Hi, I am 140lbs and a side sleeper. My GF is 130lbs, and also a side sleeper. We were in the market for a new mattress, and after doing some reviews, we decided to try out the Leesa. Upon sleeping on the Leesa in trying it for around 40 days, it just was not a bed for us. I think we were a little bit too light to take advantage of the Leesa. It seems as though like we did not sink down enough to take advantage of the support layers. The Leesa mattress was on a solid base.
Does anybody have any real world experience with mattresses and not just suggestions or reviews based off of review sites? Not looking to go cheap here but would like to stay around $2000 or less. I am also looking to stay away from the Serta, Simmons, Sealy, etc.
I live in Winchester, Virginia and we have a Kingsdown and Dormeo manufacturing facility. Those are the only ones that I know of that are local to me. I also have a local guy who only sells mattresses, very small showroom. He sells the Perfect Dreamer line of beds, but upon looking for reviews or info, very little is provided on the bed that I layed on in store and liked.
Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated. If there any other questions that I may need to answer please feel free to ask. Thanks and I hope to hear from some of you soon. Have a good day.
Hi Jjuelzz,
Welcome to the Mattress Forum! 
I’m sorry your Leesa purchase didn’t work out as well as you had hoped, but at least you had the foresight to choose something that has a good return policy. All of the layers in a mattress work together, so when you say you think you were too light to sink in to take advantage of the support layers, I’m guessing you are referring to the upper comfort layers not providing enough contouring or pressure relief for your BMI.
You certainly are on the right track to stay away from many of the major “S” brands that tend to use lower quality componentry, as well as “review” sites, most of which are really “revenue” sites. I’d also caution you against putting too much stock into other people’s opinions on a product. Other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful. But I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words, other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).
The best way for you to evaluate how certain componentry might perform in “real world” use would be to find out information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in any mattress you might consider that would detract from the useful life of a mattress.
While I can’t help with “what” to choose, I certainly can provide assistance with the “how”. The first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones. 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”, firmness, and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for, 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 (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article ) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your criteria and the quality/value guidelines here …some options that are in reasonable driving distance would be the Washington, DC list here and the Richmond, VA list here and the Charlottesville/Lynchburg/Waynesboro, VA list here .
I would be cautious with the Dormeo and Kingsdown mattresses and make sure that you find out all the information about all the layers in the mattress so you can compare them to the durability guidelines linked to previously. I would avoid any mattress where this information isn’t easily available to you from the store that sells it. Their web sites doesn’t contain any meaningful information that would be helpful to you because it’s missing the density of the foam layers which is the information that you really need to know. There is a bit of information about the previous versions of the Dormeo Octaspring in post #2 here . Some of their previous mattresses have used some better quality materials in the past, but I would make a careful “value judgement” when purchasing an item like this.
There is no meaningful information at all on their website regarding foam quality or density, and I would avoid considering this or any brand like it until you could find out complete details of this product.
Hopefully that gives you a good start on your quest.
Phoenix