Hi vfox,
While I understand their comments about the PLB (although they are now more commonly seen at discounted prices) … Natura is also not the best value compared to other latex mattresses … although they are good quality.
The Natura Cloud you liked seems to have several different descriptions and I’m not sure if this is because the layering is listed incorrectly or if there really are two models.
The one you are describing is similar to this.
On the Naturaworld site here … it has 1" of polyfoam over 2" of soft Talalay over 2" of medium Talalay over another 2" of medium Talalay over a 6" polyfoam core and the wool quilting is only 2.3 lbs. The 2010 model here is similar.
These would both be a latex/polyfoam hybrid but the more latex there is in the top layers the more of the feel and resiliency of latex you would have. In addition … the the wool in the quilting would also make a difference in the feel (and would be different from having no wool at all or only a thinner compressed wool layer). Wool will be a little less resilient than sleeping directly on the latex and you will sink in a little less (again depending on the ILD of the latex underneath it). Some people call thicker layers of wool “natures memory foam” because it is less resilient than latex. It will also become firmer as it compresses over time (unlike memory foam which softens over time).
Because of this … how comparable one latex hybrid would be to another in terms of feel and performance would depend on many factors including the thickness of the latex, any quilting materials that were in the cover, and on the relative softness of the layers compared to the Natura.
The Ultimate Dreams Eurotop has a 1.5" soft quilting foam layer over a 3" Talalay latex layer over an 8" high density (2.35 lb) polyfoam base. How close these two would be would depend on how close your choice of latex in combination with the quilting layer came to “approximating” the latex in the Natura. If you were a little bit too firm or soft it would also allow for an exchange but because of the deifferences in the layering you would be approximating a feel rather than “duplicating” the Natura.
There is another latex hybrid option here which is also in your budget (depending on the size you are looking at your budget is lower than most latex hybrids).
In your local area … Boyd also makes several hybrids in their Natural Flex Ultra Latex line and Symbol, Spring air, and Gold bond make latex hybrids as well. Local stores may also carry others if you call and ask for a "latex hybrid) with a few inches of latex over polyfoam.
An innerspring mattress with a topper can also make a good choice but the trick is to make sure it is firm and also has very little polyfoam in the comfort layers. The more lower density (and softer) polyfoam there is in the upper layers of the “base” mattress … the greater the risk of the mattress/topper combination in terms of softening and alignment. It can be difficult to find a mattress with thin enough polyfoam layers to make a mattress/topper combination your best choice … particularly when you already have such good online options available that don’t have the “weak link” of putting a topper on top of softer or lower quality polyfoam layers.
If you do decide to go in this direction … post #4 here includes some of the best sources for latex layers and toppers.
Phoenix