7 Best Mattresses for College Dorms

7 Best Mattresses for College Dorms

Last Updated: March, 2024

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Are you excited to start college? Not so fast. There are a lot of things you need to sort out to ensure a comfortable boarding life. And I'm not just talking about flip-flops, a loofah, and a water bottle. I'm talking about bedding essentials like bed sheets, pillows, blankets, and mattresses. Let's narrow our focus to mattresses for now. Not all college dorm rooms will allow students to bring a mattress. Therefore, first, check in with the administration to confirm. If they don't let you, you'll need to buy a pad, a mattress protector, or the best mattress topper to lay them on the existing college mattress. If they allow it, you have a massive task ahead of you - mattress hunting!

As you hunt for the best mattress for college dorms, consider a few factors like your personal preference, sleeping position, body weight, and any health conditions you may have. These and more factors will be discussed later in this post. After a long search, we found 7 great mattresses for college students. Below is an analysis to help you choose.

Our Picks For The 7 Best Mattresses For College Dorms

Nolah Original 10

Best Rated

Nolah Original 10 is for college students looking for a durable mattress that can take them through their school years without bunching or wearing out. Luckily they offer a lifetime warranty.

Amerisleep AS2

Heavy college sleepers have a home in this mattress. It's a comfortable option with quality construction and durable as well. If you sleep on your back or prefer mattresses that slightly sink in, the AS2 is for you.

Brooklyn Signature Hybrid

The signature hybrid mattress is arguably the best hybrid mattress for a college student hunting for a comfortable and affordable mattress. The brand has several other options, including Twin XL mattresses and the three firmness options: soft, medium, and firm. It comes with pocketed coils that enhance motion isolation and minimize sleep disruption.

The Ghostbed Classic

This is the go-to mattress for college students who prefer to sleep cool. It contains aerated latex, no allergens, and gel-infused memory foam that enhances airflow and cooling.

Puffy Mattress

An excellent mattress option for light college sleepers. It's hypoallergenic enough to prevent allergy attacks on students while sleeping or interacting with the mattress in any way. 

Diamond Response Cool Hybrid Mattress

For all college students looking for a more costly but odorless, non-toxic, and cooling mattress. Fans of spot cleaning and lifetime warranties will have a blast with this comfy mattress.

The Luuf Bed

Anyone looking for hybrid firmness options can thank Luuf Bed for its unique feels. You can have the Firm version if you want a firm mattress that's not extremely hard. You can get the Lux Firm option if you'd like a soft bed with some strong support. Then they have the soft - Plush - and the extra firm known as Max support. Light to heavy sleepers are all sorted.

Nolah Original 10

Pros

  • Long-lasting durability up to 10 years l
  • Great pressure relief 
  • Ideal for side sleepers and back sleepers  
  • It's bouncy, enhancing responsiveness  
  • Has remarkable motion isolation

Cons

  • Not a good option for heavy sleepers above 250lbs

The Nolah Original 10 is a 10-inch all-foam mattress made of four layers, with the topmost layer being a snow-white TENCEL cover that's breathable and odorless. This cover is also botanical, making Nolah Original 10 an eco-friendly mattress. It also consists of a layer with the patented Nolah Airform designed to contour your body and relieve pressure.

Generally, the mattress is medium-firm and provides excellent pressure relief on the shoulders and hips. This makes it a suitable mattress for side and back sleepers.

Unfortunately, it doesn't relieve pressure on the stomach area, making it a poor option for stomach sleepers. Its layers make it bouncy, hence, a responsive mattress, meaning you can toss and turn in your sleep without feeling stuck or struggling.

Considered the best mattress for airbnb by many shoppers, the Nolah 10 boasts high motion isolation compared to other all-foam beds. This means that you can have a friend sleep over with this mattress without having to worry about getting your sleep interrupted. If your friend turns or jumps out of bed at night, you'll feel minimal movement on your side. Because it's a 5 out of 10 medium-firm mattress, heavier sleepers are not advised to buy it. Anyone below 250lbs will find the mattress suitable.

If you’re looking for an affordable way to furnish your dorm, you can always opt for a daybed mattress instead. Feel free to check out our guide on the best mattress for daybed for detailed information on how these mattresses can help improve your sleep quality without breaking the bank.

Amerisleep AS2

Pros

  • It's suitable for slightly heavy sleepers
  • Great for spinal alignment 
  • It can be used on any Foundation
  • Good for back sleepers 
  • Offers deep pressure relief

Cons

  • Not ideal for side sleepers

The Amerisleep AS2 is one of the five mattresses by the brand. It lies on the firmer side, with Amerisleep AS5 on the softer side of the firmness scale. This makes the AS2 an ideal option for heavy sleepers and slippers that prefer a firm mattress.

