Hi jaykay,
The first thing I would suggest (if you haven’t) is to read the guidelines here which will help you avoid most of the “traps” you will encounter. If a salesperson can’t supply the specs about the type and quality of materials used in a mattress … it’s time to go in different directions. This is because it’s the only way to know the quality and likely durability of a mattress is to know the details of the layers that are in it. Manufacturers or retail outlets who either can’t or won’t supply this should be completely avoided. It’s the salespersons “job” do do this as accurately as the specs that the mattress manufacturer provides will allow. Even here … if I was in this position and was selling a mattress I would call the factory itself to find out what I didn’t know about a particular mattress that either I or a customer wanted to know (within reason anyway :))
Having said all that … in the case of the Aireloom … the description seems to indicate that it’s all talalay latex which is a good thing. I would also want to know how much latex (inches) are in it although you could use the height of the mattress as a rough guideline (the quilting and ticking layers will make up a part of this). I would also check the law tag to see if it has any other types of materials than what the description says. If all of this looks good and there is about 8 or 9" of talalay latex in the mattress … then the prices seem quite reasonable. Of course how you feel on the mattress in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and your Preferences) is just as important as the quality.
EDIT ADDED LATER: I talked with a salesperson at the Betania Slumberworld in Oahu and she checked her spec sheet and confirmed the foam layering of the Aireloom Verbena plush and firm which indicates that they are not all latex as indicated on the site.
Verbena Plush:
6" of 2 lb polyfoam (soy foam) support core which is certainly a suitable density for a base layer but is not in the same value range as a latex core.
1" 19 ILD Talalay latex (good quality)
1" 15 ILD Energia. This is a very high density 3 lb HR polyfoam (higher density in firmer versions) which is very good quality
3/4" memory foam. They didn’t have the density of this but in only a 3/4" layer it would not be an issue.
The Verbena firm uses the same support core and the same materials in the comfort layers except the Energia and the Talalay latex is much firmer.
While these are all good quality materials with no obvious weak links … they don’t have the same “value” as a mattress that used all talalay latex so I would not call these particularly good value … and certainly not compared to an all latex mattress at the same price.
Post #269 here as well as post #2 here and this thread has more information about some of the options available to you although in the Oahu market what you are looking at would seem to be (subject to the few unknowns and confirming the layering) good value.
Phoenix