Best Bed Advice

March 14, 2006 8:35 PM

Looking for advice on a great bed/mattress--we're ready to invest....What's the best night of sleep you ever had?

My husband and I are looking for a great king size bed-- I have a bad back and need good support and we both sleep really deeply (so movement and waking each other is not a problem). So far, we are considering European Sleep Works, McRoskey and Westin's Heavenly Bed. The latter as a contender comes from spending some time in various Westin's and loving that heavenly bed. HOWEVER, Westin's price--$1450 for a king compared to Euro Sleep Works' near-double that price (double true!) --makes us think that maybe Westin's a relative cheapy bed that's comfy-lux for the few successive nights one spends in a hotel v. good for the longer haul of real, every-night sleep. Gimme your opinions: what's a bed that will last and support us?

posted by seaward to home & garden (22 comments total)

Futons are the only way to go, imo.. everything else has been way too soft for me.
posted by devilsbrigade at 8:39 PM on March 14, 2006

I've never had an expensive or ultra-nice mattress, but I once had a client (I a massage therapist so naturally we spoke of back pain and such) who told me he had a $4k Beauty Rest, I think.. or Sleeping Beauty? Not sure what specific kind within the brand, but he acted as if he worshipped that thing - said he never had any back pain when he had that mattress (of course, he was coming to me after he no longer had it, with moderate-severe back pain and tension). Hopefully for your sake he was exaggerrating the price ;)
posted by mojabunni at 9:14 PM on March 14, 2006

I have the top of the line Sleep Comfort adjustable. It is by far the best money I’ve ever spent.
posted by mrleec at 9:16 PM on March 14, 2006

argh! I am a massage therapist.
posted by mojabunni at 9:16 PM on March 14, 2006

Find a firm tempurpedic style mattress. I have a very bad back (like surgery candidate bad) and the tempurpedic has been a savior. Whatever you do make sure to stay away from anything with a pillow top. The firmer the better.
posted by photoslob at 9:16 PM on March 14, 2006

I'm a fan of McRoskey (are you in the Bay Area? -- they delivered to me for free). I have the full, not the king. I've had mine for almost a decade, and it still delivers the same (excellent) comfort and support (I went for the firm). Go to their showroom, and see what you're getting (they'll demonstrate the entire manufacturing process). They're quite friendly and knowledgeable. I've not been disappointed at all.

I should explain that I bought their mattress after explaining to them that I didn't want a box spring. (I have a bed supported by elastic wooden slats.) The salesman said to me, "You realize then that the mattress has to do all of the work?" I said, "Yes." He was fine with it. The mattress has performed with flying colors. Buy a McRoskey mattress. (I am not affiliated in any way.)
posted by trip and a half at 9:26 PM on March 14, 2006

The novaform king elite memory foam mattress from costco has been awesome. Way better than previous or upscale hotel mattresses I have tried. I think the memory foam is a love it or hate it kind of thing though. The king is only $750
posted by btosch at 9:28 PM on March 14, 2006

We have a latex foam mattress, which is a great level of firmness and non-bounciness. I like matresses that are like a bag of sand! You don't need to turn it, and it's better for allergies. My parents have had theirs for 20+ years, and told us we should get one. They were right. Ours is just from Ikea, I'm sure you can get fancier ones.
posted by crabintheocean at 9:46 PM on March 14, 2006

Second the McRoskey. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
posted by Saccade at 9:57 PM on March 14, 2006

I've heard good things about Charles H. Beckley custom made mattresses.
posted by dobbs at 10:10 PM on March 14, 2006

There have been a number of good mattress threads around here over the years; there may be some useful info in there if you're willing to wade through 'em.
posted by hot soup girl at 10:13 PM on March 14, 2006

I'd actually give a big thumbs down to the tempurpedic mattress. I had one for about a year and then chucked it because it was great in the winter, but terrible in the summer - when I got it I never stopped to think if its was firmness temperature dependent. :-(
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 12:00 AM on March 15, 2006

if its firmness was - double :-(
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 12:29 AM on March 15, 2006

My back seriously misses my old waveless waterbed. I've never slept as well as I did in that bed.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:47 AM on March 15, 2006

We have a Sleep Number bed from Select Comfort. I love it - I used to wake up a lot during the night, but now I sleep straight through. My husband sets his side to a more firm setting, and I set mine to a softer setting. It's all good.

