I realize this was only the first night, but I thought to offer my initial impression. This is definitely a soft mattress. I found myself sinking in more particularly around the shoulders & hip areas. As I said I’m a side sleeper, so I tend to press down in those area. As for sitting up, while reading in bed, some sink age in the buttocks area. It wasn’t a bad first night, but wondering if the signature select would have been a better choice. zexpress, I’m just curious if your experience with BBME might have been different with their medium mattress. I know that when I called them initially, they had recommended medium for my sleeping needs. Also do you see any obvious construction differences between the two.
I definitely wouldn’t judge it too much on the first night as it did get a bit firmer after about 48-72 from unboxing although as stated it is still a soft mattress.
The indentations where the quilting is are really quite annoying and have probably become my biggest issue with the mattress. Sadly the Signature Select seems to have the same type of quilted cover so while I imagine it should be firmer with better support I might have the same issues with that one.
I found the BBBME to be well made although mine was built during a time where they had QC issues causing mattresses to not fully expand. I probably would have liked the medium better but I still think the lack of edge support would have been an issue for me. It should be noted that Brooklyn Bedding assembles Nest’s mattresses so it would make sense that they would have similar builds.
Anyway I hope you have better luck over the next few nights but I am already planning what to try next as I am all but certain the Hybrid is too soft for me.
Thanks for your insight, zexpress. You might want to have a look at the Feb. Issue of ConsumerReports.They did a comparsion wit Novaform Serafina Pearl Gel rated #1 for medium firm, Leesa at # 3 also medium firm, Tuft & Needle Ten at #5 & Casper #6 both firm.
Thanks! I have lately been eyeing the Bear Mattress. I like the concept of only a small amount of memory foam over high performance polyfoam. This is the design Tempurpedic went with for their old Weighless line that I really liked. I also like the idea of celliant fibers that they use for the cover. I am sure it’s not as much of a miracle fabric as they claim but the studies have been interesting.
The GhostBed is interesting too but I don’t like that they will not reveal the specs of their foams. When I asked them they claimed it was their “secret sauce” and couldn’t reveal it for competitive reasons despite the fact that their competition already does.
You certainly know you mattresses! This is my first foray into buying online. Perhaps I should have waited, Nest bedding recently opened up a store in my city, so perhaps I should have checked it out first. They have a Casper & Helix stores here as well, but I was concerned that those brands were going to be too firm for me.
Hi Loiroi,
Each person is unique and a mattress that is “perfect” for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on. Having said that … medium would probably cover the single largest part of the bell curve that would be suitable for more people than the other two firmness levels.
The Alexander Signature Select is a memory foam mattress (memory foam over a polyfoam support core) and the Alexander Hybrid Signature Select is a pocket coil/memory foam (memory foam over a pocket coil) so they are in completely different mattress categories (see this article) and would have a different feel. They also have differences in the comfort layers (the specifics of the memory foam in all of their mattresses and firmness levels is listed on their site).
You can see my comments about the Consumer Reports mattress ratings and recommendations in post #2 here and in this topic. While they may be a good source of information about more “objective” purchases … as you can see I would consider them to be an unreliable source of information or guidance about purchasing a mattress and they are somewhat nonsensical and meaningless. My thoughts are also shared by most of the more knowledgeable people in the industry (see post #5 here for an example).
You can see the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the NYC area in post #2 here (including Nest Bedding’s newest store).
@ zexpress
Just for reference … Nest Bedding’s mattresses are made by several different manufacturers.
While some information can legitimately be considered to be proprietary to a manufacturer … there are many manufacturers that claim that the information you would need to make an informed choice is also somehow “proprietary” but I certainly wouldn’t agree. You can read a little more about “so called” proprietary materials and using this as a justification for not disclosing what I would consider to be essential information here and here and here.
