I stayed at the Round Hill Resorts in Jamaica and loved the bed. It was a “World Class West Hampshire Extra Plush Pillow Top”. What is the equivalent? Will it be different? Thanks.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Plush, extra plush and ultra plush pillowtop mattresses, especially Beautyrests are not appropriate choices for every night use in a master bedroom.
The gauge of wire used for the coil is very thin, which will lose its shape in too short of a time…and the padding, being so soft, also will lose its shape.
Higher end hotels aim for comfort, as that is their business to provide. The rooms are not used every night and are filled on a rotating basis. Also, they can afford to replace those mattresses every few years, as it becomes necessary.
At home, used every night, a mattress like that will develop deep body impressions within months and be totally useless. needing replacing, in a year’s time.
The mattress industry, as a whole, is geared to selling comfort above all. This tact, along with the reduced quality of mattresses in general, has turned mattresses into a disposable product, leaving most people to becoming repeat customers on a more frequent basis than every before.
Had you slept on that mattress for an extended period of time, you would have developed back pain, as it does not provide adequate spinal support. If you have an existing back issue, it will make it worse. If you have no existing back problems, you will develop them because the mattress is too soft.
I know you would have simply preferred to have me point to something and say, “This is what you want” and let it go at that. And, there are plenty of places you can go to get that kind of service, where making the sale is all that matters. But here, you receive advice and direction that is unasked for, because here, we love what we do. We work with love and not with indifference….if only our elected officials felt the same…can you imagine?
Anyway, for you, it’s as if you had gone to a trusted family member who you know will not let you do, that which will hurt you…both, physically and financially. Granted, it isn’t the easy sell you may have been looking for, but heeding this advice will serve you better for everything you expected from this purchace…comfort, support and longevity.
Your skeletal system requires firm support. For the sake of pressure point relief, ease of blood flow and muscle relaxation, you need a comfortable sleeping surface. All of these things combine to provide a deep, rejuvenating night’s sleep. The mattress you asked about does that, but for only a short time. This is true of most mattresses you can buy today. There’s no trick to finding a comfortable mattress. The stores are full of them. The trick is in finding one without throwing your money away on something that only lasts a year or two…and subsequently, creating pain when they wear so quickly.
My recommendation comes in two parts. First, start off with a reasonably firm mattress that will provide the support your spine needs. The Simmons Beautyrest World Class Annapolis Place in luxury firm will do that. The individually pocketed coils of the Beautyrests maintain the natural alignment of your spine, and provide a greater degree of motion transfer reduction than any other brand. The heavier gauge wire coils in the firm will last a much longer time than the thinner wire used in the plush models. Add to that, a layer of soft latex. Unlike the chemical laden poly and memory foams used in most mattresses, latex is far more resilient. Made of all natural rubber, it does a superior job of providing the pressure point relief, relief of blood flow, and muscle relaxation…and, it lasts a very long time. Normally, I recommend going with a 2″ soft Talalay. If looking for an “extra plush” feel, the 3″ provides a greater depth of softness.
Here are links to those items. Let me know if you have any further questions.
Simmons Beautyrest Recharge World Class
Latex topper
This mattress, I’ve recommended to you, will become part of Simmons’ Presidents Day Sale, starting this Friday, 2/7 and lasting thru 2/20. You’ll pay only for the mattress and get the boxspring for free.
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Very impressive. I appreciate the feedback.
Will the latex cause heat buildup? We slept on a memory foam mattress and hated it. My limbs went to sleep and my wife burned up (we were in Deer Valley; not the desert).
What % of people hate their new mattress? Is there an adjustment period? How risky is it to buy sight unseen? Thanks again.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Interesting question about buying sight unseen. Oddly enough, the risk is now greater in stores with a floor sample to try. A number of things come into play when trying a floor sample.
1) Since mattresses now wear so quickly, you have a false sense of security in thinking you know what you’re doing. This is left over from the old days when a mattress felt over the years, as it did when it was new. Today’s mattresses don’t feel the same over a mattress of months, instead of years. This quick change in feel also transfers over to the floor sample itself. After a few months on the floor with a lot of people trying them, the one that is delivered is noticeably firmer….and, that’s if you get a new one and not one from a comfort exchange that had been in someone else’s home.
