Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The W Bed review update: It kinda sucks


We're throwing out the bed we bought for the dealpad. Read the original dealpad review. It's The W Bed Queen Plush Top Mattress.

This was a bargain at $627 shipped, but after being on it for 6 months (really more like 3 months, since I split time between NY and Huntsville), I've found that it's gotten softer and that it's slightly concave in the middle. Kari has always had a bad back, and this bed is waaaay too soft for her.

We're replacing it with the Sonno Mattress (in Medium Queen) from DWR. It costs $1,000 more ... ouch ... but the bed does wonders for Kari's back. I don't like it as much as Kari, but I don't hate it. And I've got to admit it's good for my back when I lie on my back. (However, it can make my shoulders sore when sleeping on my sides.) Despite that high cost, it's cheaper than the competing products from Tempur-Pedic. This is our second Sonno; the first is still in Huntsville and is just fine after a year of use. Kari had asked for one in NY, I looked at the deal on The W bed and said, C'mon, let's try it. Well, if I hadn't cheaped out on the bed the first time around, I'd have been better off. Kari 1, Dan 0.

Jeff Contray, dealnews' Managing Editor, has owned the same W bed for about the same amount of time. Said Jeff, "I don't know that I'm very happy with it." He and I agree that this bed doesn't have the same feel as the beds in actual W Hotels. Surely those beds don't start to suck in 6 months.

7 comments:

Mark said...

You say this in your first review " I can vouch that this bed (1) feels just as good as the hotel's beds..." and then "...I agree that this bed doesn't have the same feel as the beds in actual W Hotels." in your second review... I can understand that the mattress might not have held up well and or that later you or your wife decide it's too soft, but saying "you can vouch..." and then taking back what you say... though I appreciate your honesty and love the dealnews.com site I feel I can't trust your reviews or recommendations or your judgement on if something is a "good deal" because as I'm sure you know, cheaper now is not always cheaper in the long run. On the other hand your site is not a review site... so you may want to consider stopping to review items... as I remember your couch purchase was also not a very satisfying one for yourself according to your "review"... just my thoughts. Now that I think about it you weren't even totally happy with your tv purchase, it as scratched up or something. So what have you purchased and been pleased with? :-)

dealguy said...

For the record, I love most of the items I've bought! And despite the scratches, the refurb TV purchase has held up exceptionally well. Although I may have to upgrade to 120Hz sometime this year ...

chitown said...

Dan,

The Plush bed is not as comfortable as the pillowtop which is more likely to be used in the Westin & W Hotels. Also, it is important to get a good matress pad as this adds extra support on the bed. I personally like the Regency mattress pad(which you can google).

What people need to know is that the bed to buy is the W Hotel Pillowtop bed which is the same bed as the Westin Heavenly Bed(and actually is a Simmons Beautyrest Classic). this bed is sold at Nordstrom's. See this page:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6006651/0~2377475~6003903~6006651?origin=srcontent

Also, it important to turn or rotate your bed every 2-3 months from the top to bottom, and then bottom to top so it wears evenly.

chitown said...

Dan,

The Plush bed is not as comfortable as the pillowtop which is more likely to be used in the Westin & W Hotels. Also, it is important to get a good matress pad as this adds extra support on the bed. I personally like the Regency mattress pad(which you can google).

What people need to know is that the bed to buy is the W Hotel Pillowtop bed which is the same bed as the Westin Heavenly Bed(and actually is a Simmons Beautyrest Classic). this bed is sold at Nordstrom's. See this page:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6006651/0~2377475~6003903~6006651?origin=srcontent

Also, it important to turn or rotate your bed every 2-3 months from the top to bottom, and then bottom to top so it wears evenly.

chitown said...

Dan,

The Plush bed is not as comfortable as the pillowtop which is more likely to be used in the Westin & W Hotels. Also, it is important to get a good matress pad as this adds extra support on the bed. I personally like the Regency mattress pad(which you can google).

What people need to know is that the bed to buy is the W Hotel Pillowtop bed which is the same bed as the Westin Heavenly Bed(and actually is a Simmons Beautyrest Classic). this bed is sold at Nordstrom's. See this page:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6006651/0~2377475~6003903~6006651?origin=srcontent

Also, it important to turn or rotate your bed every 2-3 months from the top to bottom, and then bottom to top so it wears evenly.

Unknown said...

The same thing happened to my W Hotel bed -- it became concave in the middle and way to soft. As a result, I am throwing it out.

Unknown said...

Well, it was the exact opposite for me. I purchased the DWR Sonno mattress two years ago, after trying it out numerous times in the store. Got it home and it was fine for about 6 months and then I started having really bad lower back pain. I complained about it to DWR's customer service and they agreed to swap it out. After two months on the new one, I was again, in agony.

I just bought the Simmons version of the W Pillowtop bed and I think it's great. I noticed that my platform bed has about 4" of space between the slats. The guy at the mattress store recommended getting some thin board cut to fit to provide a more stable surface. Makes a world of difference.