Hi all. I'm launching a mattress hunt. My brief: I'm a stomach sleeper and I've always liked a very firm mattress but am nearing 50, getting achey and heavier, pressure points matter a lot more than last time I thought about this issue. The bed needs to accommodate one person and a rotating cast of dogs.

2 questions:

1) I'd planned to steer clear of memory foam because I don't especially care for my mom's thick m-foam topper, which I've tried, and because of the concern about heat. I'm much more prone to overheating than under - approaching menopause, sleeping with dogs - not likely to get cooler around here any time soon. Today, though, I stopped at one of those discount chains to see what the current range from the big-name makers was, and I kind of fell in love with the firmest model in Serta's iSeries line. It's an innerspring mattress with a very thin layer on top of memory foam with gel mixed in - just enough to cushion the pressure points. The gel mixture is supposed to solve the heat problem with the memory foam. I basically don't believe that for a minute, but I wondered if anyone had had any experience with the gel-foam combos - either in this line, or the iComfort, which is gel foam all the way through, or another brand's version. Any opinions?

2) For those in the DC area, are there any mattress dealers you'd particularly recommend? I was going to check out the latex mattresses at Savvy Rest Natural Bedroom in Vienna, and the ones Room and Board sells. Any other specialty retailers to check out?

Thanks!