I read the reviews before purchasing one, though, and people seem pretty polarized on the Sleep Number beds. I would go to a store near you and try one out if you can.

Other bonuses - you don't have to flip the mattress and it comes with a 20 year warranty. It also has nifty backlit remote controls for each side.
posted by Ostara at 6:23 AM on March 15, 2006

I also have a bad back (not surgery candidate bad, though). I just got rid of a tempurpedic after several months of wanting it to be good. So, my advice; don't go by how it feels in the showroom (I thought the tempurpedic was great). Make sure you buy a matress that has a decent "try-out" period - say, a month or more.

I've been sleeping in my guest bedroom on a matress that I like a lot (can't remember brand name, but it's a big Canadian company). In fact, I ordered the same brand & style in a king size for the master bedroom. It arrives Friday. Yay!
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 6:29 AM on March 15, 2006

We got the Heavenly Bed a few months ago. I love it and sleep like a baby. My husband, who has some (possibly weight-related) back problems, doesn't love it so much. He thinks it's great for just relaxing in, but he's not getting the amazing night's sleep that I am. Different strokes I guess, but something to consider if you also have back issues.
posted by justonegirl at 6:31 AM on March 15, 2006

We just (a couple of days ago) upgraded from a queen-sized Tempur-Pedic bed to the king-sized "Euro" model.

This will make almost $5500 that I've spent on bedding in the past year and a half - and EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR of it was WORTH IT. My wife and I no longer have back problems related to how we sleep, and we sleep like babies.

I asked a friend of mine in Austin if he wanted the queen bed, and he said "I'll be there in three hours." He drove down from Austin RIGHT THEN to pick it up...
posted by mrbill at 10:13 AM on March 15, 2006

Also: I'm a Big Guy (350lbs at one point) and the TP bed didn't break down at all over the course of a year. My side was a tiny bit softer than my wife's side, is all.
posted by mrbill at 10:15 AM on March 15, 2006

I second the latex option. We bought a Talalay latex bed mail-order from this place in Phoenix, and we absolutely love it. We like it better than Tempurpedic because it doesn't heat up or indent the way that foam does. We put it on top of a slat platform. This store had the best prices I could find on the Net for this type of high-quality latex.

The big selling point -- latex doesn't wear out. It will feel the same 20 years from now.
posted by nancoix at 10:58 AM on March 15, 2006

Read also this Slate article
posted by Sharcho at 2:05 PM on March 15, 2006

Absolutely agreed, as far as avoiding pillow-tops. They are famous for compressing down quickly, leaving your mattress saggy in the middle and very uncomfortable to sleep on after a relatively short time, 30-year warranty be damned. The manufacturers consider this "normal" wear. You may as well spend that extra money on a quality pad you can replace when it wears down, if you want the extra softness.

Also, firmer is not always better. The best level of support for most people is at the medium-firm level. This lends nice support, but gives where it needs to. You probably have a good idea of what feels best to you.

We recently bought a combination spring/memory foam mattress, relatively firm, that we cry for joy over. It came from a local store, and was branded with their name, so I couldn't tell you where you might find something similar. In combination with formed memory foam pillows, both my husband and I slept better and woke without aches. He stopped snoring.

It may interest you to know: when I became pregnant, I began having significant back and hip pain. Through extensive research online, I'd heard good things from people with terrible back problems about getting a good, plain, firm mattress and topping it with a memory-foam topper. Can't hurt, I thought, and ordered three inches of quality foam. It. Was. Wonderful. I haven't suffered since. Ahhhhhh.
posted by moira at 7:16 PM on March 15, 2006