable.

What we ended up with? Simmons Beauty rest....and we got it for a STEAL! We tried it on the showroom floor - so comfy! Sticker shock at the $2100 price (last GOOD queen was $899, so huge jump). They had the SAME mattress out in clearance center......minor cosmetic dent in the steel frame at the foot of the bed, so they couldn''t sell it new. We got the mattress, box spring and new frame for $750.....and it sleeps like a DREAM!

We went firm with moderate padding (not pillow-top, but not minimal either).....middle of the road. It has the same thing, Ginger - independent coils. Could not BELIEVE the improvement in sleep! I no longer wake up every time hubby rolls over.....I only wake up to alarm or to go to the bathroom. If he comes to bed later and I''m already asleep, I don''t even stir anymore. I used to ALWAYS wake up if he came to bed later.

We SWEAR by this mattress, and I don''t care if I only get 4-5 years out of it for the price we paid. We''ve had it since thanksgiving, and I''m delighted to far.

LOL, that''s hilarious! i''m glad to hear ya''ll are liking it so far, i think we got the same mattress. They found one on clearance in the computer and were going to give it to us for $525 (mattress only, we don''t need a box spring for our bed), but but the store that supposedly had it didn''t

. We ended up getting a brand new one and managed to get the guy to give it to us for $612. We''re picking it up saturday and i''m uber excited

.

 

[gingerBcookie]

Date: 6/7/2006 11:50:00 PM
Author: tawn
We got ours at the Sleeptrain in Point Loma...and you have to haggle like a crazy woman but they''ll come down!! There is another shop across the street (by Starbucks) and you can ''back & forth'' them!!

If all else fails, call me and I''ll talk to them. They told me that they would give everyone I sent there a good deal, and I brought my friend in and she got almost the same deal I did!

i''m laughing at the image of you "hagg[ling] like a crazy woman"! how convenient there''s a nother mattress store across the street! I was tempted to take my mom with me, as she is of the crazy-woman-haggler variety (which used to embarrass me, but now is a skill I envy!) but I figured I need to be a big girl and do this on my own.

 

[Sundial]

Okay I have been waking up every day for weeks with a sore neck so I decided it was time for our old Spring Air mattress and box spring to go. We've had them for so long we can't even recall when we bought them! I remembered seeing this thread and decided to bring it back to life. Also went to forums specifically for mattresses. You guys are right there is no clear cut answer on the perfect mattress! First I thought I must have the Simmons Heavenly Bed until I read a bunch of horror stories about it breaking down after a short time. Then I decided maybe we needed to try something different. Went to stores and tried out air beds and latex and finally decided on a Tempurpedic Celebrity king. Seems like most people either love it or hate it. It seemed wonderful in the store, but I hope we like it as well at home. Got Tempurpedic pillows too. At least there is a generous return period. Compared to this diamond shopping is easy!!!

 

[PreCiouSJeWeL920]

Haha,

I am looking for a king mattress also. Does anybody has any experience with sleep number bed? I am so tempted!

 

[diamondfan]

Considering how much time we sleep and how messed up we can get without it (it is not just being cranky or not productive, it is downright dangerous to be sleep deprived)...it does seem worth really researching it. Just hope the two people like similar things, otherwise the adjustables where each person is in control of their side seems to be a necessity...

 

[sumbride]

When my FI and I were moving into our house last year we toyed with the idea of getting a king size bed before we realized it wouldn''t really leave us any space in our townhouse bedroom. We went to the Sleep Number store and tried out the beds there, fell in love, and got a price quote. I think, with all the options we wanted, it was $4k. We didn''t have that at the time (still don''t) and my queen size was still in pretty good shape, so we decided to wait. The lady from that store called me EVERY week for 6 months and still sends me emails! TOUGH SELL! We loved the bed, and when we replace our bed, we''ll be getting a sleep number bed, but I think I''ll order it online now that I know what we like. That saleswoman certainly did not earn our business with her persistence! UGH.

The thing I liked about the Sleep Number bed, besides the ability to make it hard or soft on a whim, was that the individual parts are replaceable... so if something breaks, you don''t have to get rid of the bed, just replace the part. They have a great warranty on them, and since they come in boxes, it''s one of the few king size beds that is easy to move into a townhouse up the stairs! That''s a BIG consideration for us. You can also get a pillow top sleep number, have the best of both worlds.