I’ve looked but haven’t seen any recommended mattress stores around my area (without driving pretty far). I am in the south central part of NH. Most all the stores around me (Mattress Firm/Jordans etc) all sell the brands this forum says to stay away from.
I’ve read a lot on this forum but it’s all still foreign to me! I’m currently in a hotel bed and after reading here, realize it wasn’t the hotel bed I liked, it was that I didn’t like my last bed! I’ve had this bed for about 7 years now and about 3 or 4 of them have been painful. Been going through a number of back issues and surgeries and always though my back pain after sleeping was due to that, and they are partially, but I shouldn’t be waking up in as much pain as I am.
My wife and I will be starting fresh, going to stores and analyzing the PPP of each mattress. We’re both back and side sleepers. I tend to wake up almost every hour to re-position. A couple years ago, we bought a new mattress from Jordans for our camper (mostly because it was the only store I could find to make a custom short queen for the camper). We both sat on a very expensive Beautyrest and it felt comfortable so it’ll be hard to get her away from that brand.
I realize this is a very personal experience, but would anyone be able to say "Hey, check this store out and look at these mattresses… " Obviously, I will pick for myself what will be best but I was hoping someone could recommend brands that are known to be more durable and I’ll pick them out for being comfortable
I have discontinued the provision of listings of potential retailers in various geographic regions (unless they are already approved site members), because of the difficulty in maintaining such lists in a retail landscape that is constantly changing, and most importantly the confusion it was creating with the consumer members who incorrectly assumed that these businesses had indeed gone through the strict qualification process and were approved as members of The Mattress Underground. Such an assumption is unfair to both the consumers seeking assistance, as well as the very businesses and manufacturers who have indeed qualified the be members here of The Mattress Underground.
Aside from that, I would always confirm that any retailer or manufacturer that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article) and also make sure that any mattress that you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here. You can also perform a forum search on New Hampshire or other geographic regions to see what other businesses have been discussed previously here on the forum. If you have any questions about specifications or certain products, feel free to post back on the forum and I’ll do my best to provide answers.
You’re correct that sleeping on a hotel bed and feeling better is usually an indication that your mattress at home is inappropriate for your needs, as opposed to the hotel bed being a “perfect fit”.
I’m sorry to hear about your back issues. Whatever you choose, you’ll want to be sure that the deep support is strong and promotes the alignment that best serves you particular and specific needs due to your surgeries. You may wish to read more about this in the basic functions of a mattress here.
Frequent repositioning is a common sign, as you suspect, that your mattress is not providing either the appropriate comfort or support that you need.
You can certainly use the search feature that I linked to previously, but I wouldn’t recommend shopping specifically by brand, but instead componentry. Outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next 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. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of 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 you find out the 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 a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
And it sounds like you may have already read through it, but I would refer back to the steps outlined in the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice.
In its simplest form … choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …
Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.
Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight/BMI range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.
Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
If you have more specific questions about products that you encounter, feel free to post them back here or the specifications of any item you’re considering, and I’ll be happy to do my best to be assistive.
Whatever you choose, you’ll want to be sure that the deep support is strong and promotes the alignment that best serves you particular and specific needs due to your surgeries. You may wish to read more about this in the