Sleep on It: Finding the Best Mattress

The stakes are high: Your good night's sleep for the next 10 to 15 years. The price range is enormous ‑- anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $5,000 to $20,000 for the new hand-stitched ultra-luxe mattresses. But will a mattress that costs more than your car help you sleep better? Or is the futon you had in college just as good? We asked three experts what matters most when making this crucial decision.

"The first thing is, forget the old myth about getting the hardest mattress you can find," says Robert Nirschl, MD, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Nirschl recommends a mattress of moderate firmness ‑- though heavier people will need more support than slimmer folks. There should be extra support along the edges. "People sit on the edge of their bed to put their shoes on. If the edges break down, then the center will break down over time," he says.

Although Dr. Nirschl believes all of the major mattress manufacturers do a basically good job, he's particularly keen on the Simmons Beautyrest. As for the ultra-luxes, he sees no reason to buy a mattress that requires a bank loan. "You get to a certain level and it's pretty much fluff," he says. And although he doesn't have personal experience with the increasingly popular select-by-numbers mattresses, which enable users to adjust firmness levels through pressurized air chambers, Dr. Nirschl advises caution. "The concept is all right, but if you're laying out big bucks, then it's important to ask what kind of guarantee you have. If you're spending a lot of money, you want to be able to try it for a couple of weeks and send it back if you don't like it." Select Comfort, which has a corner on the market with its Sleep Number bed, offers a 30-night trial. Just be forewarned: Customers usually pay return shipping, and mattresses are not moved cheaply.

Cheryl Mendelson, author of Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (Scribner), says that the ideal mattress is firm enough to keep your spine aligned, but soft enough to cradle as much of your body as possible. "The more you distribute the weight, the less stress you put on the pressure points," she says. That's why Mendelson loves pillow-top mattresses, which add a layer of cushioning to a moderately firm mattress. (The top layer can also be purchased separately and added to another mattress.)

Though she can't vouch for the ultra-luxes, she certainly wishes she had firsthand experience with them. "If I were a rich woman I might," she says.

Fortunately, Mendelson is quite happy with her own more moderately priced Eastman House pillow-top, available at Thomasville furniture.

Meir Kryger, MD, author of A Woman's Guide to Sleep Disorders (McGraw-Hill) and past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, says that general rules for mattress buying are nearly impossible to come by, since individuals' sense of comfort varies wildly. "In our sleep lab we use standard hospital beds. They're not great. A lot of my patients will say they're unbelievably comfortable; others will say it's the least comfortable bed they've ever slept in," he says.

However, for people with sleep disorders, Dr. Kryger recommends investing in the largest bed you can afford, especially if your (or your spouse's) condition involves a lot of moving or twitching. "This minimizes the effect on the bed partner," he says.

Beyond that, it's basically a matter of lying down in the showroom and seeing what feels right. Since it can be difficult to assess in five minutes how well a bed will facilitate eight hours of sleep, Dr. Kryger says the most foolproof way to buy the right mattress is to get one with a good return policy. "You need to arrange that beforehand. After the fact, the dealer is going to roll his eyes." Another tip: If you stay at a hotel and love the mattress, ask the front desk for the brand and model number.

The W Hotel, for example, tucks its guests into the W Signature bed, a custom-made pillow-top mattress manufactured by Simmons Beautyrest. The über-posh hotel chain is so confident of its guests' good night's rest that it has made this sleep system available for purchase in its online store.

Although Dr. Kryger believes that there's a fairly good correlation between price and quality, he remains skeptical of the ultra-luxes, seeing them more as a status purchase. "When people pay $20,000 for a mattress, they're not paying for sleep," he says.

Bottom line: You do, to a certain degree, get what you pay for. Judge by comfort first, and make sure the mattress you choose is well made and durable. Support is key, but should not, as once thought, be judged by firmness alone. And if you're unsure of your prospective purchase, always be aware of its return policy. That alone should let you rest easy at night.