So we’ve been sleeping on our leesa for about 45 days now, and have come to the conclusion that the mattress isn’t the perfect fit for us. We love the support/feel when sleeping on our backs- but we are mostly side sleepers, and the firmness of the mattress causes too much pressure.
We felt a little guilty about wanting to return a mattress that had such great reviews and everyone seemingly found to be perfect- until we discovered this site and read a post about how most bed-in-box stores sell an OK bed for the money- but they are overselling the quality and are first experts in marketing to millennials. Apparently most of the review sites that pointed to the leesa are not really professional review sites either…
In any case- we are back to square 1 in our mattress search. (well probably square 2 since I’ve read a decent chunk of Pheonix’s posts now).
We can budget more than the $800 cost of our queen Leesa if necessary but like everyone else do not want to spend more than we need to. We live in Northern VA, and per recommendation of this site went to Urban mattress.
We seem pretty sold on Latex matresses over inter-springs and memory foam and liked the Dunlopillo Ambiance Luxury Plush ($1700) & Dunlopillio Harbor Lux Plush ($1200). We may slightly like the 1700 more, but probably not $500 more.
We asked about the details of the densities the layers, but apparently these Dunlopillo mattresses are like “big-macs” and have several small layers of alternating densities.
So the funny thing is that we found Leesa to be too firm, and in all the review sites- Leesa was always touted as being the “softest” bed in the box bed (at least compared to T&N, Casper, etc.). But the Dunlopillo beds we liked, were considered “medium” mattresses. We also always seemed comfortable at 4+ star hotel beds- which I assume are mediums as well. So I’m not sure if just Bed in Boxes just tend to run firm for whatever reason. An important note is that we are 125 and 145 lbs, so probably lighter than the average american, and will find mattresses firmer on average, especially as side sleepers.
In any case- I have two questions:
Has anyone tried both a Leesa and a Brooklyn Bed ? We are thinking of first seeing if the $700 soft version of the brooklyn bed will do, before spending the 1200/1700 for the Dunlopillos. Specifically we are looking for comparisons of firmness, between the Leesa and Brooklyn Bed Medium, and BB -Soft.
This is mostly liked pointed towards Pheonix- the numerous alternating layers of the Dunlopillio confused me a bit. How much better quality do you think the Dunlopiollios are vs the Brooklyn Bed? Do you agree with my strategy of trying the cheaper Brooklyn bed first to see if it will do? We really do not have any local manufacturers in DC, so it seems like the BB may be the best quality for the dollar.
Has anyone tried both a Leesa and a Brooklyn Bed ? We are thinking of first seeing if the $700 soft version of the brooklyn bed will do, before spending the 1200/1700 for the Dunlopillos. Specifically we are looking for comparisons of firmness, between the Leesa and Brooklyn Bed Medium, and BB -Soft.[/quote]
As you have already discovered 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 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 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.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart (which would certainly include Brooklyn Bedding) and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.
There is more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here 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 suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price or course and the options you have available after a purchase).
Outside of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) the 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 “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress always depends on knowing 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 can find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to confirm that 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.
If a manufacturer or retailer is either unwilling or unable to provide you with the information you need to make an informed choice and to make meaningful quality/value comparisons with other mattresses I would pass the mattress by and walk away (see the guidelines here).
You can read a little more about the Dunlopillo Ambiance in this topic and I would be very cautious with any mattress that has more than “about an inch or so” of lower quality and less durable materials or “unknown quality/density” materials in the upper layers of the mattress that would likely be a weak link in the mattress in terms of durability. A forum search on “Ambiance” will also bring up more comments and feedback about it as well.
There is some information about the Dunlopillo Harbor mattresses in this topic (and about the Sherwood Harbor Plush which was likely the same or very similar in post #6 here) and as you can see they all have more than 2" or lower quality/density or “unknown” polyfoam in the comfort layers which I would also consider to be a weak link in the mattress and I would be very cautious about choosing any of the Harbor mattresses (or any mattress that uses more than “about an inch or so” of lower quality/density or “unknown” materials in the upper layers of the mattress).
