After waking up with a killer back-aches every morning for the past few months, we decided it was…read moretime for a new mattress. The old one was about 8 years old, the age when they say it's about had it, anyway.
Buying a mattress is a bit like buying a new car- you only do it every few years, and a lot changes in the interim, so I had checked out the ratings with Consumer's Reports. Problem is, there are so many new brands and types of mattresses on the market, it's difficult to do apples to apples comparisons.
We decided to go to the closest place, Mattress Warehouse, in Tenleytown. We were met by Fatima, who was very friendly and helpful, having us first use their evaluator device, which is supposed to ascertain the optimal fit for you. Fatima showed us numerous mattresses, based on our needs. She was nice enough to provide us with sanitary coverings to lie on, as these mattresses have been used a lot and tend to get a bit grungy. Fatima also introduced us to Mr. Clarence, the manager, who was also friendly and helpful, while not being pushy and trying to force us to decide right away.
We looked at several models and price points, some of which, while nice, were quite a bit above our budget. Note: let them know what your budget is, and they won't waste your (and their) time showing things above it. Our issue: I am always cold and side sleep, husband is hot and sleeps on his stomach. So we wanted to stay away from memory foam, and unfortunately, some of the others we were curious about have separate sales outlets and run into the thousands of dollars- too, too much.
After a lot of try outs and head scratching, we took a break for lunch to mull over our options and make a decision. We did stop by the other big chain, (Mattress Firm) and their selection wasn't impressive.
We came back to the store and Fatima wrote up our sale, and Mr. Clarence offered us a free cooling pillow, to go with the one purchased for my "hot headed" hubs.
All in all, we had a positive experience in the store, and our new mattress arrived this morning, delivered by two guys who were in and out in 60 seconds, taking the old mattress with them. Note: Show the delivery guys a little love with a tip- lugging mattresses around all day is hard work.
It remains yet to be seen if we made the right choice. I'll post an update after we've had a week or two to try the new mattress out.