40 years of Waterbeds and it's time to Jump Ship, need some advice.

In 1981 my wife and I purchased a great platform waterbed, solid oak drawers underneath, drawers up top and lots of solid oak (would cost about $5 grand to replace it alone. It is a California King with the standard 72x84 dimensions Hard Side. We are on our 3rd waterbed mattress (9years old now) it is a 6 layer fiber WB by American Manufacturing in Corona but, at 65 it’s starting to wear on my wife and I! So, time to move on I think… I"m just not getting the right support anymore…

So, Saying that we have been out looking locally at beds, reading what ever we can on line and have found some that seem could be a good choice. They are mainly Hybrid Beds. The really only local stores were Mattress Firm (which even in our small county have I think 3 stores) We went in and other than their “House Brand” they seem to push the Simmons beauty-rest line, they have a bunch of Sealy but none of the Sealy I tested felt good to me… They have a new I serta (I think) all foam/Latex style which I don’t feel comfortable on… so, that is why I headed to the Hybrid. To try to narrow this down they showed us the “World Class” (which now is the Platinum according to Simmons) and then they almost overwhelm you about two of the Beautyrest Black products the Gladney and The Alcove. It is amazing all 3 of the local sores all seem to push those two beds heavily and my guess there is a big sales spiff on them.

The hard thing is Mattress Firm has those two “Names/labeled” Simmons sewn up and they offer very a very little discount on either of them. So, we kind of said if we were going there perhaps the Alcove would fit… it has 1 1/2" memory foam then, 3" cooling gel foam and since it is a Hybrid it has 850 coils. It seems like the Simmons on this product has a set price on the product… is it really that good of a bed? I"m not 100 percent sold, my wife is closer than I am on it… but for $2200 it seems like alot of money for what you get… and with how hard the sales push is I am guessing those two products are the highest profit in that line and a great commission-spiff goes along with it.

In looking at the Simmons website, they of course do not show that model, and any google searches don’t bring any other reseller up other than Mattress Firm or Snoopy’s that is now part of Mattresss Firm chain.

Does anyone have any comment of the Simmons Bueatyrest “Black” Hybrid line of beds… I have to say that after owning our water bed for so long and a matterss chance out was always less than $250.00 ea it is shocking to see folks say that a $2000-2500 mattress will have to be replaced in 8 or 9 years .

We live in the 37087 area just east of Nashville, Some folks say wait until Memorial Day sales… .will it the sales really be that big on Memorial day… Of course Matteress Firm claims they now have their Memorial Day sales going on… the bed is $100.00 lower than what it was before the sale… .so, I guess the big question is, what kind of discount will be a Good Discount on these type of beds… even the Mail order stores are not much different in pricing on these products of Like product.

Any suggestions will greatly be appreciated…
Dave

Hi david1952,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

That certainly sounds like a nice piece of furniture and placing a more “traditional” mattress inside of the platform base should work just fine. It is common as time goes on that people desire a bit more of a “supportive” feel than what their fluid mattresses provide, so making a switch like this is quite a popular thing to do.

I would be very cautious about store/brand shopping in general because you are buying a specific mattress, not the brand, and most manufacturers have access to the same or similar components and materials (even “exclusives”) . Many manufacturers make a wide range of mattresses that can vary from lower quality and less durable materials to higher quality and more durable materials in a wide range of prices. The name of the manufacturer or store on the label or the price of the mattress won’t tell you anything about whether a specific mattress is suitable for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and personal preference, or whether there are any lower quality materials or weak links in the design that would affect the durability and useful life of the mattress. There is more about the risks of brand shopping in post #5 here and post #12 here.

The major brands such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta all tend to use lower quality and less durable materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay which is why I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely (along with the major retailers that focus on them as well) regardless of how they may feel in a showroom along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).

My first suggestion would be that you hit “pause” on your mattress shopping quest, and spend a few hours learning a bit more about mattresses and their componentry to better help you make an informed choice about what mattress to choose. The first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).

Outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new so I would always make sure that you find out the information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

This should give you a good start in assessing any new mattresses that you come across, plus…

Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article ) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Nashville area are listed in post #7 here . Hopefully this gives you a few better places to investigate.

Phoenix