Quality Mattress, Great Service
Written: Dec 29 '02
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Pros: Adjustable level of firmness, easy to set up and move
Cons: Pump a bit noisy
The Bottom Line: If you want a quality mattress and great service, buy this one from Nationwide Mattress.
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| madcodger's Full Review: Comfortaire Cerulean Mattress |
Our six-year-old traditional, innerspring mattress had developed a significant sag despite frequent turnings, and my back had developed an accompanying twinge in the morning. My wife had been having some trouble sleeping and thought the bed and mattress were part of the problem. She had also expressed a desire for a king-size bed, so it was time to go mattress shopping.
We visited a number of different stores trying out various traditional mattresses such as Sterns & Foster, Sealy, and Serta (all at the upper end of their selection) when I noticed the reviews for the ComfortAire Cerulean HP on Epinions. I checked out their website and also visited the SelectComfort site. Noticing that SelectComfort had a store a few minutes from our home, we paid them a visit and tried out two beds. I was genuinely impressed with the feel of the SelectComfort, but found the price a bit steep and the salesperson more aggressive than I liked. So... back to Epinions for another read of the reviews. It seemed that most everyone liked Nationwide mattress, so I gave them a call late on a Saturday night and spoke with Richard D.
Like most others on the site, I have to give Nationwide Mattress straight A's. Richard D. was knowledgeable, courteous, and not "pushy" in any way. I ended up purchasing the Cerulean HP (Eastern king size)and added the Digital WhisperFlo pump because we both wanted numerical feedback on the firmness of the bed. Richard D. cautioned me that due to the holiday season and a recent ice storm in the area of the factory, it could take 2 - 3 weeks for the mattress to arrive. He did, however, promise to expedite the order as much as possible.
Richard D. sent me an Email late Monday (the first business day after placing the order) that the bed had shipped, complete with tracking information. It arrived in two large (but not heavy, about 15 - 20 lbs. each) boxes on Wednesday.
The components were well-packed and easy to identify. All seem to be of good quality. They consisted of a single electric pump unit (~ 12 x 8 inches footprint, 6 inches high, in a hard plastic case), electric cord for the pump (black in color and exactly like that used for a desktop computer), two palm-size digital controls (off-white plastic case with orange LCD readout - numbers ~ 1 inch high) with grey detachable cables (~ 6 feet each, and basically telephone cables with the same plug-in type connectors), two clear plastic air tubes (~1/2 inch diameter, ~ 4 feet long), two plastic squeeze-type clamps for connecting the tubes to the pump, two air bladders (very similar to a high-quality air mattress you might use for camping or at the beach), four pieces of dense foam to be placed around the outside edges of the mattress shell, a foam cover for the air bladders (similar to those used by backpackers or on hospital beds) and the mattress shell itself (a woven, synthetic material that I believe is rayon - I'd go look but no review is worth waking my wife once she's asleep). The shell comes in two parts that zip together. The lower half holds the air bladders and foam edges in place, while the upper half has a quilted top similar to that found on traditional, upper-end mattresses.
Because we had also ordered a new bed that had not arrived, we decided to move the old bed to a guest room and set up the mattress on the hardwood floor. I can't advise this, but it sufficed for about two weeks. We have since received the new bed (review to be posted) and purchased a Serta king-size foundation. The mattress was very easy to set up, with excellent instructions. The whole process, from unpacking the boxes to putting on the sheets, took about 40 minutes.
To set up the mattress, the lower half of the shell simply rolls out, and you place the foam pieces inside its outer edges, securing them with the attached velcro tabs. After a small amount of straightening, the air bladders are then placed inside the shell and the air tubes exit at the head of the bed through two small, stitched slits in the shell. The tubes then connect to the pump by simply sliding them on and placing the squeeze clamps around the tube at the connection. The pump control cords and power cord simply plug into the pump, and the cords are then plugged into the two separate controls.
