Hi from Portland OR,
I love the feel of the Aireloom Alpine Plush mattress. I keep going back to the store to lay on it but the price is out of my budget ($3600). I am also skeptical because it is listed as an “avoid” manufacturer.
When I lay on it, I feel like I’m on a cloud. I can not feel any pressure points. It is easy to roll over on yet still engulfs me like a pillow.
I have chronic lower back pain and constantly toss and turn throughout the night. I prefer to sleep on my side or stomach. My back pain is getting much worse with my current mattress.
I bought a new mattress a year ago that is supposed to be latex and foam. It feels more like I’m sleeping on a hammock in the hard sand. It already has drastic impression marks which formed after only a month. (I am 5’9 150lb) I have to roll up onto the giant mountain in the middle in order to snuggle with my boyfriend!! I bought it from a company that was “going out of business” so I couldn’t return or exchange it. (interestingly, the store is still there a year later with new franchisees) That was my first real mattress buying experience. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson.
I would like to get a hybrid bed like the Aireloom but from a reputable manufacturer and stay under $1500 if possible. And I want one that won’t sag in the middle after a year!!
I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here (which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice) but two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for when you sleep on it in “real life” and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).
Outside of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) … the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability (which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress) and the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that a retailer or manufacturer you are considering is willing and able to provide you with the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would affect the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
The biggest reason that Airloom is listed as “Avoid” is because they aren’t likely to provide you with the information you need to make an informed choice about the quality and durability of their materials and the mattress as a whole. If they were willing and able to provide you with all the information you need about the layers and components in their mattress so you can verify that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in their mattress that would be more likely to soften or break down prematurely then they would be worth considering (although they would still be in a higher budget range than other similar mattresses) but this is unlikely.
It’s very likely that the mattress you purchased included “some” latex but it probably also included other lower quality and less durable materials in the mix that were a weak link in the mattress which is the most likely cause of the issues you are having. There are many mattresses in the industry that include “latex” in the name or description of the mattress that just use thin or insignificant layers of latex in the design that in some cases are more for “label copy” than anything else that wouldn’t be worth considering and can mislead consumers about the quality and durability of the mattress unless they find out the specifics of all the layers and components in the mattress.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Portland, OR area (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines I linked earlier in this reply) are listed in post #2 here.
I would certainly include Parklane mattress in your research since they are one of the members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.