The Nectar Luxe Memory Foam mattress is one of Nectar’s most premium mattress models, beneath the Ultra but above the Classic and the Premier. Made from 3 layers of dense, high-quality memory foam and standing at 14” tall, it certainly has an indulgent look and feel. But does it remain supportive? We tested it to find out.
Type: All-foam
Firmness (1-10): 6.5
Height: 14"
Trial period: 365 nights
Warranty: Lifetime
Sale price: From $999 at Nectar
It may come as no surprise with Nectar featuring in this year’s best mattress guide for all sleepers, but our lead tester was impressed, and so was our testing panel. Not only did our tester feel immense pressure relief around her hips, as a side sleeper, but the mattress also maintained proper spine alignment and supported the lumbar spine, despite having a plush feel.
We test mattresses for a long period of time to fully review their performance, so while we’ll be working on a Nectar Luxe full review, for now, we’ll document our first impressions.
So far, the Nectar Luxe has performed well. It’s likely to suit many types of sleepers thanks to the medium-firm support, but it excels in support for side sleepers. And we wouldn’t expect anything less as this mattress verges into the premium price range, even with the evergreen 50% off discount, with a queen size usually costing $1,249.
However, with the Black Friday mattress deals you can take an extra $100 off when you spend over $1,000, bringing a queen down to $1,149. Our testers think this larger price tag is worth every penny. Here’s why.
Nectar Luxe mattress: Price
- Sits just above mid-range price with a queen usually selling for $1,249
- Evergreen sale of 50% off MSRP which can increase around major holidays usually with an extra $100 off
- Available in a large range of sizes
The MSRP of a queen size Nectar Luxe is $3,424, but the Nectar mattress sales bring this price down to $1,249 for most of the year. When considering the mattress market, the Nectar Luxe falls into an upper mid-range to premium price bracket after sales.
Before the evergreen 50% off, it’s definitely a premium purchase. Below are the MSRPs for each size, as well as what they’re usually sold for in the sales:
- Twin MSRP: $1,696 (normally sold at $999)
- Twin XL MSRP: $2,924 (normally sold at $1,099)
- Full MSRP: $2,266 (normally sold at $1,199)
- Queen MSRP: $2,424 (normally sold at $1,249)
- King/Cal King MSRP: $3,997 (normally sold at $1,499)
- Split King MSRP: $5,848 (normally sold at $2,198)
The Nectar Black Friday sales are currently offering an extra $100 off when you spend over $1,000, meaning you can expect every price above (apart from the Twin size) to be further reduced by $100.
We don’t expect to see this price drop any lower and we also don’t expect the extra $100 off to last much longer. Although you can expect Nectar to partake in major sales events throughout the year.
Nectar Luxe mattress: Design
- 14” memory foam mattress
- Simple 3-layer design
- Including 3” of pressure-relieving foam
The Nectar Luxe is made from three layers of memory foam, as well as a cooling top cover and durable bottom cover. The cover is a super soft cool-to-touch, breathable fabric with an antimicrobial treatment to keep the mattress fresher for longer.
Below this is a 3” layer of pressure relieving foam that cushions your joints and body in almost any sleeping position. And underneath this is 3” of responsive support foam that’s designed to keep you on top of the mattress with your spine properly aligned, rather than sinking too far into it.
Responsible for the exceptional motion isolation is the 8” layer of foundational foam, also designed to provide solid edge support. This thick layer increases the stability of the mattress and prevents motion from transferring across the bed, making the mattress an ideal option for couples. These layers combine to form an impressive 14” tall bed with an indulgent, luxury feel.
This design is similar to the brand's other models. However the Nectar Classic only stands at 12" tall, reducing the amount of pressure relief it can provide with just a 1" layer of pressure relieving foam. To find out more about this budget mattress, read our Nectar Classic mattress review.
Similarly, the Nectar Premier offers 60% more cooling fibres than the Classic and double the pressure relief, standing at 13" tall with a 2" pressure relieving layer. If you want to opt for even more pressure relief than the Nectar Luxe, you can opt for the Nectar Ultra standing at an impressive 15" with 4" of pressure relieving foam.
