Mattress Base

I do not understand the negative reviews! Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 I slept on one of these beds at a Radisson and really loved it. I was REALLY sick with the flu at the...

Select Comfort 3000 Select Comfort Sleep Number Bed 3000 Series Several Months ago my wife and I purchased the SC 3000 bed after trying them out in a mall showroom. ...

I do not yet own one of these beds, but thought I’d give you a review of my initial reaction after having slept on one for a night.

A little about myself:

I’m a single Male, age 41. I’m just shy of 6 feet tall, and weigh close to 300 lbs. Some friends gave me their queen-sized Simmons Beauty Rest mattress set when they went to move out of town. I had thought this was going to be a very comfortable bed, as I’d heard a lot of things about the beauty rest system. More times than not, I’d wake up with a bad back-ache. (Why do they call those things “Beauty Rest” anyway? I for one don’t wake up after sleeping on that uncomfortable thing and go around singing “I feel pretty….”)

When you watch late-nite tv, sooner or later you’re sure to come across the infomercials regarding the sleep number bed. I’m usually very skeptical about buying any product I see advertised in this manner (especially excercise equipment) because with the typical infomercial, regardless of the product they’re trying to sell, they’re usually very cheesey, have paid actors, etc, and tend to be very over-hyped. But the more I’ve seen commericlas for this particular bed, the more I’ve wanted to just try one of these beds out for myself and find out if they really are as good as they claim. I did a search on the internet for hotel chains that might actually feature these types of beds in their rooms.

I discovered that the Radisson Hotel Chain now has sleep number beds in most of their hotels. Now this right there sounded promising. “A hotel chain with these types of beds? Wow, they really must be comfortable if hotels are starting to have these.” So I decided to take a little weekend getaway, drive downtown and spend the night at the Radisson, just to try out one of these beds.

My initial reaction upon entering the hotel room and seeing the bed was, “Not bad. Looks like any ordinary nice bed that you’d see at an upscale hotel. Nothing out of the ordinary in appearance.” I got a little nosey and looked underneath the bed. The underside of the bed is hollow. “Hmmm… How about that.” It was constructed out of thick, hard plastic. This bed has no box spring. Apparently what they’ve done is made the platform LOOK like it is a boxspring. All it really is, is a plastic box in the SHAPE OF a box spring. There is material placed over this box, which matches the air mattress which sits on top. So… at first glance, this looks just like any other box spring and mattress, you cannot tell just by glancing at it there’s anything different about it. Some reviews have mentioned the disappointment people have had upon buying this bed and then seeing the kind of materials it is made out of. Plastic is inexpensive, but done right, it is very durable. This bed pretty looked solid and well-constructed to me, so plastic or not, I don’t have any concerns about the quality of the platform (”boxspring”) portion of it anyway. Another reviewer had mentioned there is no cloth on the underside of the bed, and they are right! This is great news for cat owners. No more kitty claws under your bed in the wee hours of the night! A rather ingenious design I thought.

Of course what ultimately matters is how does this bed feel when you lay down or sleep in it. I laid down on top of the bed and my initial reaction was “WOW!!! This really IS comfortable!” (I believe this particular bed was a king-sized, but I do not know which model it was..) Now of COURSE, like just about anybody who is trying out a new product for the first time, I JUST HAD TO monkey with the controls, to get the feel for what this bed will do. This particular bed had a single, wired remote. The remote consisted of a pair of up and down buttons, one for each side of the bed, so it’s a piece of cake to operate. (Would have been nice if the controls were illuminated though, so you can see them in the dark..)

I believe I started out with a pressure of about 60. I rolled over to the center of the bed, to see if I could feel the divider foam that I’ve read about. I really couldn’t feel it. Both sides felt the same. Next, I decided to try maxing out the controls at either end of the scale.

Lying on the bed, starting at a sleep number of 50, I hit the up arrow key. I heard this whirring noise. Now I might mention here that the air pump IS just a wee bit noisy, even without my hearing aids. I was afraid it might disturb people who may be trying to sleep in the next room, but that’s just how I am, always conscious/worried about what others might be thinking. The pump isn’t exactly loud, but yes, you DO notice it, and it probably would wake up your partner if you were to make adjustments to the bed in the middle of the night. I consider this a minor inconvenience, as I would immagine that once you and your partner have determined what sleep number works for you, then you probably wouldn’t be changing it during the night. So the noise, yes, a bit of a nuisance, but really not that big of a deal I didn’t think. (I’ve heard that some models have quieter pumps than others.)

