A few years ago I went pretty deep down the mattress rabbit hole. The main things I learned were that everyone’s body is different, and you truly can’t tell how a mattress will feel after a full night from just lying on it for 10 minutes in a store. Hotel mattresses can be a decent test bed, but most big brands use completely different model names for the hospitality industry, so you’ll have to do some sleuthing.
In the end, memory foam works great for a lot of people, but I’m still a traditional spring-coil guy. What surprised me most is that I found a local craftsman who builds high quality coil mattresses by hand. (He actually repurposes the coils from old mattresses) His price was only a few hundred bucks more than the luxury name brand stuff you see in the big box stores. If you’re open to it, just Google something like “custom mattress builder” and your city. A lot of these guys already do odd sizes for boats, RVs, antique beds, etc., so making a normal or California king for a bedroom is no problem for them. Highly recommend going that route if you want something that’s built well and will last 15 years.
