Saatva, Denver, Tuft

[Bromo]

Hi, i love the community you’ve built. The conversation is deeply insightful, and I’m very impressed.

Please help me figure out a purchase.

We’re moving from a King to a Queen because we are happily downsizing to a smaller home in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, NY, and need a new mattress. We currently sleep on a W Hotels mattress purchased four years ago. It’s always been rather giving but does a nice job of supporting the curves. However it also slopes on the edges (has from day one) and it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning—there’s not enough resistance.

With that in mind, we paid a visit to the local Sleepy’s, and having already done a little research, knew that we’d end up paying 2-3X what we want to (500-800) for something that was probably not entirely satisfactory. We wound up gravitating to GS Stearns Ultrafirm and Luxury Firm, and it was about that time that I discovered your site. (We also paid a visit to Ikea and were unimpressed.)

Saatva seems interesting to me and, given our current bed, seems like the Luxury Firm model might work both budget and sleepwise. But I’ve become well aware that the community seems to believe there is less than meets the eye here, and that other, less well known, mattress manufacturers might offer more for the money. The ones that seem to pop up are the Denver Durango and although it’s very different Tuft and Needle.

I’m finding it increasingly hard however to have a sense of direction about this, especially given Phoenix’s perspective that there are plenty of local options that might deliver more bang for the buck—and so I feel I have to pay a visit to Charles Rogers as well (and I guess I could probably visit Casper too…and then who’s next!)

Meanwhile, we move on Friday and will have to sleep on a borrowed air mattress until we actually get something.

So: Based on our current choices and our seeming predilection for hybrid spring plus some kind of foam with more firmness and better edging, can you make recommendations? Am I going in the right direction? My wife says I always bog down in research, so I’m determined to push on to a decision asap.

Your assistance firmly appreciated:)

[phoenix]

Hi Bromo,

You may have read this already but just in case you haven’t the mattress shopping tutorial here includes all the most important information along with the steps and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice in any budget range … and perhaps most importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones. It also includes several links to some of the better online options that I’m aware of (in the “optional” online step).

Saatva seems interesting to me and, given our current bed, seems like the Luxury Firm model might work both budget and sleepwise. But I’ve become well aware that the community seems to believe there is less than meets the eye here, and that other, less well known, mattress manufacturers might offer more for the money. The ones that seem to pop up are the Denver Durango and although it’s very different Tuft and Needle.

I think you may have read this already as well but you can see my thoughts and “analysis” of the Saatva mattress in post #1 here. While I would say it’s a “better than average” choice compared to most of the mainstream options that most people end up purchasing … the members of this site generally are aware of many higher quality/value options than most other consumers and for them it may not be the best value choice.

Denver Mattress is often among the better quality/value choices that are available locally where they have a store. A forum search on Durango (you can just click the link) will bring up more information and feedback about it as well. It uses good quality materials for its budget range and there are no obvious weak links in the mattress although If I was in a higher weight range (more than the low 200’s or so) then I would probably tend to look for a mattress with slightly higher quality materials yet.

Tuft & Needle is one of the members of this site which means that I think highly of them and they are a good quality/value choice. A forum search on Tuft Needle (you can just click this link as well) will also bring up much more information and feedback about them as well. Of course they only make one mattress and there isn’t a mattress that is suitable for everyone or even a majority of people so this would be an “all or nothing” choice where it either worked well for you when you slept on it or you would have the option to return it if it didn’t because they have a good return policy.

I’m finding it increasingly hard however to have a sense of direction about this, especially given Phoenix’s perspective that there are plenty of local options that might deliver more bang for the buck—and so I feel I have to pay a visit to Charles Rogers as well (and I guess I could probably visit Casper too…and then who’s next!)

If you are in the New York City area then the better options and possibilities I’m aware of are listed in post #2 here. I would be cautious with Charles P Rogers because unfortunately they don’t disclose the quality of the materials in their mattresses which means that they certainly wouldn’t be my first choice in the area.

So: Based on our current choices and our seeming predilection for hybrid spring plus some kind of foam with more firmness and better edging, can you make recommendations? Am I going in the right direction? My wife says I always bog down in research, so I’m determined to push on to a decision asap.

If you are following the steps in the tutorial post one at a time then you would certainly be going in the right direction IMO and it would simplify your search because it seems that your research may be a little scattered (which tells me you may not be following the steps in the tutorial). Once you have decided on the type of materials and mattresses you tend to prefer then things will become simpler as well since you would only be looking at the type of materials you prefer and would be excluding the rest. I am also wondering why you are including the Durango among your options when they aren’t available to you locally and I’m not sure if you’ve included some of the better online options that are available to you (linked in the tutorial) that would also be worth considering and talking to as well if you are looking in an “online” direction.

Phoenix

[Bromo]

Hi Phoenix,

Thank you for your prompt reply. As I said in my initial post, we are moving tomorrow and therefore under pressure to get a mattress asap to minimize the number of nights we sleep on an air mattress. I get that you believe Saatva is less bang for the buck than other brands; however when I look at the websites of MU’s recommended vendors, most if not all have mattresses that are a minimum of 1/3 more than the cost of Saatva.

That said, tonight we will be checking out Casper and perhaps Charles Rogers.

One point. Although I’m very impressed with your site, as a digital marketer, I think it would be more helpful to me to see brands compared by price as well as feature set. When I look at the merchants with innercoil hybrids —or for that matter Denver, which does appear to be an an option although we would have to buy it without testing first—there’s not much there at that Saatva/Denver price point in NYC. which is why I was writing in the first place.

If you have further suggestions, please send em my way. Thanks for your quick responses!

[phoenix]

Hi Bromo,

Thank you for your prompt reply. As I said in my initial post, we are moving tomorrow and therefore under pressure to get a mattress asap to minimize the number of nights we sleep on an air mattress. I get that you believe Saatva is less bang for the buck than other brands; however when I look at the websites of MU’s recommended vendors, most if not all have mattresses that are a minimum of 1/3 more than the cost of Saatva.

You probably aren’t making apples to apples comparisons but there are many options available from the online list that are significantly less than Saatva if price is your only concern regardless of the quality of the materials (some less than $200).

Some of the lower budget latex and latex hybrid mattresses I’m aware of are also listed in posts #3 and #4 here and there are also some other types of lower budget mattresses listed in post #4 here as well.

One point. Although I’m very impressed with your site, as a digital marketer, I think it would be more helpful to me to see brands compared by price as well as feature set.

This wouldn’t be a good idea at all for all the reasons that are mentioned throughout the tutorial post (and the many posts it links to) and in other posts such as here. It would be much more misleading than helpful because it wouldn’t help anyone learn how to compare the value of any mattresses they were considering (see post #13 here) and they would end up making a mattress purchase for all the wrong reasons and there is far too much of that in the industry already. One of the goals of the site is to help educate consumers about how to make better choices not just repeat all the mistakes that are already happening in so many online sites and throughout the industry. Brand shopping is one of the worst ways to choose a mattress.

When I look at the merchants with innercoil hybrids —or for that matter Denver, which does appear to be an an option although we would have to buy it without testing first—there’s not much there at that Saatva/Denver price point in NYC. which is why I was writing in the first place.

While Denver mattress wouldn’t likely be a good choice for you because you are too far away and they aren’t set up to sell outside of their area and because of the shipping involved if they did and the lack of return options you would have … they do use high quality materials for their price range and there are no weak links or “borderline” foams in their mattresses in terms of durability even in budget ranges that are lower than the Saatva. Even something like the Ikea HEGGEDAL is in the same price range and uses higher quality materials and components and there are other lower budget options in the New York area as well.

Phoenix