Hi, Phoenix,
Since our last e-exchange, I’ve done a bit more research. One of the things I did was, with my DH, go to Sleepy’s to test out Tempur-pedic, so we could see what firmness/plushness/feel/etc. we both preferred in a memory foam mattress.
We found we both liked the feel of the Rhapsody Breeze, however, at 13" high, even a non-Tempur-pedic-brand version of this mattress would not fit our bedframe/headboard. The Cloud, which is, I believe, Tempur-pedic’s only mattress in the height range we’re looking at (it’s 8" high), was okay, but compared to the Rhapsody, it wasn’t as comfortable.
While we were at Sleepy’s, we also tried out other mattresses, among them a brand of memory foam I’ve never heard of: Sleep Options. And here’s where my decision-making process hit a huge snag. Why? Because this Sleep Options memory foam mattress was just plain old uncomfortable. It didn’t even feel like memory foam, really. And it immediately made me wonder about buying a memory foam mattress from an online vendor–because we wouldn’t be able to try it out in person first.
I’m hoping you’re going to tell me that Sleep Options is well known to be awful and that I shouldn’t be worried!
At any rate, I also carefully looked over your list of mattress stores in the NYC area. Many of them simply don’t have mattresses that fit the bill of what we’re looking for–they’re latex mattresses or they make only mattresses that are 11" or 12" high at a minimum or they’re way way way too expensive or they’re places we’ve already rejected (Ikea, for example, whose mattresses even in their showroom have an incredible stench, although I love many of their other products, or Dixie Foam, which, if you’d ever been in their store, you’d need no further explanation).
We may try out the Casper mattress, which at 10" is a bit over the high end of the height range we’re looking at and which also has a layer of latex on top of the memory foam, so I may not like the feel, but at least we can go there in person. Seriously, that was the only in-person vendor left after I combed through the list in your link.
When we started out looking for a new mattress, neither my DH nor I had any idea this would be such a long-drawn-out and frustrating process. I hope I have good news to report in the near future.
At some point, we may just buy something from an online vendor and hope for the best. I wish I could find reviews for the SelectFoam Cirrus ES 8" mattress, but so far I haven’t been able to find anything, which I don’t consider a good sign. At least with BedinaBox, for example, there are zillions of reviews (both positive and negative) to read . . . although I found that they tended to cancel each other out.
Thanks again for your help, Phoenix!