In 2021, my husband and I became the proud owners of a Saatva mattress. This post is the second in a series of candid, in-depth reviews in which I share our personal experiences as a couple shopping for, choosing, ordering and sleeping on our first Saatva mattress, adjustable base and bedding, as well as exchanging the split-top mattress we initially chose for a standard (solid) version of the same model.
In part one of this series I explained why we wanted to replace our old mattress with a Saatva, the unexpected opportunity that enabled us to shop for one sooner than expected, our most important needs and wants and the models we considered based on those criteria.
In today’s post I’ll share the extensive product research I conducted to help us choose the best Saatva mattress for our needs and my experiences interacting with both the company’s website and its customer service representatives, as well as my favorite third-party expert mattress review sites.
Disclosure: I have joined the company’s affiliate program, which means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links in this post I may be eligible to receive a commission, at no cost to you. I highly recommend the Saatva company and its products for their excellent quality, performance, price and customer service. The opinions, product reviews and recommendations in this post are my own and are based on my personal experiences. The decision to click on those links to learn more about the company’s products or make a purchase is greatly appreciated, but entirely up to you.
How to Choose the Best Saatva Mattress for Your Sleeping Preferences and Needs
I have been buying online since 1995, not long after Amazon launched. One of the things I love most about shopping online is how easy it is to research and compare products before deciding which ones to purchase. Since our sleep quality has a profound effect on our quality of life, I put even more time and effort than usual into researching which Saatva mattress would best meet both my and my husband’s needs and sleeping preferences.
Here are the resources I used to evaluate in depth the five mattress models we considered and finalize our decision on which would work best for us as a couple.
Mattress Buying Guide
Saatva's Mattress Buying Guide is a great place to start your mattress selection journey, regardless of which brand of mattress you decide to purchase.
It explains the four main mattress types (innerspring, memory foam, latex and hybrid) and compares them according to six key criteria: price, lifespan, firmness levels, motion transfer (a major consideration if you sleep with a partner), edge support and which sleeping position(s) each type is best suited to.
The Saatva Mattress Buying Guide also walks you through five key high-level decisions: choosing the type of mattress you want, determining your ideal firmness level, picking the right size, deciding on a mattress base, and (last, but not least) reading the fine print. It also answers a few FAQ and recommends taking the mattress quiz.
Although my husband and I struggled a bit with some of these decisions, since we have different preferences for firmness and sleep positions, this buying guide really helped us begin to narrow and prioritize our list of models to consider.
Mattress Quiz
Armed with our requirements and preferences wish list and what I learned from the Ultimate Mattress Buying Guide, my next step was to take the Saatva Mattress Quiz.
I admit to having been a bit skeptical about the results since it only asked about my weight range, how I like my mattress to feel and my sleep concerns, not those of my sleeping partner, although I could tell it that my husband and I had different firmness preferences and different preferred sleep positions.
However, the recommendations it offered were surprisingly appropriate, and I moved the Loom & Leaf Relaxed Firm memory foam mattress and the Saatva Solaire to the top of our “short list” of contenders.
Sleep Enlightened Blog
Saatva’s Sleep Enlightened blog is dedicated to educating people about how to choose the best mattress for their needs, the importance of sleep and how to get a great night’s sleep, regardless of which mattress brand, type or model they sleep on.
It includes thoughtful, well-researched and well-written posts about how to choose a mattress as well as about sleep health, sleep-related lifestyle tips and other valuable content.
This blog is well worth the read for anyone who could benefit from more restful, refreshing and restorative sleep (i.e., nearly everyone!).
Product Information
Saatva does a terrific job with its product pages. They are designed to give visitors the most important information about each product as clearly and concisely as possible, keeping the details hidden until the site visitor chooses to click to learn more about something on the page.
I loved the use of exploded views to show the anatomy of each mattress model, including the different layers, materials, construction and the role that each layer plays in providing comfort, support, durability and other desirable characteristics.
