Aly Lopez/CNET
As experts on CNET’s sleep team, researching, testing and reviewing mattresses and sleep-related products, you’d think my husband, Dillon, and I would be pretty good at sleeping by now. I’m here to report that’s not the case. Dillon and I have always struggled to get enough rest. What happens when two lousy sleepers share a bed that doesn’t work for both of them? Sleep divorce (and permanent under-eye bags).
Like many partners, our sleep preferences and positions are drastically different. Dillon is a night owl, while I’m an early bird. He likes quiet, and I sleep better with white noise. I prefer to sleep in the pitch dark, whereas he won’t notice if the lamps are left on all night. Thankfully, we’ve found workarounds for these differences after experimenting with countless sleep hacks and products.
We have yet to discover a solution for the most significant disparity in our sleep habits: a mattress that can accommodate our different sleeping positions. Dillon prefers a super soft mattress with plenty of pressure relief as a side sleeper. Spending more time on my stomach, I’m looking for a firmer mattress that will support my spine.
Finding a bed we both like is the challenge that led us to start our hunt for the “perfect” mattress. Throughout this series, Dillon and I have been testing mattresses for 30 nights and documenting the entire process until we find one that works for both of us. We use sleep trackers every night to compare our health data and sleep quality on each bed.
This month, we slept on the base model of the Avocado Luxury Organic mattress. Before sleeping on the Avocado Luxury Organic, we spent 30 nights sleeping on the luxury firm model of the Saatva Classic mattress. If you want to learn about the Saatva Classic, check out our full written review and YouTube video.
Will Avocado help us both get better rest? Or will this month end with one of us camping out on the couch? Keep reading to find out.
Video: Sleeping on the Avocado Luxury Organic Mattress for 30 nights
Watch us review the Avocado Luxury Organic mattress for 30 nights.
Initial thoughts on the Avocado Luxury Organic
“Holy moly, this is heavy!” I exclaimed as we began hauling this mattress out of our testing facility. Queen-size mattresses typically weigh somewhere between 90 and 150 pounds. The standard version of the Avocado Luxury Organic that we tested checks in at 154 pounds, so it’s on the heavier side. The pillow-top model of this mattress is even heavier, weighing about 200 pounds, which is worth noting if you move frequently or have to carry your mattress quite a ways.
Lugging this bed up to our sixth-floor apartment was a challenge, even with the help of our building’s elevator. Luckily, we have a few tricks up our sheets to make the mattress-moving process less cumbersome, such as using a blanket to slide this dense bed along the flat-surfaced portions of our trek.
We used a moving blanket to slide the heavy mattress down our long apartment hallway.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Once the mattress was situated in the bedroom, we began testing it to inform our initial thoughts. We evaluated characteristics like feel, firmness, temperature, edge support and motion isolation.
Right away, Dillon and I commented back and forth about how high-end and luxurious it looked. We loved the design and could tell it was crafted with quality natural materials. I was actually sad when it was time to put sheets and bedding on it because it looked so pretty “au naturel.” We could also tell that its materials are organic, not just because of how it looks and feels but because of its subtle earthy, natural smell.
We (along with our dog Charlie and cat Jess) loved the look and feel of the Avocado Luxury Organic mattress.
Dillon Lopez/CNET
Firmness
We slept on the base model, which Avocado ranks a 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale and claims it’s best for back and stomach sleepers. We took turns rolling around and testing the different sleeping positions to see if that would hold true.
After our initial testing, we both agreed that it felt slightly softer than our previous bed, which Dillon was happy about. He thought the Avocado Luxury Organic was closer to a medium-firm and would still be too firm for him to sleep comfortably on his side. On the other hand, I enjoyed its cushioning pressure relief while on my side and felt it was still firm enough to support my spine while lying on my stomach and back.
Feel
The Avocado Luxury Organic is responsive and bounces back quickly, which Dillon and I prefer because we both move around and switch positions frequently throughout the night and that’s a lot easier to do on a responsive mattress. The latex foam feel of this bed is essentially the opposite of that slow, sinking quality you get with denser memory foam beds.
Dillon felt the mattress would be a little too firm for him to sleep on his side.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Temperature
We agreed that the Avocado Luxury Organic did not feel cool to the touch but was more temperature-neutral, likely because of its organic cotton and wool cover. As someone who sleeps hot, I was concerned about this. Dillon also felt this might pose an issue but wasn’t as worried since he tends to sleep a little cooler than I do.
