Comments on: Best Bed Advice

Question: Best Bed Advice

seaward — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:35:31 -0800

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?

By: devilsbrigade

devilsbrigade — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:39:25 -0800

Futons are the only way to go, imo.. everything else has been way too soft for me.

By: mojabunni

mojabunni — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:14:44 -0800

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 ;)

By: mrleec

mrleec — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:16:02 -0800

I have the top of the line Sleep Comfort adjustable. It is by far the best money I've ever spent.

By: mojabunni

mojabunni — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:16:11 -0800

argh! I am a massage therapist.

By: photoslob

photoslob — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:16:20 -0800

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.

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:26:21 -0800

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.)

By: btosch

btosch — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:28:24 -0800

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

By: crabintheocean

crabintheocean — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:46:31 -0800

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.

By: Saccade

Saccade — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:57:07 -0800

Second the McRoskey. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:10:55 -0800

I've heard good things about Charles H. Beckley custom made mattresses.

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:13:13 -0800

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.

By: The_Partridge_Family

The_Partridge_Family — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:00:29 -0800

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. :-(

By: The_Partridge_Family

The_Partridge_Family — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:29:23 -0800

if its firmness was - double :-(

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 04:47:52 -0800

My back seriously misses my old waveless waterbed. I've never slept as well as I did in that bed.

By: Ostara

Ostara — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 06:23:34 -0800

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.

By: ObscureReferenceMan

ObscureReferenceMan — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 06:29:55 -0800

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!

By: justonegirl

justonegirl — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 06:31:42 -0800

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.

By: mrbill

mrbill — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:13:58 -0800

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...

By: mrbill

mrbill — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:15:07 -0800

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.

By: nancoix

nancoix — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:58:10 -0800

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.

By: Sharcho

Sharcho — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:05:29 -0800

By: moira

moira — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:16:19 -0800

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.