How can I create a hotel bed from the Mandarin Oriental?

March 31, 2013 8:29 PM

Hello. I am a bed novice. I didn't know what a duvet or pillow sham was until I was like 25 (I grew up poor). Actually I'm still not sure what those are. But I recently stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas and fell into bed heaven. At first, I thought the bed was too soft because you can press down into it. But it actually gave tons of support. And the pillows were awesome. They were long and Euro? Anyway does anyone who supplies their bed stuff or how I can come close to recreating it without spending a million dollars?
posted by KimikoPi to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

This claims to be a writeup of the mattress and pillows; the pillows are from ploh.
posted by holgate at 8:42 PM on March 31, 2013 [3 favorites]

Most business/upscale hotel chains these days are advertising their fancy beds, and most of those will give out the info on what bedding products they use if you ask them. They'll often sell all the products to you, too, but that won't necessarily fit with your desire for not spending a million dollars.

If you haven't already, try emailing them and ask them what their linens and mattresses are and there's a reasonably good chance that they will send you a detailed list. You may not be able to buy exactly what's on the list retail (other than from the hotel), but it'll give you a good place to start in terms of trying to match what they're using.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:58 PM on March 31, 2013 [2 favorites]

When you call, if they don't have a retail program, try to get as much detail as possible about the mattress. There are a zillion different versions of each mattress (I learned a lot about mattresses from previous AskMes!) depending on where you buy them, and mattress labeling is inconsistent and confusing. A Google search for the type of mattress that that writeup mentions yields a lot of different results.
posted by radioamy at 9:19 PM on March 31, 2013

And yes, you should call up the desk and ask for confirmation. The larger upscale chains seem to have an arrangement with mattress manufacturers whereby they have an exclusive branded line (Marriott, Westin) but that doesn't seem to apply to the Mandarin Oriental, where each location has a certain amount of latitude, and you're more likely to have to deal with the ever-changing nomenclature.

(Plus, it's Vegas: everything's for sale.)
posted by holgate at 9:53 PM on March 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've slept on some really really nice hotel beds, this is mostly down to high thread counts and quality cotton in the fabrics of the linens. Plus, for goodness sake - a proper feather comforter inside of the duvet!

Pro Tip: I always put a King Size duvet and comforter on my Queens Size bed. If I had a King Size bed, I'd put on California King Size comforter and duvet. Get it?

Pillows are individual, and as long as the linens quality matches the duvet and sheets, go with what you like here.

Ah. Now we get to the mattress!

Likely, the bed you slept on was a solid quality mattress with a feather bed, or foam top, on top of the mattress.

Seductive short-term, but not ideal. Meh.

The BEST bed I have ever slept on, was a Japanese wool stuffed futon, with a dense 2" foam custom made topper, like, it was upholstered and went with the futon. This was all on a platform bed frame.

I own and sleep on a near-identical mattress and frame, but the foam is between the layers of wool in the futon mattress. I use a mattress pad over that, and then cover it with good quality linens and a matching quality comforter and pillows. Awesome!

Oops. I think the term you might be looking for to top a conventional mattress is, "pillow top." I'm not sure, tho, as I will never go back to a conventional mattress with springs.

I've slept on latex mattresses, fwiw, and they don't have that specific quality of stability and "give" that my futon set-up has. The expensive hotel beds with conventional mattresses and super luscious feather pillow-tops (or memory foam toppers) don't quite match the luxury of my futon with foam.

TheFutonShop makes an expensive version. I found a local fabricator who made mine for half the price + warranty. This was before bed bugs were a big deal, so ymmv on the warranty.

Also a bonus? No spring noises during sexy times! Again, ymmv if you care about this aspect, or not!

Really tho, the quality of the fabrics is 300% of your enjoyment of this bed. The other negligible % was just natural or synthetic filler of the pillows and mattress.
posted by jbenben at 10:09 PM on March 31, 2013 [3 favorites]

Oops. What I meant to say was.....

If I put crappy scratchy linens on my fine bed, it equals a poor experience.

If I put 400 thread count (or usually even better than 400 thread count) linens on my bed, it is an automatic WIN.

There is a difference of quality among similar thread counts. Always feel the linens before you buy them.
posted by jbenben at 10:18 PM on March 31, 2013

Seconding that you likely had a feather bed on top of the mattress.

I noticed that in many upscale hotels and wanted the experience for myself so I bought a feather bed mattress topper on Overstock.com for a couple hundred dollars for a king bed.

It turned out much too cushy and soft on top of our existing memory foam mattress, so we stopped using it. A waste of money, at the end of the day. I agree with jbenben that it's seductive short-term but not ideal.
posted by Dragonness at 11:00 PM on March 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

"...so I bought a feather bed mattress topper on Overstock.com for a couple hundred dollars for a king bed.

It turned out much too cushy and soft on top of our existing memory foam mattress, so we stopped using it."

Emphasis, mine.

Please don't put a topper on a latex or memory foam mattress - they are already too soft!
posted by jbenben at 11:10 PM on March 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

Too soft for one person is just right for another. Buy a bed that feels good to you, even if it is soft.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 11:40 PM on March 31, 2013

I have a sprung mattress with a built-in 3" memory foam topper, and I use a fitted sheet. Between the mattress and the fitted sheet I use a duvet, which serves two purposes - it adds another layer of comfort and, because memory foam can be hot, the duvet absorbs any sweat and is easily washed.

Everyone who sleeps in my bed says it's the comfiest bed they've ever slept in.
posted by essexjan at 12:49 AM on April 1, 2013

Fwiw, our memory foam mattress is quite firm.
posted by Dragonness at 5:24 AM on April 1, 2013