So we originally had a Simmons Beautyrest Dresden Plush which we both loved purchased in 2005. But it was getting old and we wanted to go from a Queen to a Cal King. We shopped locally at a place here in Santa Cruz called Bay Bed and Mattress. We bought the top of the line Royale and found it very uncomfortable. It was 4 layers of taylay latex over an innerspring core, fully customizable. To their credit, Bay Bed and Mattress provided excellent customer service and came out several times to adjust the latex layers of the mattress but ultimately we were waking up sore and not sleeping well and returned the mattress.
We then bought an eco-friendly memory foam mattress from Amerisleep. We again bought the top of the line mattress, the Colonial. We both found it too firm despite the online description saying it was the ultimate in plushness. We bought the memory foam topper to give it more of a plush feeling but that is also not working and we will be returning the mattress and the topper after our 30 day sleep trial is over.
This is leading us back to the innerspring mattresses with the basic foam layers found in most of the big, national brands like the Simmons we had previously. We are now very wary about buying sight unseen on the internet but where we live there is only national chain outlets outside of our local Bay Bed and Mattress.
Can anyone point me in the right direction here? Most of what I am reading in the tutorials and in the forums is that the big mattress companies use inferior foams and are no better than mattresses made locally and regionally. I would like to avoid the big mattress companies if possible but it seems almost impossible at this point. Are there any high quality, local, US-made companies out there that make mattresses that aren’t memory foam or latex. And if so, how do I try before I buy so we don’t end up returning a third mattress?
Any help, advice or encouragement would be appreciated. Thank you.
I’m sorry to hear that your mattresses didn’t work out for you as well as you hoped for. Baybed in particular is a particularly high quality and great value mattress and as you mentioned they have great service as well but of course the quality and value of a mattress has little to nothing to do with how well you may sleep on it.
There is more about the most important parts of the value of a mattress purchase in post #13 here.
I would keep in mind that nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone else to know which mattress may be the best match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) so your own careful testing and experience will be the most reliable way to know whether any particular mattress is a good match for you (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). I would encourage you to do some local testing on different types of mattresses to see which types of mattresses and materials you tend to prefer and do best with so you will have some good reference points regardless of whether you end up purchasing locally or making another online purchase. If you use the testing guidelines in the tutorial post you will have the best chance of success. There is also more about the “risks” involved with different ways of choosing a mattress in post #2 here that would also be well worth reading. At least you had the foresight to make sure that you had good options after a purchase in case your choices didn’t work out as well as you hoped for.
You seem to be leaning towards “top of the line” mattresses so I would also be aware that this may not be the best approach because a mattress that is more costly or that is “top of the line” doesn’t have anything to do with whether it will be a more suitable choice for you.
The tutorial post has most of the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to decide on the types of mattresses and materials you may be interested in testing and to help you make the best possible choice but every material has lower quality and higher quality versions so regardless of the types of mattresses or materials you are considering I would always make sure that the materials are high quality and durable so that there are no weak links in the mattress. When you get to step 3 in the tutorial then the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the San Jose, Santa Cruz, Salinas, and Monterey areas are listed in post #2 here.
Thank you for the thorough response. It looks like we are going to have to travel to a few of the independent stores outside of the Santa Cruz area. We will check out the stores you listed in the Salinas, Monterey and San Jose areas.
I will continue to look through the forums and educate myself. Thanks for all your help.