As you probably know … Brooklyn Bedding is one of the members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and that I believe they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. There is more about the BestMattressEver in post #2 here of the simplified choice mattress topic and a forum search on BestMattressEver will also bring up many more comments and feedback about it as well.
While I can’t speak to how any mattress will feel for someone else or whether it will be a good match in terms of firmness, “feel”, or PPP … it certainly uses high quality materials and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in their mattress that would compromise the durability or useful life of the mattress relative to any weight range and it would certainly make a great quality/value choice that would be well worth considering.
I’ve tried both the Leesa and Brooklyn Bedding’s BME and I won’t be sleeping on either tonight. I’m taking delivery of round 3 this morning. The Leesa’s memory foam gave too much of a sinking sensation for my husband and me. It felt too soft for us initially but by morning, it felt too hard. So that one went back. Then, after hours of research and reading, I thought we’d try the Best Mattress Ever. I emailed customer service to ask if the medium and the firm were the same height and construction because we wanted to try a split king configuration and was assured that they were. They, in fact, are not. There is over an inch of height difference between the two and the firm is much flatter than the medium. This did not start me off in the right frame of mind to love the BME. I contacted Brooklyn Bedding about that and Mario was not happy that I’d been given bad information, he knew that they were different. Anyway, I thought we’d give them a try anyway to see if we liked one or the other. The first night I slept on the medium and thought it was great, the second night I tried the firm and woke up with shoulder pain, and the third night I was back to the medium but didn’t love it as much. My husband has been sleeping on the firm and finds it too hard but also doesn’t like the medium so we won’t be keeping them. I’ve had some great nights of sleep on the medium and a few not so great. I vastly prefer it over the Leesa but it’s still pretty firm. I feel a lot of pressure on my hip especially and since I sleep almost exclusively on my side, that’s not super. I’m also about 25 lbs heavier than the heavier of you two and I’m finding it firm so my guess would be that you’d find the medium quite firm.
I also live in NoVa and have been to Urban Mattress. In fact, I ordered a Lumina Pegasus and cancelled it before I took delivery. After I got home, I looked up the specs again and wasn’t comfortable with the details Sherwood Bedding offered. Kyle at Urban Mattress called them to try to get more info and they would not give out details so I have to assume that whatever is in there isn’t the best or they would be proud enough to tell us. Maybe it’s awesome but I can’t know so I decided to cancel.
After a lot of rumination, I decided I wanted to try a pocket coil mattress and I wanted something that had some adjustability, with component parts that could be replaced. Components seem cleaner and greener to me. I almost ordered an Ultimate Hybrid pocket coil/latex mattress from mattresses.net but I decided to go with the Rest Revolution M8, which no one on this forum has anything to say about yet. It’s sort of a kit that comes with two sets of pocket coils in 2 firmnesses, and various foams that amount to 4 firmness levels. Each sleeper can adjust his/her own side, which is a good thing for me and my husband as we tend to like different things. I haven’t slept on it yet, but I have high hopes that we can make it work out. It’s made my Sterling Sleep Systems for this shop in Atlanta called Elements of Rest. Sterling Sleep Systems also sells their own component beds on their website but they don’t come with the same kind of adjustability built in, except their all foam one. The M8 has a zip off cover than can be washed, I really liked that. If I end up thinking it’s super awesome, I’ll post about it separately.
I completely agree, by the way, that bed-in-a-box start ups are primarily experts at marketing to millennials, which I am not but I fell for it anyway. Many of the websites look exactly the same.
I’m sorry to hear that none of the mattresses you chose so far worked out well for you and I hope that you have better luck next time.
Firmness can be very subjective and relative to more variables than just weight (see my previous reply to matressshopper123) so I certainly wouldn’t assume that a mattress that is either too firm or too soft for you would be the same for anyone else … even if they are in a similar weight range.
It would be great if you could post the specs of the foam layers in the M8 on the forum for any others in Atlanta that may be considering it (the thickness of the foam layers, the type and blend of latex, and the density of the memory foam). As you know component mattresses certainly have some advantages in terms of how the individual modules and layers can be rearranged and fine tuned after a purchase and I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback once you’ve received it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
Thanks for the heads up as well and I’ve also added them to the Atlanta list.
