For the last eight years, my wife and I have slept on a Tempur-Pedic mattress. And for the last eight years, I have hated that mattress with a passion. I had actually never even heard of the Tempur-Pedic brand prior to my wife and I getting together. I had no idea how coveted – or expensive – their mattresses were, and I was never all that impressed with it when I spent the night at her place. But, when my wife moved in, she demanded we throw my Sears-bought, off-brand mattress away, and use hers instead. I objected, but after several hours of debate, during which I was schooled on the Tempur-Pedic’s many (supposed) pros, I finally acquiesced. It was a moment we would both come to regret.
The thing is, mattresses are expensive. Prohibitively so. So unless you’re rich (which we’re not), or cool with credit debt (we’re not that either), you’re stuck with the one you have. And stuck we were, until six months ago when we decided we were finally at a point where we could get a new one. And so, we began the search. Our criteria was simple: we wanted the anti-Tempur-Pedic. We wanted a mattress that would stay firm no matter what the temperature in the house. We wanted a mattress that wouldn’t get (almost painfully) hot after being lied on for an extended period. And we wanted a mattress with some bounce to it (believe me, having every movement absorbed is not a good thing). If the mattress could also be US-made, that would be great too, but we were willing to sacrifice that for the sake of our budget.
It was about a month in to our search, when, completely out of the blue, I got an email from Leesa. They explained that they were a new kind of mattress company. That their mattresses were 100% American-made, sold directly to consumers without a middleman mark-up, and that they donated one mattress to a shelter for every ten they sold. I couldn’t believe their timing. It was so auspicious it was almost suspicious. And then I got to the end of their email: “we’d like to send you a mattress for review.” Say whaaaaaaaat?
Getting sent (free) product for review is one of the perks of the job, but I’ve never been offered a product of this size or cost before. And as perfect as the timing was, I was hesitant to say yes. What did Leesa expect in response? Didn’t they know we don’t really cover home goods? What if I thought the mattress was crap? Thankfully, Leesa was happy to address all of my worries over the phone. They assured me that there was no pressure or obligation, and reminded me that they offer a 100-night risk free trial, and free shipping both ways, on every mattress they sell. So if I didn’t like it, I could just send it back, same as any of their customers. With my fears assuaged, I accepted their offer.
About ten days later, a large box with a Leesa logo on it arrived at our door. My wife and I stared at it incredulously; there’s no way a king size mattress can be in there. It seemed to defy physics. We removed the mattress from the box and laid it out on the cheapo metal frame we hastily ordered off Amazon after my call with Leesa. Our room was immediately filled with a smell similar to wet paint – something the box warned us about, and told us would dissipate in an hour. It lingered a bit longer than that, but did ultimately fade. Several hours later, after making the bed with a sheet set my uncle gave us for christmas, we spent our first night on our new mattress. And it was pretty great.
Right away, we noticed several major differences between the Leesa and the Tempur-Pedic. Firstly, the firmness never changes. Whereas the firmness of the Tempur-Pedic would (wildly) fluctuate based on the temperature in the room, the Leesa stays consistent. Secondly, it doesn’t get too hot. Sometimes with the Tempur-Pedic, it felt like we were sleeping on an oven burner because of how it would trap (and seemingly amplify) our body heat. The Leesa, thankfully, doesn’t do that. And thirdly, the Leesa is springier. Of course, it’s not as springy as an actual spring mattress (it too is made from 100% foam), but it doesn’t have the quicksand-y feeling the Tempur-Pedic did.
It’s been two months since we switched over to the Leesa, and I can honestly say that the quality of our sleep has greatly improved. We pretty much got the exact mattress we were looking for. And the crazy thing is, even if we hadn’t been gifted it, with prices starting at $525, we could have afforded it on our own. Of course, because we were gifted it, I can understand if any of you are worried that this review might be a little (or a lot) biased. And that’s why I’m happy to be able to offer all Well Spent readers $75 off any Leesa mattress with code WellSpent75. This way you can try one for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. And hopefully, you’ll enjoy your Leesa mattress as much as we do.
For price and purchase info, visit Leesa.
