What mattress for the biggest "WOW FACTOR" for guests in luxury rental villa?

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

Hello!

I have been researching mattresses for a while now, but I can’t find a good answer to this question.
My girlfriend and I are finishing renovating a luxury summer vacation villa, and we would like to upgrade our mattresses to something that’s going to leave our guests the most satisfied and impressed by our beds.

I was thinking that the normal rules for personal mattresses might not apply in full in this case, i.e. a very soft and plush mattress might feel absolutely amazing to sleep on for a few days, but might be too soft for your back in the long term.

I’m not quite sure about testing them for myself either, as I’m fairly tall at 6’5", and heavy (being 220 lbs at my absolute lightest as an adult), so something that suits me might not be all that great for an average sized person.

We are also located in Europe, so a lot of the specific manufacturer recommendations might not apply, and we’re interested more in general construction recommendations,
but if you know of an international or local European brand, I would be very thankful for a recommendation.
Most of the local dealers are really not experts, and they know very little about their product and inquiring with them produced no meaningful data, so I decided to register here and ask your resident experts.

I apologise for any errors, English is not my native language :slight_smile:

Cheers!

2

Hi Aral,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

Hotel mattresses are not a single “type” of mattress and have a wide variety of different feels to them. They do however tend to be in the general category of what many would call “medium firm” which means that they have a medium plush layer over a firmer support core. This “feel” tends towards the average preference of a wide cross section of the population.

A more recent trend has seen hotels choose items that are a bit firmer feeling and then customizing their mattresses with various “top of bed” products such as plush mattress pads and polyfill toppers. These are easier to replace and launder, and offer a more cost-effective solution to add a bit of plushness to a mattress. Additionally, the items closest to your skin – the sheets and pillows – can have a dramatic impact on the overall impression of comfort made by a hotel mattress.

Strictly as an example, as I am not aware of any of the larger hospitality mattress providers in Europe, you could look at some of the hospitality mattresses provided by Jamison here in the United States. They are known for having a wide array of products and some are quite nice, and by looking at their collection it can give you an idea of some of the popular choices here in the United States.

American Hotel Register Company is a good source for examples of the “top of bed” products of which I spoke.

Overall, a good solid mattress that tends to appeal to the largest majority of the population will tend to be your best choice. While some mattresses can lean toward one end of the softness spectrum and certainly could provide a “wow factor”, people will generally be impressed by a good comfortable mattress that allows for a good nights sleep, and I would invest more in luxury sheets and top of bed products if I was looking for a “wow factor”.

I hope that helps.

Phoenix

3

Thanks for the reply, Phoenix :slight_smile:

Since we are furnishing only 4 beds (it’s a 4 bedroom, 4 bath villa), we are looking at buying higher quality mattresses than most hotels I assume.

You’re right about the sheets, we do plan to buy high TC long thread Egyptian cotton sheets from Italy.

I’ve been looking at some latex mattresses that can be bought here, do you have any experience with those? Should I just make a new post about the specific mattress instead?

Thanks for the help again :slight_smile:

4

Hi Aral,

An all-latex would certainly be a high quality item and very durable, and can be quite comfortable. All-Talalay latex mattresses can be quite buoyant, so to accommodate the masses you may wish to consider Dunlop or Dunlop/Talalay mixed options. A progressive construction (firmer base layer, medium mid-layer and slightly softer upper layer) would be a common “safe” configuration for a nice hotel.

Feel free to post anything you’re considering in this thread.

Phoenix

5

Hey, Phoenix, I made an Imgur album with some pictures and information about a locally available vendor with some latex mattresses, so I thought you might take a look and help me pick one of these mattresses, provided any of them are good mattresses with a decent price, if you’re familiar with the quality differences between Latexco and Artilat cores.

Cheers,
Pete

6

I’m not familiar with those latex suppliers since sources are apparently different than what’s available in the US, however it appears that those are only about 7" in height. In my experience 7" latex mattresses don’t exhibit a very plush or luxurious feel which is what I believe you’re looking for. I’d suggest something closer to a 13" height in a latex mattress to have the “wow factor” you’re trying to achieve in a luxury rental, with a progressive layered approach as Phoenix suggested in post #4 above.

7

Hi Aral,

I would consider the latex from Artilat and Latexco to be good quality and personally wouldn’t have a preference of one versus the other, but instead would look at other issues such as your preference upon blend, zoning, comfort, covers and pricing.

