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If you’ve ever heard people discuss Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work, you may have heard him described as an “actor’s actor.” Thanks to my delusions of grandeur and general desire to be closer to the late great star, I like to describe myself in similar terms as an adult’s adult. I own my own home, I have already had malfunctioning parts of my body replaced by metal versions, and I am not opposed to having long, tedious conversations about traffic or inflation at an otherwise enjoyable gathering of friends. However, there has been one major oversight in terms of my adultness: my bed.
Since the age of about 19, I had been sleeping on what may be the most embarrassing — and uncomfortable — type of bed possible: a storage futon I inherited from my older brother. Lumpy, dusty, likely the site of untold horrors I cannot even bear to imagine, and perhaps most importantly, the most uncomfortable thing I have ever tried to rest on. So when I was offered an opportunity to try the Purple RestorePlus Hybrid Mattress, I jumped at the chance to leave behind the pile of sawdust and horsehair (I presume) I had been sleeping on for so many years. But is a $2900 mattress really worth it? Will it keep you cool, keep your back comfortable, and help you get a better night’s sleep? This is a story on the internet with all of the component parts you would expect from such a thing, so I’m going to answer those questions in 3, 2, 1…
What sets the RestorePlus Hybrid Mattress apart from the competition?
First, we’re going to talk mattress specs. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules. I placed my order for the Purple RestorePlus Hybrid Mattress in firm because I wanted something that would give me plenty of support while sleeping without being too hard. I’d felt samples of the Purple GelFlex Grid — the material under the mattress’ fabric cover — in the past and was relatively certain it would neither bruise me like sleeping on a stack of bricks nor cause me to sink down into it and potentially suffocate, like that recurring nightmare I have about being trapped in a vat of molasses. In addition to being comfortable and adequately firm for my liking, the GelFlex Grid has yet another benefit: the brand reports that it keeps people between two and four times as cool as its mattress competitors.
As someone who shares this bed with my boyfriend, whose body temperature could best be described as “like sticking your hand into a crackling fire,” a cooling component to our shared mattress seemed to fall somewhere between a good idea and a medical necessity. However, as a perpetually freezing person who likes to sleep in a freezing room with too many blankets (three thick comforters and a faux fur throw, to be exact), I found that the GelFlex Grid didn’t keep me too cool or have an unpleasant, cold-to-the-touch feel to it. Instead, it seems to largely eliminate hot spots during sleep — you know, the perpetual “I need to turn this pillow over a million times” feeling but in XL format. The GelFlex Grid is supported by layers of Edge Support Foam and Ultra Comfort Foam, under which is a layer of coils running from edge to edge, giving it a comfortably supportive feel but not a “why would someone make a bed out of 2 x 4s” one.
The mattress is topped with a Softflex cover, which purports to have an antimicrobial effect, but as more of a recreational sleeper and less of a mattress scientist, I can’t personally comment on the microbes or lack thereof in my bed. What I can say is that the cover is incredibly soft to the touch and has a distinctly different feel to it than the outer layers on mattresses I was previously used to; this one feels more like a really soft, thin blanket than a deconstructed pillow. And I’m not sure why this is the case, exactly — again, not a mattress scientist, just a being horizontal enthusiast! — but despite the softness and smoothness of the mattress’ exterior layer, it doesn’t make my sheets slip off the way others have.
Can I set up this bad boy alone?
Do you even lift, bro? No, seriously, I’m asking. Because if you don’t, I would highly recommend getting a friend or a team of strongmen from a 1920s circus to help you, because this mattress is a heavy lift. Before it’s unpacked, the mattress comes rolled up in a tall box that makes it appear lighter than it ends up being, but it’s not going to be a good fit for anyone who’s been skipping leg day. Or arm day. Or core day. With the queen-sized mattress weighing in at 154 pounds and, you know, being the size of a large mattress, it definitely wasn’t something I could have moved or positioned solo. I needed the help of someone admittedly much stronger than I am (and without comical baby hands) to get it into place.
So, how’d I sleep?
Of course, listing the tactile sensations someone gets from a mattress is more the stuff of an ASMR video (or corner of the internet I don’t typically discuss in polite company) than a mattress review, so I’ll cut to the good part now. The main question you probably came here for is: Is the Purple RestorePlus Hybrid worth it? And I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that it is, in fact, one of the finest sleeping experiences I’ve had to date, and I mean that honestly (just as I honestly mean that I will challenge the makers of my former futon to a duel in the streets if I ever see them in public). In addition to the GelFlex Grid that has ensured I’m not too cold during the night and has, at the same time, kept my bed companion from accidentally self-immolating, one of the things I like most about this mattress is how little it shifts when another person moves on it during the night. For some context, my partner is approximately a foot taller than I am and moves around in the night as though they’re perpetually mid-exorcism, while I would rather swallow a handful of glass than get out of bed for any reason short of my home being on fire.
And fortunately, in this bed, I don’t even notice the 3 AM contortions going on beside me and don’t wake up in anything resembling a murderous rage, but rather feel as well-rested as anyone living in the year 2023 can. The RestorePlus is just one part of the Purple Premium Collection, which just launched earlier this year, so even if you don’t want to follow suit and snag a RestorePlus for yourself, the other two mattresses in the line may be up your alley — especially now that they’re up to $350 off right now. Sweet dreams!
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