Hi gatpapa,
The W hotel pillowtop would be a completely different mattress that uses a completely different design, materials, and components so the only way to know whether a mattress feels “similar” for you in terms of PPP (regardless of whether it would feel similar for someone else) would be your own personal testing and experience (see post #9 here about “matching” one mattress to another). Even if another mattress you are testing was a very similar mattress (a Simmons innerspring with polyfoam comfort layers and a pillowtop) … hotel mattresses don’t provide any meaningful information about what is inside them so you would still need to look for a Simmons mattress with a very similar pocket coil and similar foam layers above it that had a similar “feel” (and of course I wouldn’t suggest a Simmons mattress or any other major brand where you don’t know the quality of the materials inside it). Other than this … you would need to base your choice on how another mattress feels for you in terms of PPP compared to your old mattress (and this is also making a big and probably incorrect assumption that the W Hotel mattress is the “ideal” mattress for you in the first place out of all the mattresses that are available to you).
The thickness of a mattress isn’t nearly as important as the type of materials inside it and the specific design of the mattress. You may find one mattress that was 18" thick would be completely unsuitable for you and another one that was only 8" thick was perfect for you depending on the specific materials and design of the mattress. I would focus on your own careful and objective testing for PPP and I wouldn’t worry about the thickness of a mattress except as a “side effect” of a design that works well for you.
Having said that … higher weights may sometimes need thicker mattresses … again depending on the materials (see post #14 here). There is also more in post #3 here that may be helpful for those in higher weight ranges and the first part of post #2 here also has some information about accommodating a couple that have very different needs and preferences … but once again a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer will know all of this already.
[quote]If we are talking latex, which for my price range seems to be the way to go, I think the following would make sense.
For a core it would seem I would want somewhere between a #32 and #36, and my wife who likes it a bit softer would get no higher than a #32.
A 3" topper of #28[/quote]
ILD isn’t necessarily consistent between different types of latex and it’s not a great idea to try and design your own mattress based on only one of many factors that may be important (see post #2 here). For most people this would lead to information overwhelm and paralysis by analysis because they wouldn’t have any meaningful reference points about what all the specs mean in “real life”. I would completely avoid having any preconceptions about what you may need in terms of thickness or ILD and I would let your body tell you what works best for you in combination with the help of an experienced and knowledgeable retailer or manufacturer.
The choice of materials or components is strictly a personal preference choice but regardless of which materials you prefer I would make sure they are good quality because every material and component has lower quality and less durable versions and higher quality and more durable versions. There is more about the pros and cons of the two main premium foams (memory foam and latex) in post #2 here but your own testing and personal experience is the most reliable way to know which type of mattress and materials you tend to prefer.
Phoenix