Southern California Retailers/Mattresses?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Soooo…

I went and bought a mattress from a “major retailer” on an impulse, which is good/bad, I am long overdue for a new mattress and this did get me started on this little (yet important) adventure. But a big important purchase + impulse = bad move. Subsequently I have tried to “validate” my purchase by looking for reviews and other positives, but in finding this forum, I feel like I should have spent some more time looking. For reference, I bought the Dormeo VitalityBed Octaspring.

Anyway, now I feel like I was totally unaware of a whole proven construction (Latex). I also feel like I spent premium money on a unproven technology and it might have been better used, even if I got the Dormeo I now feel like I should have gotten one with Latex, and that retailer only has the highest end of those which feel way overpriced.

THE GOOD NEWS: It has not been delivered! Sale is not final until then… which is tomorrow. I plan on cancelling the purchase and starting over again.

So, my main question… are there any retailers that people can recommend in Southern California (near Huntington Beach to be specific)?

Also, any more specific recommendations on mattresses?

About the only information I can give is that I am a side sleeper, I am a big guy (6’3" and ~240 pounds) with big shoulders, but have not been very picky when it comes to mattresses. When sleeping my body temperature is the biggest factor in comfort (which led me to the Dormeo and the advertised ventilation and coolness). I do not have any major back pain or major issues, though I have noticed that the left side of my neck and left shoulder/arm sometimes feel strained, but not in pain (I sleep on my left side mostly).

I seem to “think” that I do not like really plush mattresses, and more firm mattresses, but frankly I have never had a high quality mattress so anything I “think” might just be ignorant of reality. The best way I could put it is that I want a firm/supportive mattress, that is very cushioned/soft at the top, but that you do not “sink” too far into like some of the “plushest” models I have tested. But that could just be bad experiences with sagging mattresses that make me think that…

Anyway, thanks for any help! I love finding forums like this, really appreciated.

2

Hi SoCalSleeping,

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Greater Los Angeles region are listed in post #2 here.

If you haven’t already … I would also make sure you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices.

Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for someone else to make a specific recommendation about which mattress may be best for you out of all the thousands that are available in the market so it’s really only possible to help with “how” to choose a mattress that is the best match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) rather than suggesting a specific mattress or material (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

There is also more information that may be useful for those in higher weight ranges in post #3 here and the posts it links to but in most cases it’s easier and more effective to have “just enough” information to be able to recognize the retailers or manufacturers that already know what you would otherwise need to learn. The knowledge, experience, and transparency of who you deal with and their willingness to put your best interests above their own can be one of the most important parts of a successful mattress purchase.

Phoenix

3

Thanks for the information. I cancelled my impulse mattress purchase yesterday, so back to square one!

I am intrigued by Flexus Comfort, those prices are really nice and there is a sale at the moment. It being ~40 minutes away on a good day makes it tough to go and test, but maybe this Saturday.

In the meantime, having never even been near a latex bed, much less tested one, I am going to try and stop by “Orange County Mattress” since it is local and they appear to be a retailer for Pure Latex Bliss. It’s weird though, their website only advertises the typical major brands, even though they are the only retailer nearby I found through Pure Bliss. I am hoping they may have something for me to at least get my feet wet on and get a first impression. Does anyone have any feeling on them as a store, just so I am prepared? Regardless, I am much better prepared to do quality testing after having found this forum.

Anyway, I want to stop by OCM tonight. I feel weird looking at all these beds without having never even touched one :slight_smile:

4

Hi SoCalSleeping,

If you are comfortable driving that far they would certainly be one of my priorities in the area. As you know they are a member here and I think very highly of them in terms of their quality, value, and service.

I would be cautious about a store that specializes in major brands and I would also call them before going there to make sure they carry the PLB mattresses on their floor and to get a general sense of their level of knowledge and service as well. Just in case you are tempted to consider any of their mainstream mattresses or other brands … I would make sure they can provide the information here about any of the mattresses they sell that you are considering. If you have spent an hour or two on the site and have read the tutorial posts and the main posts it links to then the odds are high that you will know more meaningful information about mattresses than their salespeople do.

Phoenix

5

OK, so I was able to get to a mattress store that had PLB and the full line of Tempur-pedic. It was really helpful! With my renewed goal to find the right mattress, I tested them all, and came to the following conclusions:

  1. It’s all about my shoulders, they are very broad, and as a side sleeper my comfort is dictated by how they interact with the mattress.

