First of all, I know that without doing my research and without finding out what I prefer, I’m probably not going to be as satisfied as I could be. That said, I don’t have time to go mattress shopping, between being out of town a lot and working 80+ hours per week. I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress on my bed frame for the past seven months. Oddly enough, I actually sleep better on it than my girlfriend’s newer Ikea mattress, but that probably doesn’t mean anything.
I’m thinking about taking advantage of this sale from US Mattress for one the Simmons Beautyrest Recharge World Class, likely the Luxury Firm Pillow Top. They seem to get great reviews, I can order online with free delivery, and I’m looking to spend around $600-$800.
I personally wouldn’t buy any mattress where you don’t know the quality of the materials inside it … particularly if they are a major brand where the odds are high that the quality of the materials is low (see the guidelines here which is also linked in the tutorial post here). With almost 5" of lower quality or unknown foam in the comfort layers you would be making a very risky purchase and the odds of more rapid foam softening and early impressions (that aren’t covered by warranty) would be very high regardless of the “showroom feel” of the mattress or a sale price that still didn’t make it a good value purchase.
From many levels (including a false sense of urgency because of a holiday sale with questionable value, using reviews which say nothing about how good a match a mattress will be for you as a research tool, buying a mattress with low quality materials at inflated prices etc) this is exactly the type of high risk purchase that I would suggest avoiding.
I am also looking to buy a mattress from their Black Friday sale. A King size Simmons BeautyRest World Class Phillipsburgh Plush Pillowtop. I know you are not a fan of Simmons/serta/sealy etc or having a “built in” pillowtop. But as JoeLink has said they have good reviews. Seems to have a good mix of foams and 1268 coils and I like the way it feels to me. I think a combination/hybrid of coils and foam is best for me. I live in Haverford Twp Delaware County PA 19083 which borders on Philadelphia. So if you know of any dealers in this area with a matress with similar specs and better materials I am all ears I do not need to purchase right now. But this is the best price for this mattress in at least awhile Also I sent you an e-mail with the same question because I was having trouble creating an account. But as you see I am in now lol. Thanks Neil J Herman [quote=“Phoenix”]
Hi JoeLink,
I personally wouldn’t buy any mattress where you don’t know the quality of the materials inside it … particularly if they are a major brand where the odds are high that the quality of the materials is low (see the guidelines here which is also linked in the tutorial post here). With almost 5" of lower quality or unknown foam in the comfort layers you would be making a very risky purchase and the odds of more rapid foam softening and early impressions (that aren’t covered by warranty) would be very high regardless of the “showroom feel” of the mattress or a sale price that still didn’t make it a good value purchase.
From many levels (including a false sense of urgency because of a holiday sale with questionable value, using reviews which say nothing about how good a match a mattress will be for you as a research tool, buying a mattress with low quality materials at inflated prices etc) this is exactly the type of high risk purchase that I would suggest avoiding.
They certainly don’t have a “good mix” of foams in terms of quality and the comments I made to the previous poster would apply to your questions as well. Buying a major brand mattress where the comfort layers use lower quality/density materials is a very high risk proposition at best and a case of buyers remorse fairly quickly down the road as the lower quality foams soften or break down at worst.
The first place I would start your mattress research is the tutorial post which has the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and avoid the worst ones such as the Simmons you are considering.
Reviews are among the worst ways to choose a mattress. Reviews don’t provide any information about how suitable a mattress may be for your unique needs ad preferences in terms of PPP and they also don’t have any informaiton about the quality or value of the mattress. There is more about the difference between mattress research and reviews in post #13 here.
When a mattress is significantly overpriced in the first place then even a lower price than “normal” doesn’t represent good value.
