I wouldn’t call $3200 pocket change, but for something you’ll get 10 + years out of, not too bad. And when you compare what you actually get, two customized sleep surfaces that can be altered years later (making it less expensive than replacing the entire mattress) the “value” of the CSD mattress goes up a few notches in my book. That being said, if you and your wife are both comfortable on a mattress that’s the same on both sides, going with CSS type mattress will save you $700 +/- :woohoo:
If you visit CSS (still on my to do list btw), they still offer more traditional style mattress too. A Talalay topped inner spring mattress set is only $1600. That may also be comfortable enough for you too. I plan on comparing that model to the all Latex and see if I want to spend the additional $900 or so. I will spend the extra if I feel that much beter on an all Latex mattress but that will take some laying down time to figue out.
So there is where I’m at too. My maximum budget is set at the $3200 mark (CSD), with a few great options at the $2500 mark (CSS or PLB) and not giving up hope that a $1600 set won’t be perfect for me and my wife.
Hi all,
Thanks to nissanman mentioning this site (thanks :)), David at CSS emailed me and I had the chance to talk with him for quite some time today so I thought I’d add a bit about our conversation to the thread.
He grew up in a mattress family and is third generation so he certainly knows about mattresses and the history of the industry. His family has been dealing with Latex International and its precursors for decades and they have a great relationship with them. We share many thoughts about the current state and direction of the industry and the “me too” manufacturing driven by marketing considerations and corporate profits rather than high quality and design and customer service driven by long term reputation. He is “mattress people” and like many multi generational manufacturers … mattresses are in his “blood”.
He is a big fan of latex and makes a range of all latex mattresses as well as latex/polyfoam hybrids and latex/innerspring hybrids as well. It’s not on the website but in addition to offset coil innersprings he also likes and uses pocket coils. Like many independent manufacturers he is not a fan of memory foam and while he does carry some models for those who insist on it … he much prefers latex or in lower budgets higher quality polyfoam. The polyfoam he uses is typically 1.8 lb density or higher up to 2.6 lb (which he likes as well) depending on the budget range and design.
He is a big believer (as I am) of giving helpful and educational information and guidelines but then staying out of the way of the final decision making process of his customers or saying what is “best” for any individual. He understands the importance of people making “educated” decisions based on their own personal criteria (or what I call their “value equation” rather than someone else’s opinion of what may be best.
I also asked him about the new slow recovery Talalay GL and how he felt about it. His reply was along the lines of “who would want to make latex feel like memory foam”. For him … and many others … slow response foam is just not the best way to go when more resilient latex can provide the same pressure relief without the “negatives” of memory foam. Of course this is about preferences as well but it’s always interesting to me how many manufacturers share these opinions.
Also like many local manufacturers … he will gladly make adjustments to a mattress when it’s needed at a nominal or very reasonable charge.
Overall … it was a great conversation and he certainly is helpful, informative, knowledgeable and is building high quality mattresses with good value. There is no doubt that if I was within driving distance I would make a point of including them in my research.
Phoenix
Okay, the plan is to hit Restopedic, CSS, and then CSD all this Saturday. We are going to focus on the 3P’s, take detailed notes on the setup’s we like best, and then come back and decide if we should spend $600 or $3,200. Any other advice on how to get the most out of this trip? I’ll let you know how it goes.
Hi matpro171,
I think you’re probably as prepared a you could be and you have some very good choices which is better yet. I’m really looking forward to your comments and feedback after the trip.
My only suggestion would be to make sure that when you are testing you try to leave thoughts about the mattress’ construction for before and after testing and focus on relaxing completely and hearing what your body (rather than your mind) has to say while you are lying on the mattress (that’s the voice of first hand experience speaking :))
Phoenix
Looks a little “commercial” to me, but there’s Healthy Choice Mattress in Danbury too. http://www.hcmattress.com/html/mattress_collection/organic_mattress_collection.html
Pricing seems to run a bit steeper than CSS, but their “bio” page states made in CT, all natural Talalay etc. An example, their 10" ROSE model runs $3200 for a set… which prices it even with a CSD set. However… they do have a memorial day coupon for $500 off a king or queen set. Why can’t that just be their normal price???
