Brooklyn Best Mattress Ever Vs. Nest Alexander

Hey folks -

Been lurking around/reading the copious information on here - I feel like I’ve just taken the red pill from the Matrix with all the stuff I’m learning about mattresses.

After being folded a bit during 5 moves in 5 years (4 local, 1 cross-country) and a lot of sleeping on our sides (we’re a little on the heavier side), our trusty Simmons Cal King Euro Plush is finally starting to “blow out” on the sides, leading us to conclude that a new mattress would probably be in order.

After our last mattress purchase (for guest/kids room for our new house), we aren’t super thrilled about dealing with the used car salespeople at some of the big chains. We are also thinking about some of the memory foam/latex mattresses, so our research has led us to some of the “new style” mattress retailers.

Stats -

Me: 6’6’‘, 250, - mostly side sleeper, some back sleeping
Wife: 5’6’', 230 - mostly side sleeper and back sleeper.

We aren’t huge into ultra-firm mattresses, so we’ve been trying to focus in on some of the “millennial mattresses” that have some options on the firmness/softness - namely Brooklyn Bedding Best Mattress Ever (Medium) and the Nest Alexander (Medium). Looking for Cal King size (see my height).

Trying to keep things below $1500 max - trying to get a decent one, but at the same time not looking to go for the one made of albino Tibetan alpaca hair filling (i.e. the $3000+)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, does anyone has any recommendations for mattresses which are available from other manufacturers/retailers that are similar to the “feel” of those mattresses? Just want to make sure the foam/latex works for us (both of us have only slept on inner spring).

Thanks in advance!

Hi sjk,

There are some comments about both of these mattresses in post #2 here and in post #2 here may be helpful.

All of the simplified choice mattresses listed here and many of the mattresses in the other lists that are linked in the tutorial post (in the optional online step) are inside your budget range.

I would also make sure that the quality/density of the materials and components in any mattresses you are considering are suitable for your higher weight range because a material that was suitable for lower weights won’t hold up over time as well for you (see the quality/durability guidelines here).

The first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or if you can’t test a mattress in person then your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

There is more information in post #9 here about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or “approximate” another one but every layer and component in a mattress (including the cover) will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component and the mattress “as a whole” and mattress manufacturers generally try to differentiate their mattress from the mattresses made by other manufacturers and don’t normally try to “match” another mattress that is made by a different manufacturer. Unless a manufacturer specifically says in their description of a mattress that a similar mattress in the same general category is designed to “match” or “approximate” another one in terms of firmness or “feel” (or they are very familiar with both mattresses and can provide reliable guidance about how they compare based on the “averages” of a larger group of people) then the only reliable way to know if a mattress will “feel” similar to you would be based on your own personal testing or your actual sleeping experience.

I would also keep in mind that there are no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness (and “feel”) compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness as well and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.

I would also try and test a few mattresses locally that use latex in the comfort layers so that you are confident that you like the general “feel” of latex although all the simplified choice mattresses have a great return policy so you can test them in your bedroom instead of a showroom but of course can be both inconvenient and frustrating to have to return a mattress and start all over again.

If you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.

Phoenix

Thanks! Quite a detailed response - appreciate it,

Will check those links out.

I’m in Raleigh/Durham, NC if that helps.

Hi sjk,

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in post #6 here.

There are several retailers and manufacturers that carry latex and latex hybrid mattresses in the area so you should be able to get a good general sense of what different types of latex feel like.

Phoenix