I have been sleeping on my Bragada Crowne mattress for three weeks now, and while temperature-sensitive foam is not as miraculous as television advertising would have you believe, it is a very nice mattress. I find no difference between it and the nationally-advertised brand, which I will refer to as na-brand in this review. The Bragada Crowne model is equivalent to the Classic model from the na-brand.

Bragada, who sells only by 800- number or on the Internet, manufactures their line of temperature-sensitive memory foam mattresses using US-made materials, and offers a “lifetime” warrantee (see below for more on mattress warrantees). Their pricing is about 40% of the na-brand, and the product is equivalent in quality in my opinion.

When I ordered my mattress by telephone, the person I spoke with was complete and informative about what to expect re. shipping and the qualities of the mattresses. He explained that the mattress would take about two weeks to deliver (it did), and that they would send me an email when it shipped (they didn’t).

When I called to ask about the mattress a week after ordering, the customer service person was able to track down the details quickly, and gave me the UPS tracking number. Unfortunately, the tracking number was wrong, and it took another phone call to get the correct tracking numbers. The price (40% of the equivalent na- brand) included shipping via UPS, and two queen-sized pillows, which arrived a week later than the mattress, as I had been told.

When my queen-sized mattress was delivered, it was in a box about 2’x2’x3’. Rather than try to package a full-sized mattress for shipping, Bragada ships it disassembled: two separate layers of foam, and the cotton zip-on cover. The two layers of foam are rolled up with all the air squeezed out, then wrapped in saran-wrap. This made it very easy to install the mattress up two flights of stairs, as each foam bundle only weighed about 30 lbs. After cutting off the wrapping, the mattress layers slowly expand back to full size, taking several hours to do it. You then stack the 3” memory foam layer on top of the underlying 6” urethane foam support layer, and zip the cover around the mattress.

The materials used are of good quality. The foam is US-made, dense, and responds to temperature just as the na-brand foam does. The foam support layer beneath it is also good quality, and the very stretchy cotton cover is well made.

I found no issue about the mattress sleeping warm, due to sinking into it, but the foam gave off a distinct odor for the first few days, both mattress and pillows. This was about like sleeping in a newly painted room the first night – pretty strong. I peeled back the top sheet and blanket for the first week, to give the foam a chance to out-gas this chemical odor, and it was almost completely gone after a few days. Apparently this is characteristic of any memory-foam.

Before purchase, I had tested several different models of the na-brand mattress, and came to a few conclusions that may help you select a memory-foam mattress.

First, the most important issue about these mattresses is that the cover be completely stretchy. If you put a tight cover or tight sheet on them, you won’t get the benefit, as they will keep you from sinking into the memory foam, and will act like a hammock, putting more pressure on the taut part of the covering under you. Use high-thread-count, deep-corner sheets to avoid this issue, and expect lots of visible wrinkles in the sheet when you are not in the bed. Even better, get stretchy sheets.

Second, the more costly models with thicker foam and more elaborate covers are probably not worth the extra money. You won’t sink in any deeper, just a bit more quickly, and the thicker covers they use will keep you from sinking in to be fully supported by the memory foam. You will also find that the deeper the memory foam, the more difficult it will be to roll over, as you will be trying to roll “up-hill” onto part of the mattress that hasn’t been softened up by your body heat. In my opinion, three inches of memory foam is probably the right amount for most people, and more will add little to your comfort and lots to the cost.

I'm told that many people buy the more-elaborate models to get a softer feel, but the foam becomes softer over a few months' time anyway, so there is little to be gained by paying more.

Aside from shipping disassembled and compressed, the major differences between the Bragada and the na-brand are the price, the warrantee, and the 30-day money-back-if-not-satisfied offer.

As to the price, the Bragada foam is US-made, so you are not paying for shipping heavy, bulky material from Sweden. This probably cuts around $100 from the price you pay. You are also not paying for the costly print and TV advertising that the na-brand uses to sell their product. I estimate that this cuts about $200 per mattress from the price you pay. And finally, you are not paying for the profit that any retailer makes when selling a costly mattress – a several-hundred-dollar saving.

You can also get a $100 finders-fee if you refer someone to Bragada and they purchase a mattress - a nice alternative to paying for costly advertising...

I paid $628 dollars for the queen-size mattress delivered, with two memory-foam pillows (about $150 each from the na-brand). The equivalent na-brand mattress sells for $1600, and there are no discounts available, as the na-brand rigidly controls their retailer pricing in what I view as restraint of trade.

As to the warrantee, the na-brand offers a 20-year warrantee. They specify that you must support the mattress on a smooth, solid bedframe (a box-spring underneath voids the warrantee), and that they will replace the mattress only if it sags more than ¾”. You must prove this with photographs taken exactly as they specify.

Bragada, by contrast, offers a “lifetime” warrantee, but will replace the mattress only if it sags more than 1-¾”, which is a very deep dent.

Both warrantees are not full replacement – the amount the na-brand will allow you is reduced after 10 years (15 years for the Bragada, 50% after 15 years), and the amount you pay for a replacement may include return-shipping the mattress to them, and a pro-rated amount based on when you return it. Mattress warrantees are generally not worth the paper they are printed on, in my opinion.

Here in reality, I can tell you from experience that any urethane mattress will sag and compress over time. You will get the familiar body dents in it in 8-10 years, and getting the manufacturer to replace it is barely worth the hassle they will give you and the costs you will incur.

It is worth noting that you could replace the Bragada mattress almost three times for the cost of one na-brand mattress. Also, because it is supplied as two separate layers, you could replace the memory-foam top layer for less than $200 if it begins to compress after a few years.

Regarding the money-back-if-you-don’t-love-it-after-30-days offer that the na-brand advertises, this is apparently entirely up to the retailer who sells you the na-brand mattress. The store where I spent several hours testing the various models of na-brand mattresses offered to credit my money toward any other mattress in the store if I didn’t like the na-brand. I left immediately on learning this. Some other retailers may really give your money back, but you may be unhappy to discover that after they remove your old mattress “for free”, you won’t be able to get it back if you don’t like the na-brand. Be very cautious about the specifics of these “money-back” offers.



Recommended: Yes

Mattress Size: Queen
Mattress Firmness: Somewhat soft
Amount Paid (US$): 628