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| The product page for each mattress model includes an exploded view diagram showing all the layers and explaining the function and purpose of each |
The clean, uncluttered product page design has a lot going for it, but also one significant drawback for a product research junkie like me: There is no way to view all the product information about a particular mattress at one time. Since I wanted to do an in-depth comparison of different models in our consideration set, I tried to create my own side-by-side comparison chart by going to each model's product page, clicking on each topic, drilling down through each clickable element and copying and pasting the details into a table, but I finally gave up. (That said, however, most mattress shoppers probably neither want nor need as much granular detail as I did when comparing different models.)
Thanks in part to the candid feedback I shared with my friend Joe, Saatva’s chief marketing officer, the product pages are now more helpful and consistent in their layout, making it easier to compare product information about different models. The company also added a comparison page that let customers easily compare Saatva models side-by-side based on mattress type, firmness, sleep surface materials, core and base support, cooling levels and other key features and attributes.
I also had a hard time finding detailed information about the differences between an upper-flex king and a split king Solaire mattress and their respective advantages, limitations and other key considerations, such as needing to use special split-top sheets for an upper-flex mattress and requiring a compatibly configured adjustable base for either an upper-flex or a split king.
Now, the Saatva Solaire mattress product page now contains a new section that provides a lot more information about the upper-flex option and adjustable bases in a much more visible location.
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| The Solaire mattress product page now makes it easier to learn about the split-top “upper-flex” option, which needs to be paired with an upper-flex Adjustable Base Plus |
Note: I will also provide detailed side-by-side comparisons of all the queen and king Saatva Solaire mattress configuration options in the last post in this series.
Customer Reviews and Questions
Reading customer product reviews is always a key part of my pre-purchase online research. Since I knew that (unlike some companies) Saatva doesn’t edit or filter their customer reviews, I felt confident that the reviews were authentic.
I spent quite a bit of time reading the customer reviews on saatva.com for the five mattress models on my list and was impressed by the overwhelmingly positive feedback. An impressive number of customers complimented not only the quality and comfort of the Saatva mattresses they purchased but also the outstanding customer service they received. Even buyers who ultimately decided to return their mattresses during the generous trial period were effusive in their praise of the company and its products!
I also looked at the customer questions and the answers provided by a Saatva representative, which were clear, helpful and timely. Most of the questions I looked at had received same-day answers. In retrospect, I wish I had taken advantage of the “Ask a question” button when I was doing my product research!
Online Chat
Next, I decided to use the website’s online chat option to speak with a Saatva Sleep Guide (customer support representative) to get more personalized recommendations based on more detailed input, especially since I wanted to find a mattress that would meet both my and my husband’s different needs.
After the representative listened to our list of wants and needs, I was surprised and impressed that she initially suggested we might want to consider buying just a Saatva latex mattress topper or memory foam topper rather than a whole new mattress, which would be considerably less expensive, since our mattress wasn’t that old. That’s just one of many examples I encountered that proved the authenticity of Saatva’s “How can I help you?” versus “What can I sell you?” philosophy. However, since our mattress sagged so badly, my husband and I wanted to replace it rather than trying to get by for another year or two with just a new topper.
The more I spoke with the representative, the more I leaned toward the Saatva Solaire mattress, since each side could be customized to my husband's and my individual firmness preferences and the air chambers would make the center sagging that we typically experienced with our mattresses less of an issue (as long as we didn’t set the firmness settings on our respective sides too far apart).
The representative also made a good case for the Zenhaven dual-sided natural latex mattress, which has both a Luxury Plush side with a medium (4–5) firmness and a Gentle Firm side with a firmer (7–8) firmness. She recommended using it with the Luxury Plush side up for us, which “contours to your body effortlessly to relieve pressure points from all sleep positions” and would work whether my husband and I were in the “spoon” position on our sides or whether we turned on our backs or stomachs.
Third-Party Mattress Review Sites and Buying Guides
Years ago, when I was doing market research into the mattress industry, I found out that many of these types of sites are owned by media companies that are paid to promote more obscure mattress brands while purporting to be objective in their reviews and recommendations. (No wonder mattress shopping can be so confusing! It's hard to know whom to trust.)
Fortunately, even though virtually all the review sites and buying guides receive free products for review and use affiliate links to support themselves, there are sites such as Mattress Clarity, The Sleep Judge, Good Bed and Sleepopolis that provide in-depth, expert reviews using pressure mapping technology and other objective tests as well as subjective evaluations. Some also include balanced, detailed video reviews along with their written reviews.
