We went from a queen traditional style mattress to a king Sterns & Foster Shirebrook. I am not sure what a eurotop would be, but ours has the pillowtop which is sewn all the way around the edge of mattress. In other words, when you look at the mattress, the pillow top is not visable. Is enclosed, sewn directly to the sides of the mattress. While I wanted the pillow top, I did not want the pillow top that is attached 4" or 5" in from the edges. Just thought that would be a bigger risk for tearing. The only thing that took a bit of getting used to was the new height. Our bed is the same height as the top of my dresser.

Didn't think the dogs would ever be able to get up that high, wrong.

No, you can't "flip" the mattress, but we turn ours every 3 or so months so that it wears evenly.

Also, recently replaced DD's bed with a queen pillow top similarly sewn. DD chose a Serta Beauty Rest. She did not like the height, so the store "shortened" the height of the box springs.

Not a fan of the memory foam mattresses. I have a memory foam pillow that came as bonus when we purchased a memory foam for DD's dorm bed. Being a big pillow person, I thought I would love it. Not so much.

I think the best thing is to go out and find which mattress suits your tastes, then price compare.

From what I've read previously about mattresses, the mattress company will call the same mattress by different names depending on where it's sold simply to prevent you from shopping their prices. I was however, able to negotiate the prices somewhat when I bought two new sets. They were on sale and I simply asked him if he could do any better, went from $1100 to just under $900. It never hurts to ask IMO as long as you do it nicely.

FWIW, mattresses used to last a lot longer in my opinion. I've had two new mattresses over the last 12 years and am on my third set now. I'm about 15 to 20 lbs. overweight so I don't think that is what's causing it but they all sink in the middle where I tend to sleep. I had one replaced for free because of the warranty but despite the hype, I don't think they are made all that well unless you spend a couple thousand dollars or so, although I've never spent that much myself.

I noticed a big sale at Macy's the other night that had pretty decent prices as I'm in the market for a new set for my son. It might be worth checking them out for sale prices.

I don't know about Macy's and other dept. stores but mattress stores will negotiate on price. Never accept the listed price even if they claim there's a sale going on. Always ask for 'the best price they can offer'. They'll sometimes even throw in pillows.

Buying a new mattress set is a nightmare, isn't it???

We bought a very expensive (to us) mattress set, and I hate it. Big fat mattress and pillowtop make it feel too mushy to me. I purchased another bed, but it's too hard! Like Goldilocks, I need one that's "just right!" LOL! Bought a latex topper, but it's still too hard. Why can't I just get a good mattress? They are all weird now--one sided, no box springs (just a platform), fat pillowtop, mattress 18" thick making the bed so high requiring new bedding. Enough of that...

It is almost impossible to compare mattresses because they do call the same mattress by different names. Where we might price shop for certain household items, that cannot be done with beds. I did buy a mattress from Penneys and they offered a 60-day return policy. Of course, you had to exchange the mattress for another of theirs.

Do watch the height of the bed you buy. They don't seem so high in the stores, but one I bought was as high as the dining room table when I got it home.

I forgot one of the most important pieces of information I read while shopping that made a lot of sense to me.

A mattress is not a luxury item. It is utilitarian. So trying to make it all soft and cuddly is wrong. You can do that with your bedding.

The latex mattress I mentioned above is expensive. It has a 30 year warranty. (Will I really be sleeping in a King Size bed when I am 76?) There are no springs in it, it is a spring free mattress.

Try it out. My husband and I couldn't agree on any of the mattresses we tried, except this one. We've had it for over a year and half now and it hasn't sunk anywhere.

That website I posted in my earlier posting does cross reference names of mattress from store to store, and if it doesn't, you can just ask the guy.

Here is a link that might be useful: sealy springfree latex

It took me over a year to finally buy a new mattress. After doing a lot of research I decided on a latex mattress and got a great deal at Denver Mattress. I learned a lot from the site below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mattress information

I think it's one of the most difficult and frustrating purchases to make. We spent a lot more than we wanted to several years ago on a king Stearns & Foster and I can't recommend it. It's ok, nothing great and it does show sleep patterns even though this is one you can flip and we do.