And there’s Showroom Locations that’s been mentioned on this site before. Appears to carry high quality stuff, but charges high quality prices too :ohmy:
Good luck this Saturday!!!
Hi nissanman,
Just to add a little to your post … the Healthy Choice mattresses (they used to be at www.healthychoicemattress.com which now forwards to the new site) are made by Restopedic under contract and is part of the reason they don’t make exact duplicates of other mattresses that they make under contract or do custom layering with more than 2 layers (a single support layer with a softer comfort layer over top). Manufacturers that sell both factory direct and also wholesale to retail outlets can walk a very fine line with this.
While the materials they use are high quality, I agree with you that their pricing is very high and their 11" “Violet” mattress (same thickness as CSD) is $3499 in queen (mattress only) which is more than the price of the custom designed and zoned CSD. Having said that … it (the Violet) does have an interesting layering that uses a “dominating” thinner 2" layer of firmer latex over 3" of softer latex which would have a unique and interesting feel. The Rose uses more traditional layering patterns with softer layers over firmer layers throughout the mattress. The pricing seems to be geared more towards a NY market where they also have an outlet.
There is more about Healthy Choice here, and here, and here, and here. While they would certainly be interesting to test … I would be a little hesitant to buy there unless a “sale” justified it and the mattress was absolutely “perfect” compared to others I had tried.
Phoenix
Alright, here’s what I’ve got:
Restropedic - Joe struck me as a nice guy and a straight shooter. He has his factory open to the public and a few mattress set-up to lay on. He doesn’t have much of a selection layed-out (only one latex mattress, which was all 36 at about 9 inches) but he let me lay on a 36-30-24 that he had just made for a customer and it seemed to be good quality and I found it comfortable. He quoted me $1275 for a queen w/out the platform. Delivery to New Britain was another $50. All-in-all, I would say they are a good bet if you already know what you want in your mattress.
Comfort Sleep Systems - I wish I could say! We drove all the way out there and they had a closed sign on there door with an explanation that there was a family sickness. Bummer.
Custom Sleep Design - Really impressive. Bob was very nice and very helpful. He spend quite a bit of time taking us around the different mattresses and ‘fitting’ my wife and I. We both noticed a pretty big difference in the comfort of their product. I have fairly wide shoulders and narrow hips and I’m a side sleeper, so I tend to toss and turn a lot due to the pressure points and misalignment my sleeping position creates. There approach to designing a mattress around this issue was really appealing. Also, Bob promised that they would send us replacement layers at no cost and with no need to return the old layers until the mattress met out needs just right. He even went so far as to say that they offer this service for 90 days, but if it takes longer, than there still won’t be a charge, which sold me. The queen set costs $3,200 with delivery (and I believe tax as well), but there was a Memorial Day sale at 10%, as well as our MattressUnderground 5%, and we decided we didn’t need the platform, saving another $250. So we were able to get the mattress for 2,666.72, which was pretty nice. Bob said to expect 4 weeks. I know a lot of people are curious about the mattress and there aren’t a ton of reviews out there, so in a few months I promise I’ll offer a review.
Thanks again for the help. I feel great about our choice, and I never would have known where to look and what to look for if not for you guys…and the savings were pretty sweet too! Thanks! 
Hi matpro171,
Congratulations on your new mattress
It’s too bad you weren’t able to give a “report” on Comfort Sleep Systems and I hope that whatever the family illness is that things work out all right.
As you know … I like the zoning system that Bob uses and it’s especially effective for more “difficult” body shapes and/or sleeping positions
You did well!
Phoenix
Sounds like you have a looong 4 weeks ahead of you! Maybe he’ll make my pillow I ordered when he gets your Mattress done too (been about 4 weeks since I ordered the test pillow from him). I’m glad you found the right one matpro, I look forward to your next post about the bed itself :woohoo:
Finally made it out to CSS today. Joan and Dave were very nice to deal with. Non pushy, could answer my questions when I had them and didn’t try to make stuff up. Not that I would expect that from a place like CSS, but you never know until you’re there! Their showroom had all the mattresses I wanted to try out on display and easy to get to. All their latex stuff is on one side of the showroom and their more traditional stuff on the other, not confusing at all. I am definitely comfortable enough with their business to send my wife in to try out the mattresses as well. Based on what I felt they have 3 options that could work for me (Hy’Bed, Ultra and Outrageous). I’ll wait for my wife’s input before narrowing it down any more.