2) The seduction of perceived physical comfort will have you buying on a comfort basis only. Most salespeople going for the easy sale will focus on this. They mention nothing about the “support” end of the equation and the consumer rarely thinks to ask. It’s only when it’s much to late, do you find out you’ve made a mistake. Most comfort exchanges are treated like a new sale…with none of the discounts you may have gotten with your original purchase. Inflated floor prices with phony 50% off sales create only the illusion of a sale.
3) Warranties. Creating illusions is what this industry does and it starts with the manufacturers. Quality has reduced dramatically over the past 10 years. To keep you thinking that you are buying a quality product, warranties have gotten longer. People actually come away believing that the ultra plush mattress they just purchased will stay that way for the length of the warranty. Nothing could be further from the truth. You’d be lucky if a mattress lasted half the length of the warranty…and that would be for the firmer mattress with average weight people using them. The softer the mattress is and the more the user weighs, the shorter the life span of the mattress.
Relying on trying a floor sample, used to mean something. Today, it is nothing more than a bad habit that the industry uses to exploit the consumer.
Buying sight unseen, successfully, requires becoming an educated consumer.
It also requires a little common sense. The weight of a human body on an plush upholstered product is something, of which, everyone should be leery. It’s simple physics.
Trust in mattress salespeople is as misplaced as trust in used car salespeople. When I shop my competition, I run into very likable, very believable salespeople. If I didn’t know any better, I’d buy from them. However, I do know better and as I listen to them present their sales pitches, I’m struck by the fact that almost all of that which they present to me as facts about their products, are incorrect. Most salespeople, today, are poorly trained…because it just doesn’t matter to the retailers with stores. They spend millions of dollars to drive people through the door. All they then need to make the sale is an affable person who sounds like they know what they’re talking about. A mattress is a blind item. It takes effort to learn the real facts about the products and the truth about this industry. But if you don’t make that effort, it will cost you in lost money and physical pain.
Memory foam and latex are the antithesis of one another. Memory foam consists of 61 different chemicals…some, of which, are toxic and a couple are carcinogenic. (Facts that are easy enough to glean on-line. It off gasses those toxic chemicals, making it dangerous, as well as ineffective.
Memory foam is a temperature sensitive material that softens as it absorbs the heat your body radiates…and then reflects it back to you. It forms a mold that your body sinks into and does not allow you to move out of easily…not without becoming fully awake. After its 20 year history, it has proven itself to be the worst material ever invented for use in or as a mattress.
The unrelenting advertising that promises you that it is the best thing since sliced bread, is what drives the sales and amount to no less than brain washing. Most people, at one point or another, will make the mistake of buying into the hype.
Latex, conversely, is an all natural product. It was introduced as a mattress in the 1920s, at the same time innerspring mattresses made their debut. It didn’t catch on for a very long time because it was and is, much more expensive than innerspring models. And with innerspring mattresses typically lasting 20 years, there was no need to go to the extra expense.
Over the past 5 years, with so many people catching on to what going on in the industry, ( usually after making a few costly mistakes), latex products have caught on and recognized for its quality.
Latex has always been the best you can buy. It doesn’t have any of the negative side effects of memory foam, and actually IS the best thing since sliced bread.
It’s still expensive, but no more than what you’d spend on many memory foam mattresses.
So, if you’ve a mind to try an all latex mattress, and have the means to do so, you won’t be disappointed in your investment.
However, most people can’t afford it. But, what most people can afford, is a 2″ layer of soft, comfortable latex atop a good quality basic innerspring mattress. It’s not quite the same as an all latex mattress, but it’s darn close.
When latex is involved, there is nearly zero break-in period. And you have to understand that a break-in period has less to do with the mattress and more to do with your body becoming properly re-aligned. The more out of shape your old mattress is, (kinda like the feel of an old shoe), the longer it will take to become properly re-aligned. However, it is a pain worth enduring for your long term physical health.
For the record, latex sleeps cool…cooler than any other product. I radiate a lot of heat…and am my wife’s favorite person, when it’s cold. We use a 2″ soft talalay latex topper in a Simmons Beautyrest innerspring mattress at home and I never feel hot.