Reading and watching their Saatva product reviews reinforced that either the Solaire or the Zenhaven would be the best mattress choice for my husband’s and my needs.
Phone Calls With a Saatva Mattress Showroom Manager
I had one advantage over the typical online Saatva mattress buyer: My friend Joe at Saatva arranged for my husband and me to have a phone conversation with Michael, the manager of the flagship Saatva Viewing Room showroom in New York City, to help us finalize our choice between the Solaire and the Zenhaven.
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| Saatva’s flagship Viewing Room in New York City, one of six (soon to be eight) showrooms across the U.S. where you can view, touch and try out different Saatva mattresses, adjustable bases, bedding and other products in person |
Joe and I had agreed that no one should know I had any contacts at Saatva. We wanted to ensure that I would not get preferential treatment, since our goal was for me to give him objective feedback on my experience as a first-time Saatva customer. However, since Michael’s job is to help in-person visitors to the Saatva NYC showroom, there would have been no reason for a remote customer to call him for advice. So, as a favor to me, Joe asked Michael if he would be willing to help some friends (i.e., my husband and me) choose between two Saatva mattresses we were considering and to provide his thoughts on whether an adjustable base would be a worthwhile investment for us.
Michael was kind enough to make time to speak with us on his day off. He was incredibly knowledgeable, extremely helpful and very patient with our many questions. He recommended a Solaire for us over a Zenhaven.
When we asked about whether an adjustable base would be worth the cost for us, he asked us several questions to determine how much we would likely use and benefit from the additional features the adjustable base provides. Based on lifestyle and health considerations, such as my husband’s and my different sleeping and waking times, my frequent insomnia and our common back and joint pain, he felt that the adjustable base would provide significant benefits, especially in the top-split “upper flex” configuration that would allow either of us to raise the head of just our side of the bed without affecting our partner's side.
Choosing Between a Standard and Upper-Flex King Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base
After discussing our needs, wants and concerns in detail with Michael, he ultimately recommended a king Saatva Solaire mattress in the upper-flex configuration with the Saatva Adjustable Base Plus (which was then called the Lineal adjustable base), with the understanding that the upper-flex king Adjustable Base Plus would be a final sale purchase.
When we raised our concerns about the width of the center gap down the upper third of the mattress, since we sleep in the “spoon” position for part of every night, Michael said he thought it probably wouldn’t bother us much, especially if we also ordered the diamond-quilted upper-flex king organic cotton mattress pad that he also recommended for us, which would provide added comfort, protect the mattress and fill in the center split somewhat. He also pointed out that if we ordered the king upper-flex and the split turned out to be a problem, we could exchange it for a solid king Solaire mattress within the extremely generous Saatva home trial period (which was 180 nights and is now 365 nights — one full year to try out your new mattress!).
The other important consideration was that the Adjustable Base Plus for the king upper-flex Solaire mattress would be two Twin XL adjustable bases that would be joined during the delivery and set-up process. If we decided to exchange the king upper-flex mattress for a solid one, the bases could be reconfigured during the delivery and set-up of the new mattress so that both the head and the foot of the entire bed would be raised and lowered in sync. However, unlike the standard Twin XL bases used with a standard king Solaire mattress, the bases used in the upper-flex configuration would not have the wall-hugger technology that simultaneously glides you back toward the wall as you raise the head of the bed, keeping your bedside table, remote, lamp, etc., in easy reach. Since the adjustable bases are final sale, if we went with the upper-flex base, we wouldn’t be able to exchange it for the standard king with the wall-hugger capability if we decided to exchange our upper-flex Solaire mattress for the standard version.
After much discussion, my husband and I finally decided that if we didn’t give the upper-flex option a try, we would always wonder whether we had made the right choice.
Ordering Online and Updates
In my next post I’ll share my experience with placing our Solaire mattress, Adjustable Base Plus and mattress pad order online.
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How to Choose the Best Mattress for Your Needs by Margaret Schindel
Posts in This Series
Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 1: The Journey Begins
Read more product reviews from our Contributors at ReviewThisProductReviews.com.