Edge support
In the previous trial of this series on the Saatva Classic, our bed was pushed up against a wall due to the small size of our bedroom. Dillon had the inner side, which meant he slept against the wall and didn’t have to consider the bed’s edge support performance. We’ve since moved, and our bed is now in the middle of the room, meaning solid edge support is a crucial feature for both of us again.
Thanks to our cat, Jess, who sleeps on my head and so rudely (albeit adorably) hijacks my pillow every night, I tend to get pushed to the edge and find myself hanging on for dear life (sans pillow). Fortunately, Avocado Luxury Organic’s edge support is pretty solid. Its perimeter didn’t seem quite as reinforced as the Saatva Classic, but it still showed minimal sagging on the side, and I didn’t think I’d fall off while lying directly on the edge.
Jess tests the edge support while Charlie tests its support as a back sleeper. Both were pleased with the results.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Motion isolation
We observed its motion-isolating abilities by lying on the bed while the other person rolled and moved around erratically. We also tested it by placing a glass of water on the edge of the bed and bouncing around to see if it would fall over. I thought it had pretty good motion isolation, while Dillon was not convinced. Motion isolation is a critical factor for us (mostly me), not just because Jess constantly jumps on and off but because Dillon and I often go to bed and wake up at different times, and we both toss and turn throughout the night. A mattress that absorbs motion well enough to keep the other person from jostling around and waking up is key.
Testing the motion isolation with a glass of water on the edge and rolling around the bed.
Dillon Lopez/CNET
Design and construction
As I mentioned earlier, we were immediately impressed by Avocado’s use of high-quality and organic materials in this mattress. The base model (the one we tested) is 13.25 inches tall; slightly higher than your average mattress. Avocado’s plush version of this mattress is 17 inches tall, and the ultra-plush version stands an impressive 19 inches tall.
Although it’s not cool to the touch, I loved the cover. Crafted with certified organic cotton and wool, it’s super soft and makes it feel like you’re floating on a cloud while lying on this bed. It’s naturally hypoallergenic, which I prefer since we sleep with our pets (and their dander and fur).
This thick hybrid mattress has 17 layers of various materials, including over 2,400 individually wrapped coils in seven support zones. While lying on our backs and stomachs, we could tell its hefty construction would support us and help keep our spines neutrally aligned. Still, we couldn’t necessarily distinguish the seven separate ergonomic support zones.
The mattress has reinforced handles on the ends for rotating it (not for transporting it).
Aly Lopez/CNET
Our sleep quality goals
Dillon aims to get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep per night, and I’d prefer to get at least 8 hours, even up to 9; wishful thinking for both of us.
Dillon and I are light sleepers who wake up constantly, often staying up for an hour or two throughout the night. We rarely wake up less than 2 or 3 times per night, and one of us will usually move to the couch for a change of scenery when we are uncomfortable and can’t go back to sleep. All that to say, we both wish to spend less than 30 minutes awake each night.
Factors other than our mattress affect our sleep quality, whether that be pets, diet, exercise, temperature or stress. We have worked hard to diminish the effects of these over the years and feel like we have a decent handle on them (aside from Jess). Now, the hope is to find a mattress so comfortable that neither of us wants to get up and leave it in the middle of the night.
Our thoughts halfway through the trial
Firmness
Once we began sleeping on the Avocado Luxury Organic, Dillon quickly confirmed what he initially thought: though it was comfortable, the bed was too firm for his liking as a side sleeper. Starting the very first night, he would try to sleep on his stomach but end up waking up on his back — which would then cause him to snore — because he struggled to get comfortable while lying on his side.
Granted, this bed is softer than our previous mattress, and he never woke up feeling sore or with arms that had fallen asleep as he had on the luxury firm model of the Saatva Classic. Like Dillon, I never woke up feeling sore on the Avocado Luxury Organic, even after sleeping on my side. I was (at first) sleeping better than I had on the Saatva Classic.
Motion isolation
Going into this trial, I honestly thought the motion isolation would be worse due to its responsive and bouncy feel, but it was manageable. I usually noticed when Jess jumped on and off or when Dillon switched positions, but it wasn’t too jarring or disruptive. Dillon still felt that too much motion transfer was occurring, but the movement wasn’t overly bothersome for him either.