Another manufacturer would need much more information than just knowing the quality/density of the materials in a mattress be able to duplicate it. If all they disclosed is the type and quality/density of the materials in his mattresses that can affect durability they still wouldn’t need to disclose the “comfort specs” or other information that would be the biggest part of how a mattress feels. Any manufacturer that was truly interested in “duplicating” one of their mattresses also would have no trouble buying one if they wanted to and “reverse engineering” it anyway.
I would avoid any manufacturer or retailer that either can’t or won’t provide you with the “quality specs” you need to make an informed choice and confirm the quality and durability of the materials and the mattress “as a whole” because this type of “blind” purchase would be much too risky and there are many manufacturers to choose from that will provide you will all the information you need to make an informed choice.
Phoenix
Initially I was set on a foam mattress so I ended up going to a Temperpedic store and tried them all out. I soon realized that foam wasn’t for me. I didn’t like the zero bounce and push back that I was used to with my pillow top spring mattress. But then I tried the temperpedic flex and love the combination of support and slight bounce it offered as a hybrid but I didn’t like the price. After tons of research I settled on the Alexander hybrid and I felt like it was reasonably priced especially after the sleepopolis discount.
Ive only slept on it one night but my initial impressions are good. Its definitely not a firm mattress. Id rate it a 5 out of 10. Definitely soft and comfortable but supportive at the same time. None of the tossing and turning that I was typically used to on my old mattress. I also don’t have any of the complaints that some have as loose threads or indentations on the top layer in odd spots.
I paired it with the #bestpillow ever and love that too. My first experience with latex and its 1000x more comfortable than my old Joy Mangano memory foam/gel pillow I got from HSN. Ill update later after Ive had it for a few weeks.
Hi amoney805,
Thanks for taking the time to share your comments and feedback … and congratulations on your new mattress 
Just for reference … the discount you received is their “standard” discount and is the same as the discount that is available to any of the members here as well.
I’m looking forward to any additional updates you have the chance to share once you’ve had the chance to sleep on it for a little longer.
Phoenix
Though it’s only been 5 nights, I’m not enjoying this mattress. While the edge support is fine, I’m finding it overall too soft. I wake up with a stiffness in my neck or lower back, so I don’t feel that I am receiving the support I need. Plus where is their quality control, don’t they inspect before they ship? The loose threads I can deal with, but there is no way those seams by the tag are aligned properly,one side is higher than the other. I have also showed the photos I took of the damage it received from shipping to others, they saw it clearly, so how can the company deny it. This was my first time buying a mattress online, I went with what I thought was a quality company, but I’ve been extremely disappointed.
Sorry to hear that. I am two weeks into mine and agree it is too soft and this is coming from a 140lbs side sleeper. If you’re heaver than me I can only imagine how much worse it could be for you. I haven’t had the quality control issues like you have though but I am surprised Nest isn’t being more pro-active in that. It does sound like you’re going to return it anyway so I guess it doesn’t matter too much.
I will add that I am finding it sleeping less hot than when I first got it but that might be the cooler temperatures here. It’s still not a cool mattress to me and this is likely due to it being soft and me sleeping more in the mattress then on it.
I really wish Nest would have have made this mattress in firmness levels like their other models as the Hybrid is definitely on the soft side of medium-soft. If they offered me an exchange for the regular Alexander in medium I might consider it but I think they have a one exchange only policy and wouldn’t want to be stuck with it if that too doesn’t sleep well. I have a trip planned to Los Angeles in March so might try and stop by the Nest store there to see how that feels before I make a decision. At least in my case the Hybrid sleeps better than my old mattress so I don’t mind waiting more than the 30 day minimum but I am all but certain at this point the Hybrid is not for me as I need something firmer.
I purchased a Novaform Serafina from Costco in August.
I’m returning it. It has started to sag. I’mover 6 ft and 220 lbs
Hi zexpress, I too am a side sleeper, just a few pounds more at 146, so I imagine we are having the same experience, though I haven’t had any temperature issues. Nest just opened a store in NY, so I thought that I might go look at their Select, but right now I’m wondering if it’s worth the effort. I never notified them of the misaligned seams because of their lack of interest in my reporting the shipping damage.
