Need value similar to Marriott Jamison bed, Severe back issues

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

I have been reading the posts on this forum for days, trying to soak up all of the mattress information that I can. Thanks for this forum; it is a great resource. I need to buy a new mattress due to severe back issues that have caused me to miss job interviews before because I couldn’t move. I do not have any income at the moment because of my back issues. I also have been battling chronic insomnia for 8 months and getting treatment. Waking up many times in pain when I do sleep is not helping matters.

All the current mattresses in my house are innerspring and sag in the middle, causing me to wake up horribly crooked and in a lot of pain all day. Some days I am unable to move. I used to be primarily a stomach and side sleeper, but I have altered this to only sleeping on my back to try to avoid as much back pain as possible. Sleeping on my stomach on a sagging mattress makes me wake up hurting the worst. I would prefer to be able to sleep on my stomach and side, but foresee back sleeping also.

I need to find good value due to my financial situation. I am looking for memory foam because the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on was at a Marriott. Jamison Bedding manufactures these Marriott beds and I have considered going directly through Jamison, but they appear to still be out of my budget (which probably tops out at around $800 for a full size mattress).

They have 4 mattresses in their “hotel” or “resort” line. 2 of them are 3" 5lb memory foam with a 7" 2.0-2.3lb core and have a pillowtop along with 3" wide perimeter foam edge support. The other 2 models are 2" 3.8lb memory foam and a 7" unspecified core with no pillowtop. All 4 mattresses have a “Quilted to 2” Hypersoft Silk Blend Dacron". It is hard to know exactly which Jamison bed I slept on (the tag did not say), but it seemed like the top felt soft or plush (maybe that was the covering, not sure) but the bed was firm. I don’t think I sank down into the bed, but it supported and contoured me perfectly. I think I need something firm.

I was considering Bedinabox for the past week, but I am getting scared off by the low density memory foam they are using, even though that they specify that it is a newer technology foam that doesn’t need to be heavy to last a long time.

I am at the point now where I am considering Novosbed and Brooklyn Bedding. I believe all their components are made in America but I am not sure. I think they are both CertiPUR. I need something that is not cheap Chinese and off-gassing because I am very sensitive to smells/air quality (and of course nobody wants to spend 1/3rd of their life with something that could be cancerous).

I also sleep hot and am hoping foam won’t be a problem (it wasn’t in the Marriott). I just need to know what kind of mattress pads or covers can help to keep me cool and I’m wondering if a “gel infused foam” or “gel foam” that NovosBed and Brooklyn Bedding use is actually cooling and still retains supportiveness or if it is just marketing fluff.

I am specifically asking for any models from these two that would approximate the Marriott Bed by Jamison. Thank you to anyone who can help since this is a very difficult process for me and incredibly important for my quality of life so that I can hopefully function again.

2

Hi bmbsqd7,

Hopefully you’ve read post #1 here which has the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices.

Both of these use US made foam that is CertiPur certified. It’s also easy to just call and ask them … both of them will give you accurate information about their mattresses.

You can read more about the many factors that are involved in the temperature regulation of a mattress in post #2 here. You can read a little more about gel memory foams in post #8 here. Better manufacturers will generally give you good and accurate information about the materials they use and how they may compare to other materials they know about because they have little desire to tell you something about their mattresses that you discover in “real life” isn’t accurate only to have you return the mattress.

You can read a little more about the difficulties involved in trying to “match” one mattress to another in post #4 here. In most cases it isn’t really possible unless the design and materials are exactly the same, or you have tested and compared both in side by side testing, or a manufacturer has designed and tested a mattress to specifically approximate another mattress and I doubt that most manufacturers have designed or tested their mattresses against the Jamison mattresses (most would use Tempurpedic which is much more widespread and easily available as a comparison).

If you can test the Tempurpedic lineup for the model that you believe most closely approximates what you are looking for … then many manufacturers will be able to tell you which of their models most closely approximates the Tempurpedic mattress that is your “target” either in terms of "feel, design, or quality of materials … or in some cases all three. Beyond that it would depend on how familiar they are with the mattress you are looking to “approximate” or how confident they are that one of their mattresses may compare well to it’s specific design and materials.