Edge support
Thanks to its reinforced steel perimeter, I never felt like I would fly off when I inevitably got pushed to the edge of the bed. With our new bedroom layout, Dillon was excited about the opportunity to test the edge support for the first time, and it didn’t disappoint.
Dillon was extremely impressed by the bed’s edge support.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Temperature
After sleeping on the Avocado Luxury Organic for about a week, we both mentioned feeling hot at night. I would occasionally wake up from overheating, ripping the covers off in a sweaty panic. We kept the temperature in our bedroom cool and slept with a light comforter (the same bedding we had on our previous mattress). This led us to believe we were sleeping hotter partly because of the cotton and wool materials in the mattress cover. Dillon wasn’t getting quite as hot as I was, but he agreed that we’d probably sleep better on a bed with cooling technology.
Sleep quality
While Dillon only got 3 hours of sleep on the Avocado Luxury Organic the first night, he surpassed his goal on the second night by clocking 8 hours and 5 minutes of sleep. That goal-surpassing didn’t last long; he only had one other night throughout the entire trial of getting over 8 hours of sleep.
According to our sleep trackers, we were generally still spending most of the night in core/light sleep and not getting as much deep or REM sleep as our bodies needed.
I was getting more sleep on the Avocado Luxury Organic than on Saatva, but I noticed after about a week that my average awake time was slightly higher. I had trouble getting comfortable enough to fall back asleep when I woke up in the middle of the night.
Our thoughts at the end of the trial
Avocado uses needle-tufting by hand, a neat technique dating back to the 17th century. Without using solvent or adhesives, the layers of the mattress are pulled together and secured with ribbons, topping the mattress with soft rosettes. While I appreciate the sentiment behind this method, I noticed that I could feel the rosettes underneath the sheets at first. It took some getting used to, but I didn’t feel them as much toward the end of the trial.
When testing the mattress without sheets or washing our bedding, our cat Jess loved to play with these rosettes and tried ripping them off with the sharp claws on her little mittens. Although it was cute to see, I’d recommend keeping your pets (namely curious cats) out of the room when the bed is without sheets.
Our cat Jess thought the tufts on the mattress were new toys.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Firmness
After testing the mattress for about two weeks, I started to notice that it wasn’t quite as supportive as the Saatva Classic when sleeping on my stomach, but bear in mind that the luxury firm model of the Saatva Classic we tested is firmer. Rather than spending most of the night on my stomach, I gravitated more toward my side and back because of this. I then noticed that whenever I’d wake up in the middle of the night, it was when I was on my side, at which point I didn’t feel like it was pressure-relieving enough.
By week three of the trial, Dillon was still actively trying to adapt to sleeping on the mattress as a stomach sleeper since he still felt it was too firm for his side, but his body couldn’t seem to adapt as much as he wanted it to. He fell asleep faster than usual but was not sleeping longer or better than on our previous bed.
Dillon tried to adapt to sleeping on his stomach since it was too firm for his side (but failed).
Aly Lopez/CNET
Sleep quality
By the end of the trial, Dillon averaged around 5-6 hours of sleep per night, and I averaged around 6-7 hours. During the second half of the trial, my awake time had gone down significantly. There were five nights in a row when I was awake for less than 10 minutes, which I’m not sure I had ever experienced before. This could have been because I was overly tired, and my body was trying to make up for that lack of sleep.
I also noticed having meager amounts of deep sleep during the third and fourth weeks, averaging around 30 to 40 minutes per night. According to the CDC, adults should generally spend about 1.5-2 hours in the deep sleep phase, or about 25% of the night.
Scoring our personal preferences
At CNET, our sleep experts use an objective, standardized rating system to score mattresses. For the purpose of this specific series, Dillon and I created a customized subjective ranking system to rate the primary features and characteristics we seek in a mattress. As the most important qualities to us, firmness and feel were each out of 20 points, the others out of 10 for a total score of 100. We scored these factors on a preferential level, meaning what we liked or didn’t like personally. The scale looked like this:
We created a custom point system to give the mattress an overall rating out of 100 at the end of the trial.
Cole Kan/CNET
Scoring the Avocado Luxury Organic
After finishing the 30-night trial, we gave each factor a final score with a brief explanation. Here is a breakdown of the results:
Dillon’s scoring breakdown
Firmness: 8/20
The base model of the Avocado Luxury Organic is rated around a 6 out of 10. It feels firmer than that. As a side sleeper, I’d like a softer mattress that lands around a 4 or 5 out of 10 or a medium-soft to medium. In the end, I just couldn’t adapt to this firmness level.