It’s a rather soothing sensation to just lie there and feel the bed inflate underneath me. Felt like I was beginning to float. Of course, as I held down the controls to max out the firmness, the bed began to get hard as a rock! I’m not kidding! At 100, this thing felt like I was laying on a park bench or on top of a pile of cinder blocks! So if you’re worried about how firm this mattress can be, trust me when I say it can get THAT FIRM if you really wanted it to.

Next I tried the other end of the scale. It’s relaxing to just lay there and feel myself slowly sinking into comfort. Of course at the low end of the scale (couldn’t get the thing to go lower than 20), it once again felt hard as a rock. Dunno if that’s because at that point the mattress was basically deflated, or just what, but I can’t immagine too many people sleeping with the very lowest setting anyway, so again, this was no big deal to me. I hit the up arrow key again. The coolest feeling to just feel the mattress lifting up underneath me. I found that right about 40 to 45 seemed the most comfortable for me, at least while laying on my back anyway.

Now for those of you who are wondering, “Does this bed feel like a waterbed?”, the answer is, yes, it CAN, depending on how you’ve adjusted the sleep number. Adjusted correctly, I didn’t think it felt like that at all.

I’ve noticed that with all of the reviews I’ve read so far, nobody has mentioned, “What does this bed feel like if you are the only one sleeping in it? What if you’re not sharing your bed?” Well…. I like to sleep in the middle, at least with my simmons bed at home. If the two sides of the bed are set to extreme opposites, you can feel the “ditch” in the middle of the bed, or the “bump” if your side happens to be lower, and the other side higher. Now this was a king-sized bed, so it had plenty of room in my opinion. The idea with this bed is that you AREN’T going to be tossing and turning all night, so once you’re comfortable, you’re set. None-the-less, I am interested in knowing if these beds are available in queen or king size with a single bladder instead of dual. Or… If I were to go with a dual, can it easily be converted to single sleeper, or what’s the recommendation for that? Anyone know?

Sitting on the edge of the bed DOES feel a bit funny.

The hotel room was unusually hot for some reason, and no amount of fiddling with the room’s thermostat would change that until about 3:00 in the morning.

Because the room was so hot, I slept above the covers. I got in bed about 11:30-ish, I I estimate that by midnight, I was sound asleep.

At 3:00am, I woke up to a very cold room. (no fault of Select Comfort, of course). I got up, turned off the a/c, and went back to bed, this time under the covers. I doubt that it took me more than 15 minutes to fall back to sleep.

Now I might point out that while laying on my back, a sleep number of about 40 to 45 seemed very comfortable. I usually fall asleep on my back or stomach, but usually wake up on my side. Sleeping on my side, I noticed I needed a higher number, right around 55, so I guess this is a compromise.

When I woke up about 8am, I did have a little bit of back pain, but it was nothing at all like the usual back pain I’d wake up with after having slept on my Simmons Mattress. I felt refreshed. Also this was the very first time I’d ever slept in one of these beds, so it’s a safe bet that after a few nights, I’d have my sleep number down, and I’d probably end up just loving it.

I still want to check out different makes and models before deciding yay or nay on this product. I’m also a little concerned about reports of mold problems. I do know that air can contain moisture. I don’t know if the moisture is what causes this problem or just what. Has anyone come up with any remedies for this problem, and how common of a problem is it? What’s the exact cause of it, how is it prevented?

My first impression of this bed was a positive one. I say if you want to try out one of these beds for yourself, why not treat your wife, husband, fiance, or whomever to a night downtown at a Radisson and try one of these beds out, see if you like them.

I wish I had found this site before buying Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 I purchased the sleep number 5000 last August and now have what allot of the other people out here ha...

Sleep number high expectations deflated Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 My husband and I are in the market for a new bed. Sleep number was one of the beds on our list of po...

We love this bed Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 It is interesting to note how many people hate this bed and think it is an overpriced waste. I have o...

We love our Sleep Number 5000 Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 My wife had been experiencing some back issues and our innerspring mattress was probably 10 years old...

Major Back Pain! Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 We purchased this 5000 model 6 weeks ago and ever since I have had terrible back pain. I am almost 4...

Oh my back! Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 I bought my Select Comfort bed about 5 years ago. We had trouble with our old mattress sagging so we...

Select Comfort Sleep Number 5000 Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000

Select Comfort 5000: Great after "custom" upgrade Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000