Mattress matters

There are 24 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 316 times. The latest Post (September 12, 2026 at 10:49 AM) was by Rice.

    We just spent most of the day mattress-shopping, since I have been suffering of backaches for years - that magically disappear when I sleep in Italy long enough.

    We had a Springwall resortes (coil) when we were in San Isidro, but 5 years after buying it, it was all wobbly and we had to replace it. I was decided to buy a memory-foam mattress, so we splurged on a Espumeria high density mattress with an unjustified number of foam layers, but it looked like the top of the top. There was a trial period of 30 days, but the mattress "needs time to take your body shape". So I waited, I waited... the 30 days went by, and it was my body who tried to accommodate itself to the mattress. I even bought the expensive pillows that matched the mattress, to no avail. Then I changed the pillows, as the memory foam ones I bought were too firm to sleep in any other position than on my side.

    My husband has no issue with it, so I feel kind of fussy. But my back issues are real and the fact that I have none when I am away, means all the evidence points against the mattress.

    We went at Simmons, and the beautiful Beautyrest Black Soft was a real treat, but at 3800 USD was a little too much, considering there is no return policy.

    We went at La Cardeuse, but none was even close to Simmons. Then we saw a Piero store, and we tried a nice mattress which was 2100 USD. Better than ours in terms of comfort, but the Simmons was in a different league.

    At my mother's, I sleep on a memory foam mattress bought on Amazon Warehouse for 140 USD and it is amazing. So, I wondered if the comfort is all in the pillow top, and therefore any soft foam could have it. We went at Calm, and the hybrid spring-memory foam mattress was 465 USD. To me, it was as comfortable as the Piero that costs 2100 USD.

    Tomorrow, I want to go try another mattress at Calm in Recoleta, which should be even softer. Of course, being September 1st, it means all prices we saw today are yesterday's old news.

    What mattress do you sleep on?

    I also fell in love with this pillow at Simmons, but at 200 USD it seems a little over the top. I am wondering if there is really a marked where just two pillows alone cost like a mattress elsewhere.


    167451-800-auto?v=639004510428500000&width=800&height=auto&aspect=true

    Edited once, last by serafina: Merged a post created by serafina into this post. (September 1, 2026 at 12:29 AM).

    serafina , we, also are talking about a new mattress. Last year, we replaced mattresses in the guest rooms, and I remember how confusing the hunt for a good mattress was. But the decision wasn't as monumental because we ourselves wouldn't be sleeping on the new mattress now and for years.

    I dread starting again. So many possibilities, and many feel good at the moment, but will they feel good in a few years? Some are so deep that they seem to have been inspired by The Princess and the Pea. We would practically need a ladder!

    One factor holding me back is that we have sheets that we love. But they would be useless on a mattress twice as deep as our current one, so I would be thrilled to find a mattress of less than palatial proportions, so we could use the sheets we really like.

    Body-conforming gel? Or individually-wrapped coils? Or a hybrid? And platforms! At least one high-end mattress manufacturer doesn't honor the warranty unless you use their own platform, which is ugly and also costs as much as the mattress itself.

    And pillow top vs symmetrical mattress? With a pillow top, you don't have the option of turning the mattress over: pointless in a gel, perhaps, but still desirable in a coil-style.

    All of this indecision has produced Paralysis by Analysis, and we are no closer to a decision than we were a year ago.

    I think ours is King Koil. I've no idea if that's good or not but we both find it comfortable. The missus is in charge of buying items like that as I haven't a clue. She bought some God awful thing for the apartment in BA which is hard as a brick. We're usually that tired when we stay there it doesn't stop us from sleeping though.

    I have heard good things about King Coil, but I can't find anywhere where to try it. It is sold on ML through resellers. It seems it doesn't sell retail directly.

    Rice I agree... too many choices! If I am comfortable with a cheap memory foam mattress in Italy, do I really need to spend 3800 USD on a Beautyrest Black Soft in Argentina? Besides, I can't even find it on the Beautyrest US website, where I got swamped with mattress models and firmness.


    Mattresses reviews on Mercadolibre are a beast of their own.

