Hi rjvelasquezm,
Welcome to the Mattress UnderGround. What a great question.
Yes there are some folks here that have purchased the Winstons mattress system. I just can’t remember which they purchased. Having tested Savoir, ViSpring, Shifman, and Hastens, I can tell you a little about my experience particularly on the Hastens.
So, even though I have not slept on the Winstons No. 2, I can speak to the experience of these types of beds in general, and of course my Hastens experience. The natural materials, horsehair, cotton, wool, and the other fibers used in these high-end mattresses, create a completely different experience from anything made with foam, any foam! It’s really hard to explain until you’ve actually spent some time on one.
I’ve showroom-tested most of the Hastens lineup and absolutely loved the Grand Vividus, 2000T, and Maranga. The interesting and amazing thing about them was how different they felt from a conventional mattress. There is a combination of support, softness, breathability, and springiness that you simply don’t get from any foam.
And one important point: these beds are designed around using their curated horsehair toppers. The topper isn’t just an optional accessory thrown on top to make the mattress softer. It’s an important part of the overall bedding system. With the properly matched horsehair topper, the feel becomes something very special. You get this almost weightless, floating sensation while still feeling well supported underneath.
Horsehair in particular is an amazing material for this. It has a natural resilience to it, so it doesn’t just compress and slowly recover the way foam does. It also allows a tremendous amount of airflow. Combine that with wool and cotton, and you end up with a sleeping surface that feels alive rather than dead or stuck underneath you. I happen to sleep on horsehair pillows and recently I have been experimenting with horsehair as a core center with different fibers around the core, wool, kapok, and latex noodles.
The best way I can describe the Hastens beds I’ve tried is that you feel supported rather than held up by the mattress, and cushioned rather than swallowed by it. It really can feel like you’re resting on a cloud, but there is still very good underlying support.
So while I can’t personally vouch for the Winstons No. 2 since I haven’t slept on one, I would be very interested in trying it. Winstons is following the same basic philosophy, quality natural materials, substantial hand-built construction, and a mattress system and pairning it to work with a proper horsehair topper, I can absolutely understand the appeal.
And I wouldn’t get too hung up on the fact that the Winstons description lists a dozen different fibers. More materials doesn’t automatically mean a better mattress. What matters is how those materials are used together and, most importantly, how the finished mattress actually feels when you sleep on it. That’s where these beds can be very different feeling from anything in the foam world, and even other natural fiber mattresses that do not include horsehair.
Hopefully, our subscribers (@ROCKDOCBOSTON3001) that own Winston beds, will chime in, although I do remember one subscriber switching out of the the Winston’s.
If you live in or near New York City, there is a Hastens, Savoir, ViSpring in the SoHo area.
Whether you can afford one or not, it is worth the experience of lying on one for a while.
Maverick