This is the first mattress I've ever bought. That's not to say I've never had a mattress in my possession before, it's just that, at the age of 32, this is the first one I have actually purchased myself. To an inexperienced customer, the world of mattress shopping is a daunting and complex domain, populated by a practically endless set of variables which one might never have previously considered, including 'pocket springs', 'coils' and 'memory foam', on top of the standard 'three amigos' of retail: price, brand and size. A visit to John Lewis with my girlfriend (a mattress-buying veteran who provided a welcome guiding hand) one evening after work provided an opportunity for us to get to grips with some of the many options first-hand. This was an investment of time I recommend to anyone in advance of considering making such a life-defining purchase online. I learned from this trip that the upper limit of what one can spend on a mattress is practically (but crucially, not literally) infinite. This was also the point at which the inherent gamble involved in the endeavour of mattress-purchasing was laid bare to me, with the stark realisation that no amount of casual testing of a mattress in-store could ever be sufficient to know what it would actually *be like* to sleep on one, let alone spend hundreds - and probably thousands - of nights cuddled up in (hopefully) restful slumber. After literally minutes of consideration, we left the store with a reasonably-priced, reliably-branded double 1200 pocket sprung memory foam option in mind and gainfully treated ourselves to dinner at an American BBQ restaurant as reward for our evening's work (which was, as it happens, dimly-lit and somewhat disappointing, though this is not our concern here). In the end, we went to Mattresses Online and bought what looked like a similar option, except with 1000 not 1200 pocket springs. Our experience thus far has been positive. We have not felt at all poorer for the 200 less pocket springs, and the memory foam element provides welcomingly soft cushioning, like laying down into the warm embrace of soft, yet firm, human flesh. I fully endorse this mattress.