Princess Diana had one. George Michael had one. All 350 first-class cabins (and 39 suites) on the Titanic had one. You'll find a Vispring mattress in high-end hotels, from the Dorchester to the Beverley Hills Hotel, as well as the homes of elite athletes, A-List actors, and members of the nobility.
Vispring invented and perfected the pocket-sprung system for pressure relief. Since 1901, they've been making natural, non-toxic mattresses in all shapes and sizes. If you're prepared to pay for it, Vispring will make you a mattress with cut-out corners to fit around a four poster, curved ends for a French bed, or slanted edges to fit into nooks and crannies in yachts or private jets.
As H&G's resident Sleep Editor, I've traveled the world to see how a mattress is made. I've visited a vertical manufacturing facility in Glendale, Arizona, and a small family-run factory in Köping, Sweden. Today, I'm heading to London, England, to visit the Vispring mattress showroom and try the best luxury mattress for myself.
My visit to the Vispring mattress showroom
Before we begin, a quick disclaimer concerning costs. You'll read some reports that a Vispring mattress costs $10,000: no, $50,000: even as much as $100,000. The truth is that the price of a Vispring mattress depends on the exact model and size you select. For the most up-to-date information on pricing, I suggest you request a Vispring brochure.
I asked Andrew Soule, Showroom Manager at the Vispring Flagship Store, to tell me what makes a Vispring mattress so special. According to Andrew, it's what's on the inside that counts. Inside each Vispring mattress, you'll find hundreds of springs, arranged in a pocket spring system. Each spring is wrapped in fabric and individually pocketed, so when you apply pressure to one spring, the others aren't affected. This minimizes motion transfer (good news for couples and light sleepers) and provides pressure relief for aches and pains.
Depending on the mattress model, you might find one, two, or three layers of springs inside a Vispring mattress. Whether other mattress brands buy their springs from wholesale suppliers, Vispring makes their own at their factory in Plymouth. That's where bespoke mattresses are made, using no fewer than 74 spring types and 9 wire gauges to create a soft, medium, firm, or extra-firm feel. If you share a bed with someone who prefers a different mattress firmness, you can commission a dual-firmness mattress: soft and medium; medium and firm; or firm and extra-firm. Remember, there's a difference between US and UK beds: British beds tend to feel firmer and their size system is a little confusing.
Surrounding the springs, you'll find 100% British wool. Andrew estimates that Vispring uses four full sheep fleeces per mattress. Wool makes a great thermoregulator, so it's good for hot sleepers, especially those who suffer from night sweats. According to the Woolroom Clean Sleep Report, organic wool is naturally moisture-wicking, able to absorb up to 33% of its weight in water (or sweat) to keep your body and your bed clean and dry.
Vispring only uses natural, non-toxic materials for deep, clean sleep. Andrew explains that horsetail adds a million more springs, enhancing bounce and making it easier to get into and out of bed. Bamboo adds strength and Turkish cotton adds sheen to the mattress cover, while hypoallergenic silk feels luxurious and soft on your skin. Vicuña wool adds warmth, while mohair and cashmere add a touch of luxury. No fiberglass or chemical treatments, here: Vispring uses M-Pure, made with biologically-based ingredients, as a natural fire retardant.
As H&G's resident Sleep Editor, I'm often asked: 'what is the best mattress firmness?' My answer varies depending on a whole host of factors: how much you weigh; how you tend to lie on the bed; whether you suffer from aches and pains. Over the past two decades in the luxury mattress industry, Andrew says he knows just how firm a mattress should feel.
'The ideal mattress firmness is one that lets you slide your hand under the hollow of your back with just a bit of resistance, says Andrew: 'not too easily, but not completely blocked, either. This balance helps keep your spine properly aligned, relieving pressure points and preventing sagging. It also ensures that the mattress contours to your back's natural curves without feeling overly soft or uncomfortably firm.'
Andrew says that 'people often mistake firmness for support. A soft mattress can be supportive, as long as it contours to your shape and follows your natural curves. Perfect support is when your spine is straight and your entire body is evenly supported. If your mattress is too soft, then your spine will bow downwards, creating pressure around the hips. Too firm, and your spine will bow upwards, causing pressure around the shoulders and knees.'
For the full Vispring experience, you should set your mattress on a branded divan: a special sort of bed frame, founded on pocket springs, set within a timber frame, and finished with coir, cotton, horsehair, and wool. If you like, you can even supply your own fabric for the headboard, as long as it passes Vispring's fire tests.
A Vispring bed is truly bespoke: you can choose whether to incorporate drawers into the bed base, how high or low to set the legs on the divan, what pattern or print to put on the headboard. 'We can make divans in four sections to negotiate narrow or spiral staircases,' says Andrew: no request is too big or too small. I ask Andrew whether shoppers ever feel spoiled for choice, and he nods: that's why it's so important to visit a showroom and get the expert insights of a Vispring employee, he says.
As a matter of fact, you can't buy a Vispring mattress online: you need to visit a mattress showroom, so that you can try each mattress firmness in turn and work out which feels best for you. Within moments of my walking through the door, Andrew had assessed my height and weight to recommend me a soft mattress.
If you follow the weight guide advice you receive in-store, you should end up with the right mattress tension. If you decide to pick a different tension, and regret that decision within the first 90 days of use, you can switch to something softer: that's the Vispring comfort promise.
'We don't sell people what they want, we sell them what they need,' says Andrew. 'A Vispring mattress is a major investment, so you want to get it right the first time.' I ask Andrew how to test a mattress, the Vispring way. He asks prospective shoppers to try each mattress for at least 10 minutes. If you're feeling shy on the shop floor, you can retreat downstairs to a discreet second showroom (the 'Secret Wardrobe') with dim lighting and cozy blankets. Andrew recommends you lie on the mattress properly in the position you normally sleep in. Don't perch on the side or press your hand against the surface and expect to get a good feel for the mattress.
Is a Vispring mattress worth it?
Vispring's most expensive mattress, the Diamond Majesty, retails for around $100,000 for a Queen. Even if I had all the money in the world, I wouldn't buy it − because I personally felt more comfortable on the Regal Superb, which goes for more like $10,000. If I slept on a Regal Superb mattress every night for seven years (the average lifespan of a mattress, but likely a Vispring would last far beyond that), that works out to $4 a day. Some people spend more on their morning coffee.
When you're buying a mattress, it's less about the size of the investment and more about how long that investment will last. Vispring offers a 30-year mattress warranty, whereas the industry standard is more like 10 years. Andrew tells me that most customers return after 20 years, but some Vispring mattresses are much older. I heard about Vispring customers who sleep in the same bed for 30, 40, 50 years, hoping to pass down their mattress to their children or grandchildren. If you can find the right tension, I think a Vispring mattress is a worthy investment.