    We finally went ahead and purchased a new mattress and also a couple of new pillows. We toured the most renowned stores: La Cardeuse, Piero, Simmons... and the cheapest one, Calm (sort of Ikea of beds, a lot of marketing, budget prices, and great return policy).

    I saw a brand called Viggo with a store in the neighborhood of Constitución. They have a great online website and there was a mattress with bamboo fibers I was curious to try. However, when we arrived there, the store was abandoned, and there was a line of mattresses against the wall, plus cardboards and dust. We called their number and they provided no explanation, saying that they are from Córdoba and couldn't name a place in Buenos Aires where to try their mattresses. Very poor customer service. I am not buying a mattress over the internet without trying it first.

    I was also able to try a King Coil and Sealy from the US at Sommiers Center on Av. Corrientes. None came close to the BeautyRest we tried at Simmons', which we were able to try on three different occasions at different stores.

    Even Clarin featured an article on "La semana del descanso" with promotional prices on mattresses across the stores. It was advertised from Monday, September 1, to Friday, September 4. Therefore, it made sense to make a purchase now.

    I'd like to share my experience with Simmons. They cater the BeautyRest line imported from the US. We first went at the store near Av. Corrientes and Scalabrini Ortiz, which is close to where we live. We were blown away by the quality, but the price tag -$3800 - was a put off. This is where it all started.

    Then we went to a Piero in Balvanera. While we were there, we walked past La Espumeria, La Cardeuse, Springwall and another Simmons. Every Simmons stores takes your phone number and details to provide a cost estimate via a whatsapp link. Since there are so many options (with installments, no installments, free of charge installments), the cost estimate is quite long.

    At the first Simmons we went to, the one Av. Corrientes and Scalabrini Ortiz, we gave my husband's number, while at the Balvanera store we gave my number. Since then, I have been receiving daily text from the seller asking me if I made a decision and to feel free to ask questions if I was unsure about something.

    To nudge #1, the day after our visit, I replied we were still making up our mind.

    Next day, nudge #2, same question. I ignored it.

    On day 3, nudge #3 was urging me to make a purchase because it was the last day of "La semana del descanso". This was yesterday, Friday de 4th, and I had a hellish day at work. I intended to continue our mattress shopping but was free only after 5 PM and I wanted to try the King Coil at Sommiers Center. Therefore, we headed to Av. Medrano, just 8 blocks away and we agreed that those mattresses we tried, all looked more or less the same, and not so big of a change from our current mattress.

    I wanted to give our mattress another chance, so I thought to just buy new pillows (better quality than the cheap ones I bought in 2024). I liked the pillows we tried at Simmons, so I googled the nearest Simmons store and there was one close by, on Av. Medrano and Corrientes. We went there to buy pillows, but the Medrano seller had us try pillows on the BeautyRest Black Soft (again!) and we were impressed (again) about how better than anything else it was.

    It was 7 PM by then, and stores close at 8 PM. Since I was reminded by whatsapp it was the last promotion day, we decided to buy the mattress and the pillows at that store since we were there and there was no more time.

    I felt I was missing the chance to get rid of the insistent nudges by the Balvanera seller. However, there was no time to go back home, take the car, drive across the city during peak hour... when we had the same mattress available for purchase right there.

    Today, I got nudge #4 telling me that - surprise! - they have extended "La semana del descanso" until Sunday 6. Again, "ask me anything/have you make up your mind" nudge. At that point, I thought I could get rid of it by saying that I had already made the purchase.

    The seller asked if I bought it through the website (!!!) and I told her that since I ended working until late, and was pressured to buy it before 8 PM 9/4, I just went to the nearest Simmons store. The nudge ended but I got a message "It's a pity since I had attended you here. It is a pity. All it was needed was a payment link". Is that normal for a seller to be that insisting? I knew a link wouldn't work as none of my cards would allow to spend 3,800 USD out of the blue. I needed a physical card reader and use the card chip to authorize the transaction.

    All Simmons branches offer the same price, which is the same price shown on Simmons' official website and on Mercadolibre. Therefore, there was really no advantage to us to buy in a store or another. The only difference, we were told at the first store, is that if you buy directly from a store, you get free delivery up to your floor (vs. street level with MercadoLibre).

