Hey again, Phoenix:
Here’s the latest in our search for a new mattress here in Spain:
We found one mattress store with an very helpful and fairly knowledgeable salesperson–I’ve alluded to him before. He even let us have two different mattresses to try for a week each. The first was the Robustoflex I wrote about earlier (we didn’t like it; turns out there was a great difference in how the mattress responded when not in the cold showroom, and when heated by my/our bodies: the viscoelastic really sank in a lot, and turning over was like quicksand–too effortful). The other was an all-latex mattress that we at first thought was too bouncy. After laying on it a second time, we realized that it was just very springy initially, and compared to the mattresses we had just been laying on, we imagined it would be like sleeping on a trampoline, but it’s been great. I like how cool it sleeps (I’m a very warm sleeper), and it has been very responsive. I like how supportive it is, how quickly (immediately) it restores its shape, etc.
The mattress is a Robustoflex RF-Latex 7. I’ve pasted in a link to the information page below. A few facts about it: The salesman told us it was Talalay latex. Turns out, it’s not. We were finally able to reach someone at Robustoflex today, and here’s what we found out: It has a core of 16cm of Synthetic Latex, which they said has a density of 65-70 (I’m quoting them directly; if this sounds like bull hooey, please tell me). The comfort layer is 7cm of natural latex, with a density of 70. It has seven zones of comfort. The casing is cotton, blah, blah, blah… The base is a platform divided into two halfs, with the slats slightly bowed and springy, and they’re mounted in sets of two, on some kind of fancy plastic brackets. I can furnish a photo of that if you like, but I bet you know what I’m talking about.
Now before I get to the price thing, I want to share that this salesman has been very helpful, and has seemed very well-informed (except for the Talalay thing), and not high-pressure at all. We liked him so much that between ourselves, we even decided that if we were going to buy the Epeda mattress (a line he doesn’t carry), we were going to see if he could order it for us, just to give him the business (and it turns out he could). And as I mentioned, he has given us two different mattresses to try out, including delivering them to us. So, as far as he’s concerned, he knows we were pretty much a sure sale for one of two mattresses, both in the 2,500 Euro range.
This latex mattress and base would have cost us between 2,400-2,500 Euros, and he had offered to give us a break of around 300 Euros. Today when we were talking about returning the demo mattress, he told us that if we wanted to buy this one (as opposed to ordering one slightly larger), he would give us the mattress and frame for 1,500 Euros. One of the reasons he said he was offering it was because it’s at the high end of his offerings, and with the economy here the way it is, he would be better served having the floor space taken up by a less-expensive model that he can sell easier.
Anyway, I’d love to hear what you think of the mattress, the offer, etc. I greatly appreciate your expertise, and your help.
Here’s the link to the mattress info:
http://www.robustaflex.es/robustaflex-flippingbook/collection/#/5/zoomed
(And incidentally, the other mattress we’d winnowed our choices down to was the Epeda Aire Premium I wrote about earlier (http://www.epeda.fr/Dedicace-Air-Premium,348.html). We have been trying to reach someone at Epeda for over a week via email (can’t find a phone number anywhere, even after much sleuthing) to ask them about wire gague, tempering, type/amount/density of latex, etc., but have heard nothing at all, which just ticks me off royally.)
Best wishes and thanks again,
Bill McKinley
P.S. There was recently a (crappy) piece in the NYTimes about buying a new mattress (On the Hunt for a New Mattress - The New York Times), and I posted the comment below, praising you.
We’ve been shopping for a new mattresss for more than six weeks. it’s a jungle–with scams-a-plenty and lots of high-pressure “sales” and psychological maneuvering.
I cannot recommend highly enough two resources I found:
themattressunderground.com and the YouTube channel of mattresstogo, The Beducation channel.
The website in amazingly informative, and the YouTube videos are great. I live in Spain, and I even called Jeff, the guy behind the videos and he was kind enough to give me advice over the phone. If I lived in Michigan, he would definitely have my business. Both he and the person behind the website have exchanged a number of emails with me, giving me invaluable feedback as we’ve winnowed down our options.
I have learned so much about mattresses that honestly, out of the ten different stores we’ve visited, there has only been one salesperson who knew as much as I did about the mattresses. We’ve made about 12-14 visits and have laid on probably 150 mattresses. We even took a comforter along and had 30-minute naps on four finalists. We felt a little silly, but it was amazing what was revealed by spending more time on the mattresses, letting our bodies sink in and warm them up.
As I type this, I’m laying on a test mattress, the second of two that one store has sent to our home for us to try out.
We’re down to two choices, and will make our choice this week, much more confident and knowledgeable about mattresses than I’ve ever been.
Buyer Beware!
Bill McKinley