It's also important to note that each one of these mattresses are available as a hybrid mattress, combining these foam layers with a layer of 8" individually wrapped coils. We think the Nectar Luxe is the perfect middle ground out of all the models for an indulgent feel at a decent price.
Nectar Luxe mattress: Comfort and Pressure relief
- A 6.5/10 medium-firm feel
- Superb pressure relief for side sleepers
- Might be too soft for heavy back sleepers and stomach sleepers
Nectar rates the Luxe as a perfect medium-firm feel, sitting at 6.5/10 on the firmness scale. This is designed to offer a little sink-in softness while keeping the body and spine aligned throughout the night. Our testers agreed with Nectar on the firmness level, reporting that the feel allowed the mattress to contour to the body, letting pressure points sink slightly in, while keeping the rest of the body on top of the mattress.
Our lead tester is a side sleeper, and they found it incredibly comfortable. The pressure relieving comfort layers cushioned the shoulders and hips, while they felt the support layers keep the spine supported. Our lead tester also doesn’t enjoy the hugging feel of memory foam but they didn’t find this a problem with the Nectar Luxe.
The surface was supportive enough to stay sleeping on top of the mattress throughout the night, rather than sinking into it. Despite not being a natural back sleeper, she was also pleasantly surprised at the contouring feel around the lumbar that made it both supportive and comfortable.
Our tester regularly tosses and turns during the night, but she reported finding the Luxe so comfortable and cradling that she settled into one position and slept deeply the whole night.
In fact, for the full 3 weeks of testing she has slept far more deeply than she ever has before. Another member of the Tom's Guide testing panel, Eve Davies, agreed, saying "As a side sleeper, I found the Nectar Luxe mattress exceptionally comfortable. Its memory foam contours the hips and shoulders well and my spine felt supported."
Our panel of testers also felt supported while back sleeping, but heavier sleepers may find themselves sinking too far into the mattress to feel this support. We did find that it was too soft for stomach sleeping, with the stomach and chest sinking too far into the mattress compared to the neck and head, causing strain on both the neck and back. Although our mid-weight mattress tester reported that it felt comfortable in all sleeping positions and the soft surface made it easy to switch between positions.
It's worth noting that a similarly-priced competitor, the DreamCloud Premier Rest is made with 5 layers of responsive gel foam. With a price tag of $1,299 it's only slightly more expensive than the Nectar Luxe, and we would expect it to deliver even more pressure relief and comfort.
Nectar Luxe mattress: Performance
For a comprehensive hands-on review, we test the mattress’s performance using our mattress methodology. This includes assessing edge support, motion isolation, temperature regulation, and set up.
Edge support
Good edge support can make all the difference for people who share their beds or for those who need extra stability getting in and out of bed. The edge support is impressive in this all-foam mattress, thanks to the 8” of foundational foam.
We found sitting on the edge of the bed extremely stable, and our lead tester reported being able to sleep comfortably right up to the perimeter of the mattress, making it feel bigger for her and her partner. To objectively measure this, we placed a 52lbs weight on the perimeter of the mattress near the centre and then in the corner to measure how much it sank.
In the middle of the mattress, on the edge, we recorded around a 3” sinkage, which is a little more than we would expect for a medium-firm mattress. However, when placed in the centre of the mattress, not on the edge, it sunk just as much, showing that in fact the edge support was just as good as the rest of the mattress.
When the weight was placed in the corner, the mattress did collapse under it. The weight often rolled off, due to excess sinkage of over 4”. Eve Davies, Mattress Tester and Sleep Writer for Tom's Guide, said "Edge support is strong along the mattress’ sides, but could be more sturdy at the foot of the bed." So sleepers might want to avoid placing their weight on the corners as they get ready for the day.
Motion isolation
Under both subjective and objective tests, the Nectar Luxe performed exceptionally well for motion isolation. This refers to the level of movement or motion transferred from one side of the bed to another. It's an important consideration especially if you share your bed with a partner, co sleep with kids, or even share your mattress with pets.