It's an all-foam mattress with a Bio-Pur foam designed to maximize airflow and cooling. Depending on your dorm size, roommate situation, and room space, your dorm room may be stuffy and warm. As you sleep, you'll need a more cooling mattress to prevent night sweats and constant tossing in bed.

A cool mattress like the Amerisleep AS2 will in turn increase sleep comfort. It takes the lead as one of the memory foam mattresses with greater cooling effects than usual. Hot sleepers who are not memory foam lovers have the option of going for a cooling mattress without memory foam.

Brooklyn Signature Hybrid

Pros

  • Contains individually wrapped coils for optimum support
  • A good option for heavy sleepers
  • Great lumbar support for back sleepers 
  • It's bouncy and responsive 
  •  It has decent edge support
  •  Very affordable - below $1000 for a queen size

Cons

  • Not great for stomach sleepers

Since the college list of essentials can be as long as the Mississippi River, parents may allocate a strict budget. However, this doesn't mean you have to get mediocre beddings. Like most hybrid mattresses under 1000, the Brooklyn signature hybrid mattress is one of the quality models that won't require you to break the bank. You can get twin XL mattresses at $700 and below or a queen mattress at roughly 1,000 dollars or less if you don't include the Glaciotex cover.

As you can see, Brooklyn Bedding offers several option mattresses, three types of firmness, and an optional cooling cover that will help keep you cool through the night. Variety means you'll find your pick with the Signature Hybrid, regardless of your size or type requirements.

The quilted Glaciotex cover helps with breathability and sleeps cool providing the user a quality night's sleep. Being a foam hybrid means that the mattress consists of foam layers and is an innerspring mattress. The foam layers help with body contouring and enhance responsiveness.

The coils are two; the Ascension individually pocketed coils for deep support and the Ascension perimeter coils for better edge support. The latter goes around the bed, covering the head and foot edges and side edges.

The Ghostbed Classic

Pros

  • It's commendably cool for those who sleep hot
  • It's bouncy hence greatly responsible 
  • It is a great option for stomach sleepers 
  • It's hypoallergenic good for allergy sufferers 
  • Affordable for mattress giving latex benefits

Cons

  • Has low motion isolation

This 11-inch memory foam mattress comes from a company that always tries its best to bring comfort to sleep with their products. In its construction, you'll find a latex layer that precedes the gel memory foam. This to give the ghost but classic it's bouncy nature. A good bounce means the mattress is highly responsive, making it easy for sleepers to move around with minimal struggle. The two also give the mattress its breathability properties keeping sleepers cool even during hot nights. 

The ghost but classic also offers great pressure relief at the shoulder and hip regions for stomach sleepers. In fact, it is ideal for heavy sleepers with this specific sleeping position. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for side back and combination sleepers. Since it's a bit too firm, light sleepers may not enjoy it as much.

Puffy Mattress

Pros

  • Its cooling gel makes it suitable for hot sleepers 
  •  It has a stain-resistant removable cover
  • It has excellent edge support 
  •  It's hypoallergenic 
  • It comes with a lifetime warranty

Cons

  • Not ideal for back sleepers 
  • Not firm enough for heavier sleepers

The best feature of the puffy mattress is its allergenic nature. If you're a college student with asthma or allergies, you may want to stay away from beds that attract dust and dust mites. Considered the best mattress for dust mites by many sleepers, the Puffy mattress is designed to stay fresh by not retaining any allergens to it. Its top layer under the breathable stainless cover is a gel-infused memory foam.

While it's an all foam mattress giving it heat retention properties, the cooling gel counteracts that property, making the mattress cooler, hence reducing the amount of heat retained from the body by the mattress. Students that sleep hot and are fairly lightweight will find the cooling gel effective. However, hot, heavy sleepers might find the mattress a bit hot for their liking. 

As mentioned, it has a stain-resistant cover that is also removable and machine washable. This makes it easy for college students to clean it, but because of its stain-resistant properties, students won't need to clean it too often. Spot cleaning also becomes an easy solution for students who like to snack in bed. Generally, this is a feature the best air mattress for camping usually has. 

Diamond Response Cool Hybrid

Pros

  • It has a lifetime warranty and 120-night sleep trial
  • It's odorless and non-toxic 
  • Has CertiPUR-US Certified foams
  • It has a copper-cooling memory foam 
  • Comes with a breathable surface

Cons

  • Has only one size option 
  • Not ideal for light sleepers

Diamond Mattress is the brand popularly known for its GIFT mattress collection. They also designed the Responsive Cool Hybrid Mattress to bring about restorative sleep for more people out there. Unfortunately, once you organize your college dorm room, you may need to sleep on your bed almost immediately. The only problem with this is when you purchase mattresses that suffer from chemical stenches days after unwrapping them. That's far from the case with the Responsive Cool Hybrid Mattress.

