This site has been a great resource and I appreciate all the information. I’m getting ready to buy a new queen mattress. My wife and I have always slept on a traditional inner spring mattress and are looking forward to trying a foam mattress this time around. After trying out some mattresses at the local mattress stores, our favorite is the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme Breeze. We’re not willing to pay $3300 for it though.
I’m leaning towards the Novosbed or Chisteli. I live on the Northeast side of metro Atlanta and Christeli is a couple of hours away in Greenville, SC, so that is kind of an attractive option. As coincidence would have it, I was in my local Costco and they are selling three Tempurpedic models through Sunday, including the Cloud Select model which is apparently an older design, but very similar in feel to the Cloud Supreme Breeze. The price is $1300 plus sales tax. Costco has a very generous return policy which makes that option somewhat attractive. The Novosbed and Christeli will cost about $1000 and I won’t have to pay sales tax. I’m mulling over the Christeli return policy, and as of right now I’m leaning towards that not being a deal breaker. The model they recommend for people like myself who like the Cloud Supreme Breeze supposedly has a pretty high satisfaction rate.
I’ve read through a bunch of the archived comments about the mattresses I’m looking at, but thought I would start this thread in case anyone has any new thoughts that would be beneficial for someone that has traveled down a similar path to mine.
While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … it’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here but two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well he will sleep), durability (how long he will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular store or business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress so I would be very cautious about about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).
While I can’t speak to how well you will sleep on any of them because the only way to know this for certain will be based on your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) and/or your own personal experience when you sleep on it … all of the mattresses you are considering use high quality materials and there are no lower quality materials or weak links that would compromise the durability or useful life of any of them if you are in a BMI range of less than 30.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with such as the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme Breeze) than anyone else.
It sounds like you’ve already decided on your finalists but if you wish to expand your options … subject to confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your specific criteria and the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Atlanta, GA area are listed in post #2 here.
Once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” (which you have) and you have confirmed that none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design (which they don’t if your BMI is less than 30) and if at this point there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your more detailed conversations with each of them, your personal preferences, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress (or individual layers in some cases) and any costs involved, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding
Hi Phoenix,
Thank you for you reply. The link to the list of local Atlanta mattress stores was great. I’ve bought three inner spring mattresses from the The Original Mattress Factory. I really like that company and how they do business. I’ve checked out their selections this go around for what I’m looking for, and they are a little pricey for what I’m looking for. They do use high quality materials though, and their salesmen are fun to talk with.
The other store on that list I visited was Mattress USA. I visited them because they had four “Pure Talalay Bliss” models in their showroom and I really wanted to try out the 100% latex mattresses before deciding. They had a couple of other very interesting options including the Southerland brand which I had never heard of. They were very reasonably priced. The PTB mattresses were a little pricey. The salesman was actually very neutral on the mattresses, and wasn’t really steering me to any particular brand. I may go visit them again tomorrow.
I’ll definitely check out a couple of the other companies on your list.
Update #1: I’m now leaning towards getting a 100% Latex mattress. I’ve always liked the durability and temperature regulation properties of Latex mattresses, but was struggling getting over the feeling of bounciness and instability I get when lying on the ones I’ve tried. I just feel like I’m more on top of the mattress and when on my side feel like I want to roll. Went to a one man mattress shop today, and he had a 6" 40 ILD Talalay base layer with a 3" 19 ILD Dunlop topper. Very basic setup, with both layers separately encased in a bamboo fabric covering. Don’t think I’ll buy that configuration, but it convinced me that I can find a Latex mattress that isn’t overly bouncy and feels plenty stable. I was actually very impressed with the feel of the topper. I asked him about a 19 ILD Talalay topper, and he said that they both feel very similar as he has done both for customers.
I was getting a little frustrated with my search for a mattress, but I feel like today was a good day in the sense that I made some progress. Btw, I asked the owner what he owned, and he said all his beds are 100 % Latex including the ones in his camper.
Thanks for taking the time to share some comments and feedback about your research.
Each mattress category (including latex mattresses) can include hundreds of different mattresses with a very wide range of different designs, different “feels”, different characteristics, and different firmness levels. Every individual layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting material) will affect the feel and response of every other layer and component both above and below it and the mattress “as a whole” so each mattress category will generally include some mattresses that have a design that will be a good “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) and others that use the same type of materials and components and are in the same category and may be just as durable but have a different design or firmness level that may be completely unsuitable for you to sleep on … even if it uses the same general type of materials and components.
It’s good to see that you have the chance to do some testing because one of the reasons that some people prefer Dunlop vs Talalay latex is because it is less resilient and is less “springy” or “bouncy” so you certainly aren’t alone in your preferences. There is more about some of the differences between Dunlop and Talalay in post #7 here. Differences in the type and blend of latex in each layer or the firmness of each layer along with differences in overall design between different latex mattresses can make a significant difference in how they feel and perform which is why it’s always a good idea to do some good testing on a range of different mattresses to get a better sense of the type and blend of latex and the general firmness level that you tend to prefer and it can be surprising to many people how much difference there can be between mattresses that are in the same general category.
If you like a tempurpedic i’d steer away from the novosbed just because the cover is barely stretchy and doesn’t allow for conforming. I even had the soft and it just would not conform well at all. Crazy decision imo to make that the cover. Tempurpedic is one of my favorite mattresses and i returned the novosbed as soon as i was able to.
I’d caution you against making statements about what mattress or material might be appropriate for someone else based upon your own personal preferences, as there are entirely too many individual variables and preferences involved to do so. Additionally, as you’ve documented on this forum, you have incredibly specific and individual tastes and sensitivities that would not translate to the vast majority of members here, so I’d avoid making statements about the applicability and conforming nature of one product based upon your experience and applying that as advice to someone else.