Our objective tests involve placing an empty wine glass on the surface of the mattress and dropping a 10lbs weight 25 inches away from it from different heights. This replicates a partner tossing and turning during the night, or climbing into bed.
For all three different heights: 4”, 8”, and 12”, the wine glass wobbled only slightly. Even as we climbed over the bed to reposition the weight, our own movements didn’t impact the glass at all, and it stayed standing, barely moving at all. This shows that almost all of the motion was absorbed, indicating that bed sharers won't be disturbed by each other's movements.
Our lead tester shares her bed with her husband who has a different sleep schedule and pattern, often entering the bed after she has fallen asleep. While previously, on a spring bed, this movement has always woken her, when sleeping on the Nectar Luxe she wasn’t woken once by her partner’s movements. In fact, she reported sleeping solidly throughout the night, barely aware of sharing the bed with anyone.
Temperature regulation
Despite the cool-to-touch cover, which our testers found didn’t feel as cold other cool-touch fabrics they had felt, this mattress didn’t perform well for temperature regulation.
Our lead tester slept on this mattress with her partner, who sleeps hot, in late fall in the UK, with temperatures regularly dropping below 40F. They hadn’t turned the heating on and sleep next to draughty, single glaze windows.
Despite this, they still woke up hot and sweaty in the morning. For our tester, this is unheard of as she usually sleeps cool. Unfortunately, the 14” of dense memory foam traps heat and the structure allows minimal airflow. It’s definitely not one of the best cooling mattresses we’ve tried.
Set up
Nectar makes some of the best mattresses in a box. The Luxe comes vacuum packed and practically boxed for easy delivery and set up. Nectar advises it takes 24-72 hours to expand.
The mattress is thick and heavy, and this can make it a little cumbersome to manoeuvre around your bedroom. But if you simply lay the rolled mattress on your bed frame and use scissors to cut the plastic away, it will start expanding quickly and you shouldn’t have to move it.
Nectar Luxe mattress: User reviews
At the time of writing, the Nectar Luxe has 2,547 reviews, averaging at 4.4 stars out of 5. You can sort these reviews by age, size, sleep style and temperature of the sleeper. You can also choose whether to view reviews with media or not.
Other full reviews by mattress testers have praised the motion isolation, recommending the bed for couples. However, a common trend in the reviews is that it's just too plush for heavier weight sleepers.
Most customer reviews at Nectar state how comfortable the mattress is, especially for joint and hip pain, thanks to the pressure relief. Reviews from third-party retailers like Mattress Firm praise the cozy feel as well as the perfect balance of a firm and soft feel.
However some critics echo our tester’s worries about sleeping hot, saying opting for a specialist cooling mattress will be more suitable for those who experience hot flashes. In general, most reviews are pleased with the durability of the mattresses, reporting that the dense memory foam feels high quality and long-lasting.
Nectar Luxe mattress: Should you buy?
Buy the Nectar Luxe if…
✅You’re a side sleeper: The medium-firm feel and cushioning support makes side sleeping incredibly comfortable.
✅You have hip pain: The extra pressure relief and cradling feel means those experiencing hip pain will feel comfortable at night.
✅You share your bed: Excellent motion isolation and edge support make this bed ideal for couples or those sharing a bed with children or pets.
Don’t buy the Nectar Luxe if…
❌You sleep on your stomach: The surface sinks too much to adequately support stomach sleepers.
❌You’re a heavier weight sleeper: The medium-firm feel and slight sinkage means heavier sleepers may not stay on top of the mattress, meaning their spines may not be aligned.
❌You sleep hot: The 14” of dense memory foam traps heat, so if you naturally sleep hot, opt for a cooler structured mattress.
The bottom line
The Nectar Luxe mattress is an indulgent, luxury feeling mattress. It performs highly across the board for edge support, motion isolation, and pressure relief. But where this mattress really excels is in its support for side sleepers. Heavier sleepers and stomach sleepers will want to opt for a firmer mattress, and if you experience hot flushes or naturally sleep hot, the Nectar Luxe might trap too much heat for you.