Unfortunately they don’t provide the comfort specs of their mattresses (or the quality specs either) so you won’t be able to find a mattress with similar specs because you wouldn’t have a reference point to start from. Even if you could it would be preferable to find a mattress with much better specs anyway. The best you could do to find a mattress with a similar “feel” but better quality materials is with your own personal testing but you can’t feel the quality of the materials in a mattress when you test them in a showroom or sleep on them and the only way to know the quality and durability of a mattress or make meaningful comparisons with other mattresses is by knowing the construction and the quality of all the materials and components inside it. Testing a mattress based on “showroom feel” also has a less than random chance of making the most suitable choice (see this study) and I would suggest using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post instead.
Some of the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Greater Philadelphia area are listed in post #4 here.
I’m glad to see you were able to register and post
Wow Phoenix Thanks you do reply quickly. I had contacted Simmons to ask them specifically what type of foam is in their Comfort layer. Latex ? Talalay Latex ? Polyfoam ? etc? What is the density of the foam? It seems the quilt layer has 1.25oz of Celestra Which I assume is the density and a brand name. I thought 1.5 density was the least amount of density recommended. Surprisingly lol no response from Simmons so far. I also have looked at some threads on your site. Specifically the thread/conversation you have had with Vince and Nancy who both have had a good experience with Verlo Mattress factory. Nancy apparently bought an Excalibre pillowtop from them last year. And was hoping she posted the follow up to see how she likes it a year later. The Simmons world class recharge Phillipsburg is just under $1300 delivered so the Excalibre at $1500/$1600 is certainly in that price range. The Verlo showroom was 2 blocks from me in Manoa Shopping center on West Chester Pike. But tragically a few years ago an employee was murdered there by I believe her husband. Of course this was traumatic to the community especially since stuff like that just doesn’t happen around here. I did not realize they had opened up again at another location. Which as it turns out their new location on Sussex Blvd is in an industrial park less than a 1/2 mile from me. So I am glad they are still in business and hopefully thriving and I will most likely be giving them my business. I will try remember and post what I end up buying and where. Unfortunately I tend to procrastinate when it comes to buying things for myself. Thanks again Neil
The Celestra is a fabric (not a foam) used as the backing for the quilt layers (the quilting foam has fabric on each side). The mattress has 3.75" of low density foam (probably in the range of 1.2 to 1.5 lbs) and another 2.5" of memory foam which is also likely to be in a lower density range. All of this would be a very risky purchase because low quality materials will soften much more quickly than higher quality materials and the resulting loss of comfort and support isn’t covered by warranty … even if the mattress is unsleepable and needs to be replaced … unless there are also visible impressions that are deeper than the warranty exclusion which is usually not the case.
I see that the Verlo link was broken as well so I’ve corrected it.
A trip to Magic Sleeper may also be worthwhile but I would call first to make sure that John or Christina are there if you go there because some of their staff are not as knowledgeable as they are.
Phoenix I think I am good Thanks again. I have some knowledge about foams from a previous bad experience with foams but with living room furniture not with a bed. It seems some showrooms either use different material or a higher quality/density foam in there seat/sofa cushions in the showroom. Then the foam that you receive your actual sofa/chair. I had bought a living room set from American Signature Furniture and within a year the cushions are pretty much squished and uncomfortable. Vastly lessoning the comfort of them. So you might know this as well. Is there a place online or in the Philadelphia area that a consumer can purchase high density/quality latex or memory foam that can be cut to fit to replace cushions in sofas/chairs ? I miss my mom’s old sofas/chairs that had mohair or other quality stuffing from a bygone era lol. Thanks again Neil
Yes … it’s exactly the same thing with mattresses and as with furniture I would look for a minimum of 1.8 lb density for polyfoam except for perhaps an inch or so of lower quality foams in the quilting layers which won’t have a significant effect on the useful life of the mattress. With memory foam I would kook for a minimum of 4 lb density. Higher densities are more durable because the density of polyfoam or memory foam is the single biggest factor in its durability. There is more about the many factors that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress in post #2 here.
Most cities have several foam shops where you can order many different types and densities of foam. I don’t keep a list of them like I do with mattress manufacturers so I don’t know of any specifically in the Philadelphia area (a google search will bring up a few) and there are some online foam suppliers (polyfoam, memory foam, and latex) listed in post #4 here.