I can't imagine ever spending what these beds cost but I sure am interested in what the heck makes them so special and expensive! They've been advertising a special with a $4500 price reduction - the beds cost over 10k in some instances.Can anyting really make sleeping that much better to justify that?

Here is a link that might be useful: Dux Beds

I hope I can help since I spent over 1 year researching mattresses. Never buy any pillowtop because basically it's memory foam on top and will break down and form lumps in the top. If you want a good mattress buy one and add on a latex topper for softness. There is company called Shifman, which has been around for ages, and you can still flip it over. Most mattresses don't allow you to turn them over anymore. Sterns and Foster makes decent mattresses. Basically they change names to prevent you from comparison shopping. I bought a organic latex mattress from Savvy Rest. They are located in Va. but have stores where you can try them out. You order according to your configuration. It's not the normal type of mattress but basically you design your layers and you can have a configuration that is good for your needs. The latex layers lie inside a well made zip top cover. Is it ideal? Not really all that I dreamed of. We had our last mattress for 32 years and we were used to a firm mattress. Initially, my back was still sore cause it's a matter of getting your muscles used to something different. Latex (natural) lasts forever and isn't hot to sleep on. The organic part was a plus, but not necessarily a necessity. Some of the Sealy brands are not natural latex and some stores sell latex mattresses that aren't fully latex, but an inch or two on top and they call it latex. I learned alot from this site http://blog.pennlive.com/mattress/2008/09/index.html
Some people swear by memory foam. It's really a matter of personal taste but difficult because it's takes awhile before you really know if it's comfortable and by then you can't return it.

Oh Oh. We just brought a Tempurpedic. Will be delivered tomorrow. We called around and everyone had the same price (we did get it on sale, though). It has a warranty, but can't be flipped. Our BR is small (the whole house is small) so flipping a mattress was a real pain.

I agree that shopping for a mattress is a hassle. I was actually surprised that they will allow us to return it within 30 days. What do they do with "used" mattresses?

PS I posted our old mattress on Craig's List last night and already have over 25 responses. We thought that seemed a better way to go than paying the mattress store to haul it away.

Besdies SavvyRest, there are other companies that you can buy a "customized" latex bed from, such as Flobeds and SleepEZ. Another latex mattress maker is Natura.

It is a HUGE "YMMV" that memory foam "makes you hot". We have had a TempurPedic for something like 7 years now and DH still crawls into bed groaning "ohhhhhh, this is a good bed". We have the Original, which is the only one you could get when we bought ours. We don't find it makes us hot (well, DH is a living furnace to begin with, he sleeps starkers and throws off all his covers even in our nearly-uninsulated bedroom in January, but he did that with every other bed we've used too). Ditto for the usual assertion that it's "rock hard" - we find it's temporarily firm (but still not as hard as an innerspring, which I now find agonizing) for about 5-10 minutes until the foam reacts to your body heat. Nor has it crushed, flattened, sunk, or sagged, and neither one of us is a skinny-minnie (we're both 200+ lbs). I will grant that the matching foundation has begun to creak in one corner, but every box spring I've ever owned has eventually started squeaking; when budget allows we plan on going back to a platform frame.

It takes about a week to get used to a memory foam bed so it's not a good idea to get rid of the old mattress immediately, but I guess it's too late for colorcrazy.

We have a Tempur-Pedic Deluxe and have absolutely no problem with it being too hot. We were told that's because of the air layers inside the mattress.

The store where we bought ours gives you an extra 9 month trial on top of Tempur-pedic's 90-day trial period. It took both of us about a week to get used to the mattress, but I'll say now that the last 6 months have been full of heavenly sleeping.

Good luck! Finding a mattress that makes both people comfy is a long road.

LOL, Mari. Would have had to put the old mattress on the LR floor with no room to walk around it. If I can't sleep, I will use the sofa for the rest of the night and DH will go back to his recliner. But thanks for the warning!