First and foremost, it is odorless, so you won't be dealing with strong chemical smells. Secondly, the brand ensures that they manufacture each product with no harmful chemicals like VOCs, heavy metals, or Ozone depleters. Nothing beats buying a non-toxic mattress; to top that, they are CertiPUR-US certified. 

To enhance edge support, Diamond Mattress included individually wrapped coils on the edges of the mattress to keep it comfortable. The Responsive Cool Hybrid is a good option for heavy sleepers and hot sleepers. They only sell the queen size which might not be ideal for all dorm regulations.

The Luuf Bed

Pros

  • Good for back sleepers
  • Has a variety of mattress and firmness options
  • It has cooling properties for hot sleepers
  • Made of CertiPUR-US certified foams
  • It has great responsiveness and support
  • Consists of graphene infusion that helps regulate temperature and provide pressure relief
  • Great for sufferers of joint pains and back aches

Cons

  • It still sleeps warm and can have students sweating all night

Some college kids suffer from different types of aches and pains. Whether you have back pain or shoulder pain, the Luuf Hybrid will be an ideal choice. It offers tremendous pressure relief, giving you a restful sleep. Its firmness options are named as Plush, Lux Firm, Firm and Max Support, with Plush being the softest.

If you're a stomach sleeper, you'll need a more firm mattress to prevent your hips from sinking when you lay down. Because they contain coils, the mattress becomes a good choice for heavy sleepers as long as you choose a firm option like the Max Support mattress. As for their mattress size options they run from twin size mattress to Cal King.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Dorm Mattresses

Sadly, there's no one-type-fits-all option when it comes to mattresses. Every mattress is built uniquely and can only serve specific sleepers. You can use the factors and features below to help you pick your ideal dorm room mattress.

1. Sleep Positions

There are four sleeping styles: side, back, stomach and combination. Combination sleepers change their sleeping positions during the night and can be from back to side or stomach to side - whichever. Some mattresses are only good for one type of sleep position, and others are good for all types.

Your sleeping position matters mainly because of pressure points. For example, a side sleeper will exude more pressure in the hip and shoulder region. Therefore, a mattress that has zone support in these areas will be the best fit. No matter the sleep position, spinal alignment is vital to keep the sleeper from acquiring back problems.

2. Temperature

Some students sweat a lot through the night when using beddings that heat up after retaining their body heat. Such sleepers need a cool mattress with features like gel memory foam or latex, among others, to give them quality sleep and keep them comfortable all night long. People who sleep cold will need warm mattresses. An all-foam mattress might be ideal. 

3. Body weight

There are two things about a sleeper's size. One is the weight they put on the mattress, and another is the heat factor. Heavy sleepers often generate a lot of heat from within them and sweat. Lighter sleepers may excessively freeze during cold nights. Look for a mattress that caters to your needs. Additionally, some of these mattresses are constructed only to handle a certain amount of body weight, making anyone outside the weight limits unsuitable. 

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4. Motion transfer

As a college student, you'll find yourself hosting visitors from home who'd like to stay a while and spend time with you. If your mother visited you and slept in your bed, you'd want to be comfortable throughout the night. Nothing's as annoying as getting your beauty sleep interrupted by movements transferred to your side of the bed. Mattresses with high motion isolation or low motion transfer will help you stay undistracted when your guest tosses in bed. 

Conclusion

College life can be quite involving, with both the starting and fun parts. At the end of each day, will need a comfortable bed to lie on and only hope to sleep calmly through the night. This makes your bedding choice a crucial decision. Remember that the mentioned mattress choices come with night trials, so you can test one out and exchange it with a better one later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will buying the right mattress treat my condition?

You may not be able to treat the condition fully, but you can control it. Not a must you purchase these mattresses in order to treat your condition maybe due to financial constraints .However, it’s highly recommended since proper sleep support is a helpful treatment.

Should i get a new mattress even if i am comfortable with my present one for my conditions’ sake?

Sleeping properly is not all about comfort. There are other factors to consider as well, including breathability. With Sleep Apnea, any little discomfort will trigger it. It’s important that your mattress supports side sleeping since it’s the perfect position.

How long will it take me to recover if i use a good mattress?

The exact amount of days is not guaranteed but with good medical checkup and good night sleep, you should be able to recover soon enough.

 

Do i have sleep apnea if is snore?

There are high chances that you are suffering from the condition. However, it could also be simply poor sleeping positions. Check with your doctor to determine if you have the condition fast before concluding.

Is my mattress the main reason why i wake up feeing exhausted?

First, how is your mattress? Does it give you the comfort you need? If your mattress satisfies you, then it’s possibly not the problem. You should seek doctor’s attention.