  2. I do not think full latex mattresses are for me. I did not dislike them, but on my side I felt this rotational sensation, which was distracting. Also, the very responsive feel of full latex was not a big plus too me.

  3. I thought I liked firm… Wrong, all the mattresses I ranked high we’re rated as soft. The Tempur-pedic Cloud Luxe (standard and breeze) being my favorite. Overall I liked the Cloud line more than the Contour, with one exception, the Contour Allura, which was my second favorite behind the Cloud Luxe. The Granbed was OK, but for some reason I think I just liked the top better on the Allura.

  4. Back to latex! One of my most comfortable and favorite setups was one of the Contour Mattresses (Rhapsody Luxe is what I used) with a 2" PLB latex topper. It had none of the dislikes I had with full latex, was soft and felt good on my side, and I liked that touch of responsiveness over just memory foam.

So. I am wondering if there are any retailers that build in a comfort layer of latex over a more standard memory foam setup? I seem to not be able to find any… We’ll without just getting a separate topper and doing what I did in the store.

So, to get my bed… I have been looking at Restava and Christeli as places to get memory foam mattresses that are based on the TP line. Any other recommendations? One thing I like about Christeli is it looks like I could buy a 2" topper and swap out the top memory foam layer for latex if I ever wanted, basically doing what I was looking for above, but keeping the normal quilted finish of the mattress. Would this work?

Also, one concern I have is that the softer mattresses may not hold up with my weight (~240) over time, even though I seemed to like them the best. Also, I worry that the 3-5 minutes I spent on mattresses was not sufficient, and that maybe a medium mattress would have been OK after longer, or that the softer mattresses would have shown that they are “too much” with more time, much less a full night. Regardless, I like feeling comfortable immediately, the idea of needing to wait 10-15 minutes for a mattress to feel right seems bad, and is another reason the latex over a firmer memory foam intrigues me.

Thanks for any help!

6

Hi SoCalSleeeping,

There are certainly manufacturers that either do or could make a mattress like this (and it can be a good option for those that like the more resilient sleeping surface of latex but with some of the slow sinking in of memory foam underneath this) but I don’t keep a list of mattresses based on their design (it would be an impossible job to keep up with in a constantly changing market) so you would need to look for them either on websites or with phone calls to local or online manufacturers. I would also keep in mind that they may not be the same as the combination you tested because all the layers of a sleeping system (including a topper) will affect the feel and performance of all the other layers so it would be important to use a topper with the same type of material in the same thickness and firmness level on top of a very similar mattress to end up with a similar combination. A topper will also have a different “feel” if it’s used on top of a mattress compared to using the same material inside a mattress cover.

It would be much simpler to choose a mattress that was similar to the Tempurpedic you tested or that was a good match for you in terms of PPP and then add a similar topper. A topper can also be replaced without having to replace the entire mattress if it softens or breaks down faster than the rest of the mattress and can also improve the durability of the materials underneath it. The more differences there are between the mattress/topper combination you purchase compared to the mattress/topper combination you tested the more likely it would be that the combination would feel and perform differently than what you tested. The better online sources for toppers I’m aware of are listed in post #4 here.

The tutorial post includes a link to the better online memory foam manufacturers/retailers I’m aware of (it’s in post #12 here to save you looking through the tutorial) and many of these make mattresses that are designed to be good approximations of some or all of the Tempurpedic mattresses.

I’m not sure which Christeli mattress you are considering but their mattresses are designed to approximate various Tempurpedic mattresses as they are listed (with the topper) not without the topper so if you replace the topper with a latex topper then the base mattress would be be missing one of its layers and would be different from the equivalent Tempurpedic so the combination would also be quite different. To put together something that was a rough equivalent to the Tempurpedic mattress with the 2" latex topper you would first need a sleeping system that was similar to the Tempurpedic you are testing and then you could add a topper on top with the same type of latex and in the same thickness and firmness level.

This is a legitimate concern since softer mattresses and lower density foams are not as durable with higher body weights. The tutorial post includes a link to some of the guidelines I would use (in post #4 here) and also includes a link to post #4 here which along with some of the posts it links to has more information about the variables that can affect the durability and the useful life of a mattress.

I agree that 3-5 minutes on a mattress may not be long enough to be able to use your testing to predict your sleeping experience and I would follow the testing guidelines in the tutorial post when you are testing mattresses.

Phoenix