I’m looking for your opinions on the best bed you’ve owned…
Criteria would include comfort, waking rested, support where you want/need it, wear trends (did it wear out in a month, or has it lasted 10 years), etc.
I’m interested in any bed manufacturer, and any size queen and above, including Calif. King. Also interested in the new style beds, like “select comfort” and temper-pedic (and temper-pedic knockoffs)
So, if you can give me brand - name - size - length of ownership - wear - and overall opinion (recommend and would you by it again)
I have a soft-sided waterbed that we bought in 2001. It sprang a leak early this year, but was easily patched. It is very, very comfortable, and supports my whole body nicely. I wake up rested every morning (at least now that I have my CPAP, but that’s not bed-related).
My queen-size Sealy Posturpedic traditional innerspring mattress has lasted 23 years and is still as firm and comfortable as ever. I just rotated it yesterday, and it looks and feels the same as when I purchased it. I notice a distinct difference in comfort and sleep quality when I sleep on any other bed. Of course, I need a firm mattress, and almost everywhere these days has very soft, plush mattresses with pillowtops that don’t work for me.
My particular model is no longer made, but I understand that the current equivalent is the Sealy Posturpedic Reserve Series Level 9 mattress, which comes in firm and plush versions. From the specs, it looks like this mattress has coils as well as a memory foam inlay.
If I’m ever in the market for a new mattress, I’ll definitely be looking for a Sealy Posturepedic.
We’ve had a waterbed for over 20 years. We’ve had several mattresses (IMHO, the best are waveless), but those are a relatively inexpensive item when compared with a regular bed mattress.
When we have to sleep on anything else, we call the substitute “a bed of nails.”
~VOW
After having given up trying to understand the terminology most mattress manufactures use, I decided to visit the Original Mattress Factory. Their descriptions are very straightforward, and you can try out the mattresses in their store. And if you only need the mattress, you don’t have to buy a matching box spring (I have a platform bed). I bought a wonderful king-size from them, and have been extremely happy with it. It’s the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever slept on, and can comfortably hold two men, two large dogs and two cats.
Second vote for queen Sealy Posturepedic. Supportively firm but not hard with luxurious quilting. I add a premium mattress pad and I’ve been happily snoozing away for 10 years and it looks and sleeps brand new.
(I just rotated mine last week. I don’t get the pillowtop thing, won’t that take 1/2 of the mattress life off if you can’t turn it over?)
We had a sealy posturpedic pillow top (on both sides) I very definitely wore out. We had it two years longer than we should have. Temper pedic now. It’s been awesome for two or three years now. No clue yet how it will age, but it had double the warrantee of the last mattress.
Ive had my Verlo king size for 12 years now. I flip it every 3 months and it feels as good as new. It just occured to me, I bought the mattress the same week I signed up for the SDMB!
We’ve owned a king sized temperpedic classic, no pillowtop, for 5 years. Still in wonderful shape & has a 10/20 year warranty. Love, love, love this bed! I used to wake up with lower back pain - it’s gone with this bed. The horrid infomercial aside, I’ve found their claims about the mattress to be true. They’re also a good alternative for allergy sufferers as they don’t house dust mites and other allergens like a traditional coil mattress can. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
I used to have a Simmons Beautyrest with a pillowtop, and I loved it. It was squishy and wonderful without bothering my back. Unfortunately, it did bother my husband’s back, to the point that we had to replace it this summer. Had it been only up to me, I’d still be happily sleeping on it.
The replacement was a Serta middle-of-the-range model we bought from Sam’s Club. It is a firm mattress, but reviews describe it as “barely firm”. I had to add a 2" foam topper to it because it hurt my hips so much. With that addition, we seem to have found a happy medium between my husband’s back being supported and my hips being cushioned.
I have had crappy mattresses for years now and am eagerly reading the replies. If I may expand on the OP, does the type of bed matter at all? I’ve had boxsprings and platforms and haven’t noticed any differences.
Also, has anyone used a ‘memory foam’ mattress? My parents bought a very expensive one a few years ago and they LOVE it, but I’m afraid of spending thousands on a mattress when all I’ve ever experienced are terrible ones.
Also, if it’s not too personal, could you characterize your body size (don’t need specifics, just small medium and, uh, big)? I’ve of average weight and all my mattresses have quickly developed massive valleys even when I’ve flipped them every four months or so.
We have a Tempur-Pedic…it’s lived up to every claim they’ve said…this version is not hot, and it’s comfy, and it’s been great.
What’s interesting is: For something who’s price is set throughout the US and is non-negotiable…golly if we didn’t end up getting the ‘Friends of the Family Employee Discount’ when it looked like we were going to walk. (IIRC, $2600, down from $3400)
I will third (or fourth) the Tempur-Pedic recommendations. My wife and I (her 5-1 105 and me 6-2 195) have had our Queen sized “original” (i.e, no pillow top or nothing fancy) tempurpedic model for about six years, and it is my favorite mattress ever. It’s still as good as new. We paid about $2K for it, and it’s probably a lot cheaper now.
When we got a mattress for the guest room, we wanted to save a bit of money, so we bought a knockoff, a “Bob-O-Pedic” from Bob’s Discount furniture store. This is a great mattress too. Maybe not as good as the TP, but very close.
My advice would be to go “sleep around” (LOL), and try out the tempurpedic, and a knockoff (if you’re close to a Bob’s I really recommend them–they’re great stores), and test some other mattress brands too.
I should add that I have had serious back problems (had microdiscectomy in 2008), and find the tempurpedic to be as good on my back as any other mattress I’ve ever slept on.
I’m finding the recommendations for tempur-pedic to be interesting, because they are all so positive. That’s good news, because that’s one of the ones I’m looking at. I’m also interested in some of their competitors (I’d never heard of Bob’s, so thanks for that tip) and will look into those as well.
Did tempur-pedic have an exclusive market for a while? It seems that the beds were very expensive and had no competition for the longest time, and now competition for them seems to be everywhere.
Also, I’m surprised to not see the sleep-number bed here yet. Anyone have one of these and care to share? Thanks!
keep the reviews coming. These are very helpful, thanks!
Don’t remember the brand, but an Imperial Queen was perfectly sized for two plus one giant Norwegian Forest-like cat who liked to sleep under the covers or between us, without the space hassles of a King. It was a good bed – I think it had a pillow-top. That woman took it, I guess, so now it’s twin for me. Yep, just when I’m ready to start getting my dick wet again, I’ll have to settle for dissecting the partner into small enough pieces to fit the bed, or just do it in the road.