Sadly Beds in England do not measure up to the high standard that we have come to expect in the US. Most of the mattresses there are ‘primitive’ by our standards.
On a recent trip I made a point of visiting several bed shops and examined all the mattresses that were available for sale. I was very disappointed. Even though in some cases they do sport the same brand names as here the actual product is nothing like the Stateside versions.
Here is a report of what I discovered.
Most of the mattresses have very little in the way of padding. Every single one has a very similar basic spring interior which in every case I examined is much less rigid than even the cheapest mattress found in this country. Over this framework is placed a little felt material and then the top cover of the mattress. In every case when I sat on the edge the whole mattress bowed inwards under my weight (which I assure you is not that great), each one seemed to collapse inward like corrugated paper. Not one had any side support of any kind. While sitting there it was possible in every case to reach down and put my hand into the side of the mattress where it bowed and feel the wires of the springs sticking out.
A large number of the mattresses have large buttons or 1 - 1½” bars of plastic instead of buttons which hold down the limited padding all across the mattress. It’s rather like the old ones that Grandma had when you were a small child (if you were unlucky).
For those of you lucky enough never to have slept on one of these torture traps let me enlighten you. Imagine you snuggle down into a warm bed and just when you think you have found comfort one of these buttons manages to insinuate itself into your back, hip or other part of your anatomy. Somehow by this time they always seem to have evolved sharp spikes out gunning for your tender parts. Sleeping becomes very uncomfortable and no matter how you twist turn and squirm the little delight manages to stay just in the right place to make life hell. No matter what you do there never seems to be a way of escaping from these fearsome little items which surely were placed there by underpaid mattress designers to take subtle revenge on poor unsuspecting sleepers. I understand that some people think these designs are quaint when they are settled in snug antique country inns and old English Castles. However once forced to sleep on them for any length of time, often one night is enough, the notion of quaint soon evaporates. I was sure these things had gone the way of the dinosaur but they still rear their ugly head, in England at least. Spare a sympathetic thought for those poor English who having no idea that better mattresses do exist in the world continue to wrestle with these hideous objects.
Buttons and their high tech plastic counterparts are found on the more expensive softer mattresses. It seems that they find it impossible to hold down the padding in any way if these objects are not used. The things look rather like the giant old feather beds you see in the historic houses (well now we know where they get them don’t we). These things are hideously soft since the ones without the padding are soft to begin with, and putting more padding on an already springy construction just makes matters worse. If you have a bad back and get offered one of these things RUN!
When shopping for a mattress here in the US I am used to seeing those nice ‘construction’ models that the salespeople love to use. You know the cutaway ones with the spring and all the padding on top to show how the mattress is constructed and what quality it is. These are unheard of in England. True I did find one demo spring in one shop but it was only the spring piece there was no information at all about how the mattress was constructed. They don’t go in for brochures either. When I asked the salesmen about a different make of bed and what its construction was like he promptly picked up the demo from the other company and told me they were all like that. When I asked about the construction of the stuff on the top of the spring he looked blank (as did every other salesperson I asked). There is no ‘construction’ in most cases, you can feel the springs when you lie on the mattress.
The Brands that I found familiar to the US were Sealy and Simmons Beautyrest. However Beautyrests are sold under a different brand name there, but they do say 'Beautyrest' on the literature which the shops have (which does not show the mattress construction, just pretty pictures of the tops of all the mattresses they make there) but the brand name on the mattress is quite different. This of course makes it very confusing for the buyers there and only a little bit less for those of us who know about the Beautyrest mattresses in the States. I pounced thinking this was something I knew about but the Beautyrests there are nothing like the ones here. There is no side support to the mattress and every one is covered with something that looks like cotton ticking. Again there is little padding over the spring structure (for which a model was present in one store) and I don’t think them in any way suitable for a bad back as the body sinks right in like quicksand. The Sealy’s were the same: simple spring construction and much softer than here even the ‘very firm’ model. Most were just springs covered with some material and almost all of them sported those lovely buttons that I spoke about earlier. I find it amazing that the same company can produce such different products in two similar markets.
Oh and price. These no padded weak springed items were of a comparable price with some of the most expensive mattresses to be had in the US today!
Most of the mattresses in the stores were for order only, they do not keep much stock unless you go to a very large city. The stores show only one size and allow you to choose from that then wait six to eight weeks for delivery! Harder beds are available but they have to be special ordered and are not available on display in any store. My mother (who lives in England) bought such a bed on the suggestion of her back doctor and until it arrived they had no idea what it would be like. It's hard! No doubt sleeping on a quarry stone would be as good. I can get a reasonable nights sleep on it if I put a comforter on top of the mattress and sleep on that, it's far better than anything available in the stores. These kinds of mattress are not likely to be available in any of the hotels as they are very expensive for what they are even by our standards, plus even they don’t give a great nights sleep. I believe that if you lived there and were persistent you could eventually find something that would be suitable but it would be a long uphill struggle.
The sad conclusion from this research is that unless the hotel chain or company requests a special make of mattress there is very little if anything available of good quality by our standards to put in their hotel rooms. If you think the hotel is skimping on the bed because its soft and saggy remember that’s what the mattresses in the store are like. Due to the nature of the soft spring the things creak and sag very quickly producing a very unpleasant nights sleep in all. I have stayed in hotels that have reasonable beds but care must be taken to check the room before booking in. A hotel that you used two years ago may still have the same mattresses new then but now two or more years old, which is a lot of use for such a flimsy spring construction so they are usually very soft and unsupportive. Be very careful and be prepared to have to deal with many uncomfortable nights sleep if you want to travel outside the big cities.
