King Mattress

This is insanely subjective. Firmness is a huge factor.

We bought a Winkbed and are happy with it. They kicked in the mattress topper when we wanted to return it for being too firm.

For a deep dive, check out the website “sleeplikethedead”
Long, rambling thoughts from a guy who spent too much time there:


Pre-COVID, I always would recommend lying on a few types of mattresses in person to learn a few things before just ordering one online and expecting a “one size fits all” recommendation to be right for you.

You list a few specific brands. Sleep number is a nice air mattress with a much better frame/support than what you expect from the category of “air mattresses.” My in laws had one. They moved it to the guest room after about a year. Wife has become quite negatively opinionated on it to the point that it’s getting replaced. Personally, I don’t love it. I don’t think it’s as bad as they make it out to be, but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly high on my list of great mattresses that I’ve slept on. I don’t find the support to be wonderful, it feels like an air mattress in a negative way (motion from wife sort of travels to my side of the bed. It’s only a queen, so this is probably the biggest reason she doesn’t like it, and that may be relieved to an extent on the King as you can find a bit more space between you and between the two sides. Edge support is good. Doesn’t really keep heat. Not loud. Not truly silent either (this isn’t a reference to sex noises but more of hearing what the person on the other side is doing through the mattress which could be frustrating with a particularly mobile partner. Again, probably a bit better on the king). If it’s my money, I’m not buying it. If I’m in an Air b&b that has one, I am not complaining about it or booking elsewhere to avoid it. I may avoid a trip to the in-laws for a handful of reasons, but the bed being so uncomfortable that I don’t want to stay in it isn’t one. Wife complains it makes her back hurt, and I have only ever heard her say that after sleeping there.


Tempurpedic is a foam mattress. There are lots of varieties of this and lots of nice quality ones out there- Casper is very popular right now as well. There are cheaper foams, too. They have a characteristic “sink” feeling and generally conform to you. You may find it hard to get out of in the mornings or change positions in the night because you sink into your old mould. It’s great if your bedmate moves a lot, because it’s dead quiet, and you won’t feel them turn/roll through the mattress like you would with an innerspring. Over time, they can sag. To an extent, you do lose some usable portion of the bed to a lack of edge support: when you sit on the very edge of the bed to put your shoes on in the morning, you sink and have to sit a bit further back than you may be used to on a traditional innerspring mattress. Same goes for if you like to sleep right on the edge- you have to get a bit closer to the middle than normal because the mattress “gives” on the edge a bit more. They tend to hold heat and can be anywhere from plush to near-concrete firm (ok, not really like concrete, but a firm memory foam is much firmer than you may expect if you haven’t felt it). They tend to get good reviews and hold up. They’re truly awful to move as they are heavy and don’t like to support themselves.


A super similar mattress that I didn’t know existed until just before I bought it is latex. It’s basically the same as above on the +/- as above except that they tend to dissipate heat slightly better (they’re waffled and have channels through the foam), and they have a distinctly different quality that I’ll try to explain, but this is where lying on one in store is worth doing.
So, I went to two or three mattress stores and lied on different varieties of mattresses with latex over base foam, over spring, thin layer, thick layer. Wife and I both concluded that latex is probably the most consistent material from bed to bed and brand to brand. You get a small amount of “give” like you do with foam, but the foam is a springy rubber that sort of “bounces” back into you. If you love sinking into foam and not moving, it may not be right for you. It has far better support than foam. The real downside is that it’s hard to try before you buy, it’s distinct (what distinct thing doesn’t have its critics?), and it’s fairly pricey (and it may have a funny smell for 0-7 days after you take it out of the packaging). There are some el-cheapo latex/foam layered mattresses on Amazon (start around $650 for a king I think). I’ve bought the Classic Brands latex-foam mattress twice - a Full XL (which was on a stupid sale for $190 when the twin version was >$400, thus making me take the leap) and the queen. It converted my wife from innerspring with a foam topper. I am pretty sure that three other people that have slept on it have gone out and bought either latex toppers or latex mattresses after sleeping on it.
Since your budget is a little higher, I would recommend Sleep EZ USA if you find that you like latex. For their king, they offer a few options of varying thickness, and you can choose your layers (firm/Med/soft) +/- a mid-split (so if She likes it firm and you like it plush, you can both be happy) and you can rearrange. The final zipped-up product doesn’t feel “split” down the middle (we actually settled on the same layers in the same order after expecting not to do so), and they’ll let you send it back layer by layer until it’s right (I think you pay return shipping, but it’s on a much smaller product than a full mattress). It’s around the cost of what you’re looking at


Other than that, innerspring mattresses should probably be familiar to you.


Waterbeds should almost definitely be avoided.

Purple Mattress is its own thing, and you may like it. It’s a distinct topper on a foam base. I haven’t felt it. Owners love it. It sort of stands alone, but I don’t know of anywhere to try it. I don’t think you can buy the topper only, and I don’t think they ever plan to sell it that way, either.


When you go to buy bed sheets, try finding an actual set of linen sheets (not a linen-cotton blend). The Company Store usually has them. Frontgate is hot/cold on it. Amazon has a few options but sells out often. Wash them 2-5 times before putting them on your bed even if they say they’re pre-washed and stone washed. I have a set of 19 momme silk sheets, a very nice set of Brooklinen sateen, and my favorite set is my linen ones, after a few washes (I HATED them when I put them right on the bed and probably the second time, too).

We have a Sleep Number P5 in a split king and have had a completely opposite experience. We’ve had ours for a couple years. We’ve been thoroughly happy with our purchase. We get excellent use out of the adjustable frame we bought with it.

I have my side set at 35 while my wife has hers set at 45. Very easy to adjust in seconds whether it’s by the provided remote or via the SleepIQ app.

We have a Tempurepedic hybrid (king). It takes a while to break it in but We really like it. This replaced an original Tempurperdic that was 15+ years old.

We recently got a new King, and went with a pair of TwinXL mattresses instead of a King. We had a King years ago, but when we got rid of it we went back to a Queen for a few years. We bought a nice memory foam mattress on the old one, but over the years it developed dents where we slept. Decided to try these first before getting another King memory foam or going back to a spring mattress.

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These are the ones we bought. They are way cheaper than many of the brand names, but about 3 months in, and we both like them. Firm enough, and no more back and neck pain waking up. Plus with them being Twins, easier to move around if we needed to. Once you unbox a king memory foam, that thing gets unwieldy.

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Did you put a topper on it? Can you feel the seam?

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Thin mattress pad, almost like a thin quilted top, and you can't feel the seam. It holds them together pretty tight.

Baton Rouge mattress outlet has some good deals, and the guy who runs it is a really good guy named Mitch

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