Starting with the Artilat, they do offer different zonings, although I’m not sure what is available to your locally. In their “main” line, Bial is their 3-zone, Pental is their 5-zone, Megal is their 7-zone (little thicker 18 cm version) and Settal is their 7-zone. The Royal is also a 7-zone, but a different pattern which they state has more allowances for both the typical male and female shape. As you mentioned, all of these are Dunlop, 80 SBR / 20 NR. They also offer a MayanGreen line that is 100% NR Dunlop in a multi-zone configuration.

The 7-zone Latexco core you posted is their 100% NR version. While the zoning is of their own design, it would be most similar to the Settal from Artilat, but the Settal is not 100% NR.

I would make sure that you are able to try these different cores out in person and sample the difference between the various zoning options. Sometimes zoning can “complicate” the feel of a mattress, where it works better for different body types and sleeping positions versus others, and in your situation you’re attempting to find something that will work best for the widest audience possible. As you’re considering a thinner mattress, the zoning will be more easily “experienced” by your customers, as opposed to a zoned core under another 6" of latex comfort layers. I know that various active bowed slat systems (some with adjustability) are also popular in Europe, but I don’t know if you’re looking to use that under your mattress (which can further change the comfort of your mattresses) or if you’re considering something more flat and solid in design.

I would next consider the importance to you of having the mattress be natural or blended. The natural will be more expensive, as you’re already aware. This would come down to if you’re going to use this in your marketing or your personal philosophy, as well as your budget. There can be a bit of a different feel from each manufacturer, not only in the blend used but also their formulation, curing process and fillers used. You may find that you have an affinity for one versus the other.

Solid latex core mattress that are in this 6" range are more popular in Europe, and products like this with nice top of bed products (or even a latex topper) would make for a very nice mattress in your hotel. Besides having a nice selection of sheets as you mentioned, you may wish to maintain a collection of toppers in case you have a client who wishes to have a softer surface comfort (sort of like the “pillow butlers” that are common in some nicer hotels where you have multiple pillows from which to choose). Artilat has a variety of toppers, including convoluted, on their web site, although I’m not sure what you may have available to sample locally (Latexco also produces toppers). For your mattresses you’ll generally be better off selecting something in the medium to medium-firm range, and then always have the ability to make the product a bit more plush.

Phoenix

8

Thanks for the replies, Phoenix and Sweet Dreams.

Sweet Dreams, almost all the mattresses that I can find in Europe are in the same general range of 7" thicknesses, the market is probably a lot different than in the States.

Phoenix, if you could choose between Artilat Royal which is 20cm thick, or the Latexco Natural at 18cm, disregarding the “natural” vs “artificial” argument, which one would you choose?

I’m disregarding my personal preference in this case, because I’m not quite averagely sized in neither regard, so just looking at a general idea.

Bear in mind that the Latexco Natural is 11% thinner, but also 43% more expensive, so I’m not sure if it’s worth the price difference from a pure comfort standpoint.

When it comes to slats, ours are fairly flexible, slightly bowed, around 2" width with 2" gaps in between. Would those suffice for these mattresses, or should we look into replacing them as well?

We’re trying to keep the costs down in some segments, because the entire remodelling process has proven to be more expensive than anticipated, but of course, if it’s necessary, we will change the slats too.

The same shop offers a 2" thick Talalay topper (not sure of the manufacturer, possibly Vita Talalay or Dunlopillo). Do you think that would be a significant upgrade to the feel of the mattresses?

Cheers,

Pete

9

Hi Aral,

What I try to focus on here is “how” to choose, not “what”. And as I can’t try out each latex mattress in person side to side, I can’t offer up a personal opinion as to comfort. All I can state is what I’ve previously mention regarding the style of comfort that hoteliers commonly use (medium to medium-firm), so I would try each of those in a more medium density and see if those were comfortable. And if all things were equal regarding comfort, I would then look at price point, as both items would be quite durable.

Thickness is a by-product of design, and I wouldn’t necessarily look at it as a “cost-per-cm” equation. If the 100% NR isn’t an important part of your value equation, then this would lead you toward the blended option, which would be more affordable.

The spacing of your slats is within the guidelines that most manufacturers recommend, so I would then check the performance of your slats and make sure that they are not flexing too much to the point where they are becoming concave. Also, realize that this bowed slat system will be “felt through” the mattress and provide a bit more of a plush comfort than if placed upon a hard, unforgiving and flat surface.

A 2" Talalay topper in the 15-20 ILD range would be considered quite plush and would add to the overall softness of a product. It would be made by either Vita Talalay (most likely) or Talalay Global. The idea of offering a topper might also be something that you could incorporate in the future (to minimize your initial cost outlay) if you found that it was warranted through comments from your clientele.

Phoenix