Confession: For the majority of my adult life thus far, I’ve only slept on used mattresses.
After graduating from college — where I slumbered (and studied, and binge-watched Netflix DVDs back when that was a thing) on NYU’s twin XL beds of dubious provenance — I moved into my first real apartment with a roommate and upgraded to a full-size mattress I found on Craigslist.
This was, to be clear, before the Great NYC Bedbug Scare of 2010. Still, looking back, I realize it probably wasn’t the best idea to buy a pre-owned bed from a complete stranger, nor for my sister and I to ride in the back of the unmarked white truck my “man with a van” (also found via Craiglist, of course) used to transport the bed to its new home.
That secondhand mattress served me well for the following decade and a half. But recently, my husband — who’d gamely been sharing it with me for most of that period — gently suggested we consider investing in a queen bed long enough for our taller-than-average selves to stretch out without our toes winding up pressed against the footboard.
And so began my research. The polar opposite of an impulse shopper, I like to exhaustively cross-compare reviews across multiple websites before pulling the trigger on any big-ticket purchase — so you’d better believe I was going to put in the work for something I’d spend at least eight hours per day using for at least the next decade.
And the more I read, the more I kept noticing the rave reviews for the Saatva Classic, which has topped multiple roundups of the best mattresses on the market across the internet.
Saatva Classic Mattress
The crown jewel and most popular of Saatva’s offerings, this luxury innerspring mattress is available in sizes ranging from twin to California king. It also comes in two heights and three different comfort levels: Plush Soft (ideal for side sleepers and those into super-soft beds), Luxury Firm (the most popular pick) and Firm (great for stomach and back sleepers, or others in need of an extra-firm mattress). If you’re in the market for a king or California king, there’s also the option to split your mattress between two different firmnesses.
The Saatva Classic combines two layers of supportive yet bouncy steel coils with a pressure-relieving memory foam layer; it’s topped off with a plush 3-inch pillow top for cushioned comfort.
Unlike bed-in-a-box mattresses, it’s made to order and comes with free white glove delivery. The Saatva Classic’s also backed by a 365-day home trial period — so you can test it out for a whole year, and either return or exchange it for a $99 fee if you’re not entirely satisfied — along with a lifetime warranty.
Our review
Pros:
- Comfortable for all sleepers of all kinds
- The right balance of soft and supportive
- Easy delivery and installation
- Comes with a 365-day home trial period and a lifetime warranty
Cons:
- Pricier than some mattresses on the market
- Some may not like the divots in the pillow top
From the get-go, I knew choosing the right firmness level for our new mattress would be challenging.
I prefer a more pillowy, hotel-style sleep experience, while my husband swears he can’t sleep on anything but the firmest of mattresses. Since I didn’t want to blindly order a bed either of us might not end up loving, we decided to try out all the options in person at Saatva’s Flatiron store in NYC and struck a surprisingly easy compromise on the Luxury Firm. It makes perfect sense that it’s the most popular of the three comfort levels; it seemed cushy and cloudlike enough for my needs, yet sturdy and supportive enough for his.
Every Saatva mattress is made to order, so production on ours took a little over a week from start to finish, and then we arranged delivery for about two weeks later. The process was effortless, with Saatva’s team installing our new mattress and hauling away our old one in minutes.
While it took a minute to get used to the height of our Saatva (we opted for the 14.5-inch model), it turns out it’s actually more comfortable for two tall people to get in and out of bed when it’s a bit higher off the floor. Who knew?!
More importantly, after years of using our old mattress, sleeping on our Saatva is quite literally a night and day difference. Not only does it fit both of us and our cat with room to spare both width- and length-wise, but it truly feels like slumbering atop a cloud.
And while I’d long assumed waking up with mystery aches and pains was just part of being in one’s late 30s, I haven’t hopped out of bed with a sore neck or achy back in the months since receiving my mattress.
While I detected no issues with our Saatva from the start, my husband didn’t love the divots in the plush pillow top, so he ordered an inexpensive mattress pad on Amazon to pop on top. This fixed the issue for him, and I didn’t feel much of a difference one way or the other.
The bottom line
If you’re in the market for a new mattress, I’d wholeheartedly recommend the Saatva Classic. With a full range of size options and three different firmness levels from which to choose, you’re sure to find one that suits your sleep style — even if you and your partner differ on that front, as my husband and I do. Like any luxury mattress, it’s an investment, but the high quality and customer service justify the expense.
I’ve always been someone who aggressively loves sleep, but thanks to my Saatva, bedtime now truly feels like a treat.
How we tested
I’ve spent the past four months sleeping on the Saatva Classic, keeping the following criteria top of mind to ensure a truly comprehensive review:
- Comfort: Obviously, this one’s a key factor when evaluating any mattress. Over the course of my testing, I noted how the mattress felt when I climbed into bed each night — and how I felt upon waking every morning.
- Support: I kept different sleeping styles in mind while putting together this review. It helped that my husband and I are both combination sleepers; we primarily sleep on our backs, but occasionally snooze or our sides or stomachs too.
- Customer service: How seamless was the process of ordering the mattress and scheduling its delivery? I found Saatva to be communicative and accommodating throughout, even when our apartment building’s finicky co-op board made last-minute changes to the insurance document required for delivery.
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