Phoenix

3

Thanks for the quick reply, Phoenix. I was hoping there would be a comparable to the Marriott bed since it is such a popular mattress. If anyone out there has ideas about the Marriott Jamison bed please let us know. However since Tempurpedic is the memory foam giant, it makes sense that I should go try them out and ask for a comparable.

I read through your posts, specifically #8 and #2 in the thread that was linked to explaining gel memory foam. I am not quite clear on your explanation of gel being heavier than memory foam and increasing the density of the foam. My question relates to two Novosbed mattresses for example.

Novosbed Sonata is listed as having gel foam with a 3.7lb density. The other bed from Novosbed I was considering due to both being listed in the firm category is their Classic with standard memory foam (no gel) with a 5lb density. Since the gel foam one is listed with 3.7lb density, does that throw it into the category of 3lb density mattresses which should not be considered because of their poor durability/lifespan? Or does this this mean that it is much better than the traditional 3lb foam density since it contains gel, therefore one not need worry about the density/durability issue?

Also would a 3.7lb density gel foam perform like a traditional memory foam 3lb density where you sink in more? Or would it behave more like a higher density memory foam where you don’t really sink in?

Thanks again for your expertise.

4

Hi bmbsqd7,

Marriott doesn’t disclose the details of their mattress and there is no way to test it outside of going to a Marriott Hotel so it wouldn’t make a particularly useful mattress as a model for a manufacturer to “target”. Besides not being able to find out what is inside it … most hotels also use a bedding package and in the case of the Marriott they use a box spring both of which will change how the mattress feels and performs compared to the mattress by itself.

Gel is heavier than memory foam so if you add gel to memory foam then the weight of the combined product per cubic foot (density) would be higher. For example if a memory foam had a density of 3 lbs and you added 20% gel to this base memory foam and the density of the gel you added was say 8 lbs then you would have a gel memory foam that was 4 lbs even though the base memory foam inside it was 3 lbs.

Unfortunately, with the current state of specific information about gel memory foam that is available you won’t be able to find out any of the specifics of the gel that is used in the many gel memory foam versions that are on the market but the good news is that based on conversations I’ve had I think it’s fairly safe to treat gel memory foam as being “roughly equivalent” to regular memory foam of the same density in terms of durability … with the regular memory foam if anything being just slightly more durable.

The guideline I use is 4 lbs but like all guidelines it’s not an arbitrary number where there is an exact point where a foam changes from one “category” or level of durability to another. If a mattress manufacturer orders 4 lb foam from a foam manufacturer for example, then depending on the spec tolerance they are willing to pay for (lower tolerances cost more) they may receive a batch of foam that had say a range from 3.8 lbs to 4.2 lbs (5% variance) or 3.6 lb to 4.4 lb (10% variance). This wouldn’t mean that part of the batch would be “good” and part would be “bad” and the whole batch would be closely equivalent. The guidelines are meant to be used in conjunction with all the other factors that are part of durability and value and used as the basis for more meaningful comparisons. For for example if someone was lighter they may be OK with going below the guideline to whatever degree they were comfortable with if the cost was also lower than a higher density more durable material or there was some other reason that a lower density was their preference (for the sake of feel or performance). Someone that was much heavier may look for memory foam that was closer to 5 lbs or higher or at least thinner layers of lower density foam for the sake of “feel” as a tradeoff" with durability. In other words the guideline is just a way to make more meaningful comparisons between materials and mattresses and more of a gradual slope than a “cliff” where one small increment means you fall off and everything suddenly changes for the worse.

There are as many different versions of gel memory foam as there are with regular memory foam so it would depend on how the foam was formulated, the specific combination of chemicals that were used to make it, and the specific memory foams you were comparing. Some gel foams are softer than some non gel memory foams and some would be firmer. I think in general though a gel memory foam that has particles in it will generally have a higher compression modulus (get firmer faster as you sink in deeper) than a similar memory foam that doesn’t have gel which is one of the reasons that some manufacturers use gel memory foam under “regular” memory foam rather than over it to reduce the amount someone will sink in to the top layers. In other words they are trading any potential cooling benefit of gel memory foam for it’s potential support benefit.

Phoenix