    My husband didn't get bombarded every day from the first Simmons store. I honestly thought I had to block the Balvanera seller's whatsapp number as I started feeling uncomfortable after the 2nd nudge. I even got scolded off for not buying there.

    I have never been a saleswoman and I could never in my life.

    As part of the promo, we are going to get the bed base/frame for free, although we already have one. We will try to sell the free frame to recover part of the cost. The old mattress will also be put up for sale; as well. It is still in good condition, we just upgraded it to something better.
    Our current mattress is currently sold for 1,000 usd new, so I believe we can get at least 300 usd for it. The brand new bases, which are two single bases, are sold new for 1,000,000 pesos. So we think we may get out another few dollars from those, too. This helps mitigating the cost of the new mattress. We also considered how much it would cost us to sleep better per day over an alleged 10-year mattress lifespan to make sweeter swallowing the bitter pill of a high price tag.
    You know I have been struggling with back pain for a while… so I am factoring also money saved in massages/back treatment.

    As one online seller put it, our sleeping comfort standard changes over time, as we get older 👵🏻

    Still, we spent about 100 usd in transaction/conversion fees with card plus bank transfer fees. I hate it that we pay more to spend our dollars here, but it is part of the game.

    Quote from serafina

    Still, we spent about 100 usd in transaction/conversion fees with card plus bank transfer fees. I hate it that we pay more to spend our dollars here, but it is part of the game.

    Sending $3025 to your argentina brokerage will cost $15-$25 depending on your home bank SWIFT fee. But you deduct that cost from your profit after a rapid bond buy/sell. No need to think in pesos. Only for residents.

    This is a Ai simulation using end of Friday rates which is not even as good as the typical midday spread:

    With a 0.5% commission on the AL30C purchase and another 0.5% on the AL30D sale, that gives you:

    • Initial amount: US$3,000
    • Net proceeds: US$3,091.75
    • Net gain: US$91.75
    • Net return: 3.06%

    This uses the rava quoted prices of AL30C = US$53.73 and AL30D = US$55.92,

    We bought at Simmons on Av. Medrano. The model is called BeautyRest Black Soft. None of the place where we went to also sold headboards, Splinter . We went to 100% mattress places. I think headboards are considered furnitures just like drawers and wardrobes.


    aficionado , I am impressed you found a way to make money while spending money! I don't have a brokerage in Argentina, and I'd have a hard time explaining how I can wire myself 3,000 USD from my foreign underclared account, if I understood correctly your formula.

    I spent more than I wanted to know in transaction fees. Here is Claude's calculation:

    Quote

    Using a "clean" reference rate of about 1,528 ARS/USD (dólar MEP midpoint on 4 Sept; the Banco Nación official sell rate is essentially the same at 1,530), here is what each method costs you:

    Card (3,000,000 ARS → 2,095.80 USD)
    Implied rate: 1,431.4 ARS/USD. At the clean rate, 3,000,000 ARS would be 1,963.35 USD, so the card cost you about 132 USD extra, roughly 6.7%.

    Bank transfer (2,646,304.08 ARS → 1,793.66 USD)
    Implied rate: 1,475.3 ARS/USD. At the clean rate, 2,646,304.08 ARS would be 1,731.87 USD, so the bank would cost you about 62 USD extra, roughly 3.6%.

    So the bank's spread is a bit more than half the card's. One caveat: if the card payment happened on an earlier date, the clean rate then was probably a little lower, so the card's real markup may be slightly less than 6.7%, but it's still clearly the more expensive option. If you can buy the pesos via MEP yourself (selling USD bonds/dollars through a broker at ~1,527), the markup drops to a fraction of a percent, which is the cheapest route of all.

    The card should also provide a cash back of roughly $30-35. That said, it is still far from the $62 with Wise bank transfer.

    Of course, my situation is particularly unfortunate. Since when I am in Italy I can only withdraw money from ATMs and in Euros, and the max withdrawal amount per transaction is €500. If. I were able to walk in a bank and get out with $10,000 cash at no fee, it would be a different matter.

    I did a calculation once, and for every €500 I withdraw, I lose about $5 in currency conversion fees (I am using Schwab so there no international withdrawal fee). To withdraw enough money to buy the mattress, it would have required 8 withdrawals or 40 USD. And then I had to convert those Euros to ARS or USD, which would have been another 1-2% lost.