If you’re in CT, it is worth the trip to check them out vs the high dollar low value chains all over the place. Ironically there are two of those places in either direction from the CSS showroom…
Just curious :
Can you tell me what you thought of the Hy’Bed?
Was the feel of it soft, medium, or firm?
Would you happen to know how many inches of latex on top and what the ILD was?
The Hy’bed is similar to the Outrageous but with the core latex replaced with inner springs. The top 3 layers, 2" of latex (medium) 1" of soft latex and then a cusion layer of foam on the very top. It felt firmer than their Ultra Performance model, but softer than their Tranquility model. Compared to other inner spring mattresses it felt pretty good. I’d put the feel of it around medium for overall firmness. Since they build them there, you could ask for a softer or firmer layer to be used instead of their default setup too. If you absolutely need to know the ILDs I’m sure Dave would tell you on the phone
If I ranked the three mattresses they have still on my list… Ultra, Hy’bed then Outrageous.
Finally got the wife to look at some mattress… I can finally get her opinion after work tonight! One step closer to figuring out what mattress will work for both of us. Hopefully I can also share a 2nd opinion of CSS too, she went there without me (obviously). Will post her opinions about them and their product soon B)
Hi nssanman,
I’m looking forward to your “dual” feedback.
I have to laugh too because I know from my own experience how hard it can be sometimes to do the same thing at the same time with the one you actually live with. One day maybe we’ll all have less time constraints in our lives and can spend more time doing all the things we want to do together
Thanks again too for all the reviews and information you’ve added to the forum.
Phoenix
If I knew my wife would be so speechless about shopping for a mattress I’d do this more often! All joking aside, I’m fortunate that she seems to be comfortable on a wide range of mattresses leaving my comfort as the deciding factor in this search. She had a pleasant experience at CSS, and had the opportunity to try out Latex over innerspring, All Latex, and All Latex with a plush comfort layer too. She felt a little difference between them, but said all three were comfortable for her. Her favorite was the Ultra Performance model they sell Product Catalog :: Comfort Sleep Systems and the Hy"Bed at #2 and the Outrageous unnecessary.
So now it’s up to me Looks like I’ll need to visit them again with some $$$ in hand for a second “rest drive” and make a decision. If I’m comfortable… and she’s comfortable on the same mattress there is no reason to spend the extra and go with CSD at this point. At this rate I should be spending th 4th of July on a new mattress!
Hi nissanman,
That’s great news
I’m also very interested in what you end up choosing after all your great research and testing.
Phoenix
If all goes well, I should be rest driving the CSS mattresses again this Thursday! Fairly excited about this because if I still like it as much as the 1st time, one of their mattresses may just follow me home David and Joan have been great to deal with over the phone and I look forward to dealing with them in person again. I will update this post soon…
Pulled the trigger today :woohoo:
Went with the Ultra Performance from CSS. A made in the USA, CT assembled with CT Latex product. It would be very difficult for me to get any more local than that! Dave and Joan we a pleasure to deal with and even worked with me to cut off a potential issue with thte foundation too. In conversation I mentioned the style home I have and they were both concerned that a 1 piece would not fit up my stairs. Dave offered to upgrade me to a split foundation (at a fair ammount) that will be guaranteed to fit. I will have to pick up my foundation in the next few days, but until then I will be sleeping on the mattress… I reinforced my bedframe with 3/4" plywood a while ago. That’s a solid frame!
Can’t wait to update this thread with some sleeping impressions…
Hi nissanman,
Isn’t it great when something that we fall in love with follows us home! I remember once I made friends with the cutest cat that bonded with me and … Oops … wrong story …
What I meant to say was congratulations on your new mattress
You are an example of great research and also recognizing the value of a local manufacturer and the quality of products and service they can provide. It seems to me that you also met the requirements of your “value equation” (the things that are most important to you in terms of the product, people, and the outlet you are dealing with) perfectly.
I’m looking forward to your ongoing feedback.
Phoenix
1st night… I did not want to get up this morning :cheer:
And the wife didn’t complain either. So far so good!