Premier Inn mattress review & alternatives

We have had a number of customers who ask whether we have any mattresses similar to the Premier Inn mattress made by Hypnos. Since Premier Inn have started selling these mattresses online they have also released some information on what’s inside these mattresses. We can now help by showing a breakdown of the components and how they are being used. We will also provide guidance on what else maybe better for the money.

We have written a detailed post on the type of mattresses that should be used in a hotel or guest house scenario. These mattresses get much more ‘rigorous use’ than a typical household mattress because not only are you having it remade every day and moved about, but the variety in body weights and sleepers varies so greatly. The mattress is also more likely to be used as a sofa, a playground or somewhere to dump heavy suitcases or weekend bags. Mattresses in hotels and guesthouses are subject to much abuse which is why you need to choose carefully to make sure you can limit the damage from such activity!

What exactly is in a Premier Inn Hypnos mattress?

We were really excited when we found out the Premier Inn where going to be selling their hotel mattresses and would disclose what was inside them to the public. We have been campaigning for all mattress manufacturers to disclose the exact grams per square meter (GSM), depths, densities and spring gauges of what’s inside their mattresses for years. As its the only way you can accurately compare them. Hooray was out first thought, at last, another company to tell you exactly what you’re buying.  This must mean that customers can now compare these mattresses easily and make a better decision when picking a mattress.

Sadly we were wrong and the information provided has turned out to be as ‘woolly’ as everyone else.

What does the Premier Inn Hypnos mattress compare to?

The closest comparative model from our range would be the Origins Pocket 1500. We say closely comparable but the information on the Hypnos mattress is quite scant so we have had to take an educated guess to this. The comparison is based on the contents, the usage as a potential guest bed and lastly the price point of around £500 for a king size.

Below is our best Tracy Emin ‘unmade bed’ view of the mattress, part unmade.

Spring unit

Our Origins Pocket 1500 has a 1500 spun bond spring unit in a medium gauge spring. These are bonded together and we then use an insulator on top of the spring unit which is a 1-inch foam insulator. This keeps the spring unit and upholstery layers separated which reduces sag and is good design practice for handmade mattresses.

The Premier Inn mattress lists  the following “king-size Premier Inn bed has over 1,000 pocket springs, providing individual, contoured support throughout the mattress – wherever and whenever it’s needed – for that “floating on a cloud” feeling”  Sadly this gives us no idea of the material that covers the pocket springs, whether its stitchbond or another material. It also gives us no idea of tension or gauge.

 

Comfort Layers

Our model utilises three comfort layers against the unknown quantity of the Hypnos model. The first layer directly above the insulator is a 500 GSM polyester pad, followed by 750 GSM of very soft polyester to give resilience to the mattress without too much compression which can occur if just wool is used, finished with a 300 GSM wool layer for that soft sinking feeling in the very top later.  

The only information about the upholstery layers for the Premier Inn mattress is that it has a pillowtop. We have written warning of the drawbacks from pillowtop mattresses as they are permanently stitched to the mattress so you can’t remove them. Due to the fact, pillow tops are usually made from very soft upholstery materials they degrade very quickly especially if they can’t be turned, shaken and rotated.  

The pillowtop is described as “a super-comfortable, thick wool mattress topper, creating a luxurious, extra-cosy layer. It also helps to regulate body temperature for a truly serene sleep“.  Wool is a highly breathable natural material which is one thing we agree on with Hypnos.  However, the rest of the description is too vague to give any detailed analysis. The fact it is a pillowtop mattress should cause you concern given our explanation of the drawbacks of this construction style.  The photo below shows how it is attached.

Mattress detailing and covers

We use butterfly perimeter clips along with machine stitched stretch sides to stop the mattress from what’s known as ‘bulging‘.  This is when you compress near the edge of the bed, say you sit or lean on it, and the cover and side panels bulge out separating from the internal components and spring unit.  

Higher quality handmade mattresses always have either hand stitching, which attaches the spring unit to the mattress side via hand stitching, or entry-level mattresses should use butterfly clips to ensure that this does not happen. The image below shows a clear example of bulging on the Premier Inn mattress. This could be due to overuse or damage caused by a previous guest but is a good example of what to watch out for when buying a new mattress.

We use a stretch knit fabric for the top mattress cover and a stretch knit machine stitched side panel with handles. We also traditionally hand tuft our mattresses and the mattress side panels are 9″ deep though with the undulations the overall depth is 13″. The pillowtop seems to be tufted but for its price point, its almost certainly done by a machine.

The Premier Inn lists cover states that “the hypoallergenic mattress fabric means that allergy sufferers can enjoy a great night’s rest too”. We have written on the issues around allergies and the use of hypoallergenic materials in detail which is an entirely different post in itself! It would be nice to see the GSM or the material type used as well, as this though.

Review of Premier Inn mattress

In the interests of a fair review, one of our team stayed in a premier in for 3 nights to try this mattress. Their feedback was that it was quite comfortable for the first night; the member of the team loves soft mattresses. The soft wool pillowtop is very soft but after 2 nights the lack of support started to show. The sleeper was 1o stone /65kg and found that the bed had a bit too much sink in it for them.

The bulging was unfortunate on the mattress as it showed that the side support was missing on this mattress. We would say that for the price you should be looking to avoid a pillowtop and also look for a mattress with more support layers within it. However, if you want a super soft sinking mattress then this may be a good choice for you. For a short-term stay, it certainly was cloud-like and very soft to sink how this would fair long term we are not sure given the drawbacks.

Summary

Having slept on this mattress we can testify that it is quite a soft tension, especially given the wool pillowtop. However, sleeping on this full time may prove too soft for most peoples bodyweights. We would ask you to carefully consider buying a pillowtop mattress, given it’s one-sided when a mattress with a separate topper is a better longer lasting alternative to this. If you want to view our Origins Pocket 1500 please visit our shop.