    In retrospective, I should have thought it better which method to use to pay. I wish I had your understanding and expertise on money exchanging, aficionado .

    Quote from serafina

    I don't have a brokerage in Argentina, and I'd have a hard time explaining how I can wire myself 3,000 USD

    You can SWIFT transfer from Schwab to brokerage in Argentina for their $15 flat rate regardless of the amount. The broker does not charge to receive or hold funds idle. But unlike your Argentina bank, the dollars arrive as foreign Cable-Dolars. You must do the bond buy/sell to convert to local dolar that are able to be used in Argentina. Lucky for us this past year, that transaction usually results in a profit as I showed above. I think because there is still more people trying to move their dollars out-of-country than us who want bring them in. The reverse of the famous Blue Chip Swap. You said your mattress was priced in USD so no reason to convert to pesos.

    I believe almost everyone should have a brokerage account in Argentina. It is easier than getting a bank account. All online. It does not cost anything to sit until you are ready to trade. Like the USA brokerage adoption by most people which occurred in the late 90s and 2000s. Argentina, now 20-30 years later, has moved a new wave of people taking their investments into their own hands which is parallel to the easy online access to free brokerage accounts, plus low trading fees. You get direct contact to your assigned sales person to online chat or phone, in English if required, who can perform transactions. After they explained I did everything myself online.

    The banks here are offering many of those same financial instruments, though perhaps because they are losing customers to the brokerages.

    Quote from serafina

    Here is Claude's calculation:

    Using a "clean" reference rate of about 1,528 ARS/USD(dólar MEP midpoint on 4 Sept; the Banco Nación official sell rate is essentially the same at 1,530)

    The problem with using the Banco Nación official sell rate, is that it is not a true market rate. Unfortunately it is still controlled by the government. Within those upper bounds they have defined. No longer a tight 1-2% pegged increase, but still formula-based and, more importantly, inflation-linked; even if the actual rate changes every day the government does influence it.

    To be closer to a real market rate is to be with the buyers and seller of bonds. To get pesos you do similar that I said above, but by selling a different local bond. Example: AL30. That results in getting pesos, and the amount received is what is published as the CCL rate. Some are still confused thinking there is a 24hr parking period between buy/sell but that is not true since the the cepo controls were lifted. Friday you would have had “converted” at approximately 1582 pesos per dolar. The only restriction is you are not allowed if you have also purchased MEP dolars in the past 90 days from the bank.


    The mattress was priced in pesos - I did the conversion in USD for my own math. I also asked if it was possible to make the wire transfer in USD and they looked at me like I was banana. They would have accepted USD cash, though!

    I have ICBC in Argentina - I can see they offer cuenta corrientes (checking) and cuenta de ahorro (savings). Would the brokerage fall under Investments?

    The mattress is here but the two guys who brought it up for 2 floors said it can fit our inner stairs. So guess who is now burdened with the task of trying again to lift a 100 kg up to the bedroom.

    I remember how much effort it was to bring up the old one... which is why I resisted the idea of changing for so long. But his words were "you don't have to worry for anything and you won't have to do anything". Anything my a...!!

    Looks like I'll have to break my back to get a good a rest for my back.

    Well, my poor back was put up to test but the mattress won't pass. So, tomorrow will come a team to see if they can lift it from the balcony up to the terrace, from there walk it onto the roof and down to the bedroom. I really want to kill whoever planned my inner stairs... (he lives across the hall, and has the same issue). Again, poor planning, poor construction. I think my next nervous breakdown is around the corner, and I have been back less than a month!

    Oh my! I hope the second team can figure it out and you can have a great sleep tomorrow, serafina . Why is this mattress so much harder to get upstairs than the last? Is it more rigid? Deeper?

    Please photograph the steps they take?

    According to the delivery guys, this one is harder and the last one was a foam mattress that we could bend to slip it along the stairs. This one cannot bend much and if we force it, it may break. Tomorrow, the team will lift it from the balcony to the roof, and from there down to the terrace.
    I don’t know if I dread more the idea of breaking the mattress or the roof.