After this initial step, I simply inflated the air bladders to about 75% capacity and evened them out a bit inside the shell. The foam topper for the air bladders is then rolled out over the air bladders and straightened, and the top half of the shell is zipped into place. I expected to have some difficulty with this, but it was actually very easy to accomplish (just don't pinch the air bladders or foam pieces inside the zipper).
Following this, I inflated the bladders to full capacity and we tried out the bed. It felt great! The quilted top of the shell looks and feels like a traditional, high quality mattress. My whole body, especially my back, felt fully supported without any pressure points. After adjusting each of our controls to our individual level of firmness (for the first night), we put on the sheets. We have had no difficulty using ordinary, king-size sheets. I think oversize sheets would actually be too big for the mattress.
There are two qualities of the mattress that are most important to us. The first is the ability to adjust each side to the individual's desired level of firmness. My wife started out at only 35% capacity (very soft) but increased to about 85% (very firm) and has remained there. I have remained at about 70%. The second quality we enjoy is the feeling of total body support without pressure points. Each of us are making some weight-dropping resolutions for the New Year, and I'll volunteer that I have about 30 extra pounds on my 6'2" frame. Still, the bed feels great. My back problem hasn't disappeared, but it's much better than with the old mattress and probably about as good as it will get with any mattress (see New Year's resolution above for the rest of the answer). Also, my wife has been sleeping very well since we purchased the mattress and she found her most comfortable setting.
We have also enjoyed the light weight of the mattress. Since we had to set up a new bed and box spring after the mattress arrived and had been set up, this was a welcome feature. We flipped the mattress onto its side without taking it apart and set up the new bed. While I was removing packing materials from the room, my wife was able to place the mattress back on the bed by herself, with ease. We didn't even have to remove the air tubes or deflate the mattress.
We have only two complaints about the mattress, and both are fairly minor. First, the pump is louder than we would like. There's no way either of us can adjust the mattress while the other is sleeping. Then again, this hasn't been necessary. We took a few minutes on the first night to find a setting that seemed comfortable, and have made all other adjustments either as we went to bed or got up in the morning. After about two weeks of tinkering with the firmness, we've settled into a setting and haven't had to make any changes. Still, a quieter pump might be a good change for the future, if it's possible. The mattress does change settings very quickly (a few seconds at most, even for big changes).
Second, the digital controls and their cables might need some adjustments in a later version. The cables are simply telephone jack cords, and seem a bit flimsy. You can, however, replace them if damaged by a trip to any store that sells phones. Not a bad tradeoff, I suppose. Infrequently, we had to press the controls 2 or 3 times to get them to respond. They have always worked, however, and the digital feedback has been helpful for us. The $400 price tag for this upgrade seemed steep to me, but we both wanted some visual feedback on our individual settings, so I'm not complaining too loudly.
Finally, a word about price. We paid $1,449 for this mattress, including the pump with digital controls. That's about the same as a mid-range traditional mattress and up to $1,200 less than some we considered. It's also less than we were quoted for the SelectComfort, which seemed to have no advantage over the ComfortAire for us except the ability to try them out in a local store. Given the 90-day return policy of Nationwide Mattress (vs. 30 days for SelectComfort), the local store lost its only advantage. Based on how much better I feel and perform after a good night's sleep, I'd be willing to pay the purchase price each year if necessary. Thankfully, that's not the case. We have been very happy with this new mattress for about a month now, and have no regrets about the purchase.
Neither I nor anyone I know, to the best of my knowledge, has any relationship with ComfortAire or Nationwide Mattress except my relationship as a customer. I have neither received nor been offered any reward or compensation for writing this review or making any comments contained in it. I simply like the product and found the reviews of others on Epinions helpful before I made my own purchase.
Recommended:
Yes
Mattress Size: Eastern King
Mattress Firmness: Somewhat firm
Amount Paid (US$): 1449
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Epinions.com ID:
madcodger
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Male, late 30s, married, one child, MBA
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