How I turned my second bedroom into a guest room, with a Nectar Sleep Mattress
*Disclosure: I received compensation from NECTAR in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.
So, I'll be honest: I have two rooms in the condo that I purchased last year, and the other room has become a bit of a dumping ground for things that don't fit in my own bedroom.
It doesn't help that my parents constantly bring over stuff from their place that is mine, too—I tend to put everything in the second bedroom and later forget about it.
My plan for the second bedroom as of last winter was to buy a pull-out couch, and make it into a guest room and/or reading room for myself. I looked at a few different stores in December, and couldn't find anything I liked; plus, everything was $1000 and up.
When I saw the opportunity to review a Nectar mattress, then, I jumped at the chance—and now my guest bedroom's bed is even more comfortable than my own.
The last time I purchased a mattress was in 2012, when I moved from my parents' place into my first post-college apartment. We went to a furniture store and I chose a mattress that I liked; I believe it was about $1200, but very comfortable.
A few years later, the mattress was sagging in the middle, and the store let me replace it, but I chose one that was about $1800, so I had to pay the $600 difference.
With Nectar, the process is completely different: you don't have to go out to a store, and everything is done online. And the biggest difference? A queen bed from Nectar is only $670 (normally $795) ... and that includes two memory foam pillows, also.
$670! My 2012 self would have saved a LOT of money on a mattress.
Once you choose what size you want on the Nectar website (options range from a twin bed, which is $500, to a California king, for $900), and place your order, your NECTAR mattress is then shipped to you and arrives like you see in the pictures above—tightly wrapped in shrink wrap.
I'll be honest and say that this sucker is HEAVY—I managed to push it up the stairs myself, but it's definitely easier if you have two people to do it.
Me being me (I often dive into projects headfirst), I didn't see the box cutter that's provided with the mattress until it was too late—and of course I didn't see the "Open Me First" bag either. Oops.
Once you open the shrink wrap and roll out your mattress, it will start to "expand," for lack of a better word (it's not an inflatable mattress, but they package it up tight and it needs to get back to its "real" size). The two pillows that are included will also start to "expand." The official explanation: "Nectar is manufactured of premium foams and fabrics which have been compressed for shipping and which will return to their full size."
Things to know before buying:
- For the first 5 years of ownership, Nectar will replace your mattress with a new Nectar mattress if it's defective. That's a great guarantee. And after year 5, Nectar will repair and re-cover your mattress, or replace your mattress—the only charge is a transportation cost of $50 each way.
- 365 night home trial. You get 365 days—literally a year—to try out your mattress, and if you don't like it, you return it. Simple as that.
- It's made out of memory foam. I believe I mentioned this earlier, but Nectar mattresses are made out of memory foam—something I always considered to be a luxury and out of my price range.
- It may smell kind of weird after you unpack it. This is normal—the instructions say that Nectar's materials may require 1-3 days to "fully breathe" after unpacking, and that during this time, "you may encounter an off-gassing foam aroma typical of high quality and medical grade foams. This aroma is not unhealthy and will fully dissipate." I noticed the smell was gone about 2-3 days after I unpacked the mattress.
As to how the mattress actually feels: I slept in the bed one night, rather than in my own bed, and really enjoyed it. I'm very picky about mattresses, as well—I usually like really soft mattresses—and although my Nectar was a little harder than what I was used to, the memory foam feels like you are sleeping on a pillow. Another review said they'd rate it 7/10 for firmness, and I'd agree.
And speaking of pillows: I'll admit that the memory foam pillows that come with the mattress are a bit large (I prefer smaller/flatter pillows), but once you lay your head down on them, and they contour to you, they are very comfortable.
I'm overall very happy with my new Nectar bed, and hopefully any guests that stay over my condo will enjoy it as well!
Have you ever purchased a Nectar or a similar (non-showroom) bed before? If so, what did you think of it?
