After months of behind-the-scenes work, our guest bedroom is looking better than ever and we actually have some furniture but there is one big thing missing – a mattress.
After a bit of research, we opted to buy an Emma foam mattress and, after some thorough testing, are sharing a full review of our new Emma luxe cooling mattress including all pros and cons so that you can decide if it’s the right mattress for you.
Mattresses that arrive vacuum-rolled and squashed in compact boxes have been popular for a while now and our new Emma mattress isn’t the first mattress like this that we’ve tried.
We’re very happy with both of our other mattresses (we have a Bruno mattress on the bed in our master bedroom and a Leesa mattress on our guest bedroom bed) so had high hopes for our new Emma mattress, too.
But, as always, the big question is does it live up to the hype and is an Emma mattress really as comfortable as the ads tell you?
To make sure you have all the information you need, we’re coving everything you possibly need to know in this review. If you just want to know if we recommend the mattress skip to the bottom for our final verdict.
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Order & Delivery Process
We ordered the mattress online directly on the Emma website which was extremely easy and straightforward. It arrived about a week later in one big and very heavy box.
Our Emma luxe cooling mattress is a super king (180 x 200 cm) and, on offer, we paid €854.52 (compared to about €2000 when it’s not on sale).
More often than not, there’s some kind of discount offer running (at the moment there’s a Father’s Day sale with up to 55% off and before that, there was a spring sale running). It’s not exactly a cheap investment, so we’d definitely recommend waiting for an offer like we did.
As I just mentioned, the box is heavy. Our mattress weighs a whopping 35kg so you may need some help carrying it to your bedroom.
Poor Jan wasn’t overly impressed when I told him he’d have to carry it up to the top floor of our house! Having said that, it is obviously easier to move a box than to manoeuvre a full-sized mattress up the staircase.
Our dog, Morph, obviously wasn’t too interested and as much as he enjoyed sleeping next to the mattress box I was definitely more interested in finding out what it’s like to sleep on an Emma mattress.
Unboxing & First Impressions
Although the mattress is heavy, it isn’t difficult to get out of the box and unpack.
When you first lift the top of the box, there’s a QR code that you can scan for unpacking instructions and there’s a nifty cutting gadget included to cut through the foil without the risk of damaging the mattress inside.
Although both of these things seem practical, neither of them worked in reality. The QR code kept taking us to an Emma website in Korean and the little knife gadget snapped within the first few centimetres of using it.
Luckily, unpacking a mattress doesn’t exactly require a huge amount of skill or instructions but it would have been nice to at least see where the QR code was trying to take me.
As soon as you start to cut through the foil that the mattress is wrapped in, the mattress starts to expand. It only takes seconds and the mattress completely unfolds and puffs up.
Then it’s just a matter of wiggling the mattress into the correct position on the bed and waiting a couple of hours for it to completely expand and reach its final shape.
One of the main reasons that we chose the Emma luxe cooling mattress is the firmness which is meant to be medium-firm. On first impression, it felt very soft though.
I shouldn’t have worried.
As much as the top of the mattress feels very soft to the touch when you lie on the mattress it’s actually much firmer. You kind of sink into the top soft and squeegee layers and the multiple foam layers beneath give you all of the support you need.
Overall, the first impression of the Emma mattress is very good and it feels very comfortable when lying on it for the first time.
The Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress Details
On most mattress websites I’ve visited while searching for a new mattress you hear all of these fancy words like “certified sleep science coach”, “Ultra-breathable Airgocell® memory foam” and “Pressure-relieving viscoelastic memory foam”. But what do they actually mean? And what do you actually need to know before purchasing a mattress?
As I already mentioned, we opted to purchase the Emma luxe cooling mattress which, compared to the all-foam standard Emma original mattress, is made up of a combination of foam layers and a layer of pocket springs.
The biggest problem with foam mattresses is that you can sometimes feel very hot as the dense materials don’t allow for airflow on hot nights.
The Emma luxe cooling mattress however is a bit different as the different layers of foam and pocket springs are designed to allow airflow and breathability to help you keep cool throughout the night.
Why We Chose The Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress
After a lot of research and comparing what felt like dozens of mattresses (by other brands, too) we felt that the Emma luxe cooling mattress was a good choice for us.
Pros & Cons of the Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress
| Pros of the Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress | Cons of the Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress |
|---|---|
| It’s very comfortable | It’s very heavy |
| Gives you a great night’s sleep | It has a strong smell for a couple of days after unboxing |
| It has handles on the side to be able to easily move it | The price varies depending on the size but it is quite expensive. |
| 200 nights trial (it may “only” be 100 nights depending on where in the world you live) | May be too soft if your weight is very high |
| 10-year warrenty | |
| Free shipping & returns |
Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress Review – The Verdict
Are we happy with our Emma luxe cooling mattress and would we recommend it to friends & family?
We’ve been testing our Emma luxe cooling mattress for a few months now and we are very happy with it and would definitely recommend it.
It’s really comfortable and the top memory foam layer moulds itself to your body making you feel really supported in all the right places. We also love how the pocket springs add a bit of bounce which isn’t something you would usually have with a memory foam mattress.
And, it’s not just us that love it.
We had friends stay with us for a couple of weeks and they love the Emma luxe cooling mattress so much that they will be buying it for their home, too. One of them even said that she used to wake up with back pain which hasn’t happened since sleeping on our Emma mattress.
We love our other mattresses, too but the Emma mattress probably just takes the top spot in terms of comfort.
The Bruno mattress we have is a bit firmer so might be a better option if that’s what you prefer, but the overall feel, quality and comfort of the Emma Luxe cooling mattress is probably best for most people. And, with a 200-night trial period, you really don’t have anything to lose (in some countries it’s only 100 nights).
Emma Luxe Cooling Mattress FAQ
I always try to be as mindful as possible about the environmental impact my choices have. We’re doing our absolute best to live a more sustainable life so it’s important to us to know what happens with the things we return.
A sleep trial is great and takes the risk out of purchasing something you may not be happy with but what happens with the Emma mattresses that are returned? Well, I emailed the Emma customer service team to find out and this is the response I got:
“Returned mattresses are either resold or donated to charity. If the mattresses are returned in perfect condition, it is cleaned to a high-quality standard and its cover is replaced with a new one. It is then advertised as a refurbished mattress or donated to charity.”
You can sleep on the Emma mattress after just a couple of hours. After removing the protective film, the mattress expands and is ready to sleep after just a couple of hours. It will reach its final shape after about 24 -72 hours.
We personally don’t recommend sleeping on it for a day or two. You definitely can, but it really stinks when you first unpack so we recommend waiting until the smell disappears first.
According to the website, the Emma luxe cooling mattress firmness is rated as medium-firm. We think it’s a good medium mattress with great pressure relief without being too firm or soft or fi.
It’s always down to personal preference though and you can test the mattress yourself with a free sleep trial to find out if it’s right for you.
A mattress is always a big investment and it’s important to find a mattress that’s right for you. Yes, the Emma luxe cooling mattress is expensive but we also think it’s worth every penny, especially when you consider how much time you spend (or would like to) in bed.
There is still a lot of work to do in the bedroom but it’s exciting to finally see a bit of progress. The newly painted walls look amazing and we finally have working electrics which is definitely a bonus.
We still need to sort the heating and we’re planning on installing a vinyl plank floor similar to the one we installed in our other guest room but the finishing line is definitely in sight.
We’ve also been building some more furniture for this room that I’m excited to share, so pop back soon for an update!
If you like this project, you will love these ones, too!