I’m thing of BBBME, but I remember your experience with them. Do you think if you had ordered a medium instead of soft, it might have been better. I just want a supportive but comfortable sleeping experience which is proving problematic.
I am very sensitive to heat when I sleep so that might be more of why I have noticed it.
I imagine the BBBME would have been better if I had gotten the medium although I don’t think latex is for me. You might want to check out the Nest store in NYC anyway and check out the LoveBed. While it’s not the same you might get a basic idea of how the BBBME will feel in regards to latex over foam. I wanted to check out the Nest store in NYC when I was there last month but I was there a couple weeks before they opened. If you do go I’d be interested to hear how you find the regular Alexander compare to the hybrid in terms of edge support and feel.
I will try & make it to their shop next week. Thanks for the suggestion to check out the Love bed as well, to see how the latex compares. If you have any specific questions, post them here & I can ask them at the store.
Hi Loiroi
A mattress is inspected before it is roll packed for shipping by the manufacturer but it can’t be inspected after roll packing and boxing until you open it again so any damage that happened during shipping wouldn’t be noticed until you open it.
If you can see any clear evidence of damage on a picture then I would doubt that they would be denying it and if your mattress is damaged then they would just replace it. You are certainly welcome to post a picture on the forum as well. In any case they have a great return policy so if there is anything about the mattress that you aren’t happy with then you can return it for a refund anyway and you don’t need to “prove” anything to them.
If there was damage before the mattress reached you that went through and ripped all the plastic layers then the mattress would also have expanded during shipping and if a mattress is still compressed then that would indicate that the inner wrapping was still intact.
I’m also sorry to hear that your mattress isn’t working out as well for you as you hoped for but again the good news is that you had the foresight to choose an online mattress that has a great return policy so you could test it in your bedroom instead of a showroom without any risk.
Each person can also have very different needs and preferences in a mattress so a mattress that works well or even is “perfect” for one person may be unsuitable for someone else to sleep on even if they have the same body type and sleeping style as someone else so the only way to know for certain whether any mattress will be a good “match” for you in terms of PPP (regardless of whether the same mattress works well for anyone else or even a larger group of people) will be based on your own personal experience. This is just part of the “risk” of an online purchase and is the reason that a good return/exchange policy can be a more important part of the “value” of an online purchase.
Phoenix
I agree that if you’re looking for a medium firm and/or you’re 200+ lbs this mattress isn’t for you. They really should introduce different firmness options because a hybrid really is the best of both worlds. I’m hoping that soft mattresses don’t wear out faster because this mattress is so plush and soft I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning.
Hi amoney805,
They also have their honest beds hybrid collection (with either memory foam or latex) which has different firmness levels. Sometimes the number of options that a retailer has available can be limited by floor space and in some cases having too many options available can sometimes do more to confuse customers than help them as well.
Softness can have some bearing on the durability and useful life of a mattress but the most important factor in durability is the quality/density of the materials (particularly in the comfort layers).
While there is no way to quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when you will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for you (this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.
There is also more detailed information about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress in post #4 here as well.
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix, thanks for your comments. I think my mistake was not waiting for the Nest Bedding store to open, where I could have checked out their various types before ordering. I intend to visit their store & also check out Casper’s store as well, & maybe Helix too, though I’m not really sure I believe a mattress can be “customized” based on a few questions. I am going to try & post a screenshot of the issues I discussed in prior posts. Apparently I can only add a current image, the damage I mentioned prior to unrolling is in my gallery,seems I can’t add that shot
Hi Loiroi,
You can attach any image on your computer to your posts. There is more about adding attachments to your posts in the help section here but if you have any trouble adding an attachment then you can also email it to me (at the contact email at the top right of the page) and I can attach it to your post for you.
Phoenix