Feel: 14/20
This bed has a ton of layers that combine to give it a responsive latex foam feel, which I like. It’s an accommodating feel that I prefer over denser memory foam. I would still prefer a softer and plusher foam feel with more pressure relief that I can sink a little further into.
Motion isolation: 4/10
The motion isolation was pretty much what I expected it to be: not great, although it wasn’t horrible.
Edge support: 9/10
I was impressed by the edge support. I felt like the edge held its shape well, even if I was sleeping right on it.
Temperature: 3/10
I was expecting this bed to be at least temperature-neutral, given the latex foam and organic cotton and wool, which are supposed to be more breathable — but that’s not what I experienced. Most nights, I felt like the mattress was retaining my body heat and causing me to overheat. My Whoop band even agreed (more on this later).
Design/construction: 9/10
Big fan of the construction and design. Avocado says it has 17 different layers of materials with zoned support in the Luxury Organic mattress, which I can’t particularly feel when laying on it, but the bed does seem extremely luxurious, durable and long-lasting.
Brand policies (Includes price and certifications): 7/10
Avocado has the most environmental certifications of any mattress brand I’ve tested, which is really important to me. The main thing bringing down my score in this category is how expensive this mattress is.
Sleep quality: 2/10
My data from the Whoop speaks for itself: I did not sleep well on the Avocado Luxury Organic. I’m so tired.
Overall Score: 56/100 = 5.6/10
“I sincerely like the design and feel of this bed, but in the end, I couldn’t overcome its firmness level as a side sleeper. I need something softer and more pressure-relieving. If we had tried the plush or ultra-plush versions, my score probably would have been higher.” – Dillon
Dillon proving that the bed’s edge support deserved his personal ranking score of 9 out of 10.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Aly’s scoring breakdown
Firmness: 16/20
I agree with Dillon that this model leans more on the medium-firm side. At the beginning of this 30-night series, I wanted a firm mattress, but after a few months of actually testing firmer beds, I’m beginning to think that I need a slightly softer mattress for side sleeping. Nonetheless, it felt pretty good when sleeping on my stomach and back and for the most part, kept my spine from sagging.
Feel: 16/20
Overall, I enjoy the responsive innerspring feel of the Avocado Luxury Organic. I appreciate that I can easily switch positions without feeling “stuck,” which is key because I move around a lot throughout the night.
Motion isolation: 5/10
I found the motion isolation to be surprisingly good but not great. Beds with coils are typically not great at isolating motion, but I thought this mattress did a decent job of it — likely due to its innerspring units with over 2,000 individually wrapped coils. Still, it isn’t quite as motion-isolating as we’d like especially considering how much we both move around (and how much our pets jump on and off the bed).
Edge support: 8/10
I was impressed with the edge support. Often sleeping right on the edge, I rarely felt like I was going to fall off or that the perimeter was sagging uncomfortably.
Temperature: 3/10
I’m a hot sleeper, and this mattress consistently felt too warm for me. Almost every night, I’d have to take the covers off completely to cool down at some point. I believe this is due to the organic cotton and wool used in the cover. In the future, I would prefer a bed with cooling technology.
Design/construction: 9/10
I love the design and look of this bed. Its materials feel extremely high-quality, luxurious, and natural. The hybrid construction provides durability, and I have no doubt that this bed will hold its shape over the years.
Brand policies (includes price and certifications): 7/10
Environmental and social responsibility are extremely important to me, and as a brand, Avocado goes above and beyond in this category with its impressive list of certifications and green initiatives. Avocado offers a one-year trial period and a 25-year limited warranty. The only reason I didn’t score it higher is because of the price, which knocked it down a point because it’s not within my personal budget for a bed.
Sleep quality: 7/10
My sleep quality was alright. Actually, it was almost exactly the same as it was on our previous mattress, the Saatva Classic. I would still like to see improvements in my sleep quality overall on our next mattress.
Overall Score: 71/100 = 7.1/10
I would consider keeping this bed longer if it also worked for Dillon. My main qualm with this mattress was that I kept getting too hot, which is a hard issue to solve unless the bed has special cooling technology, which this does not.
Dillon scored the mattress 5.6 out of 10, and I gave it 7.1 out of 10. Our dog ranked it 12 out of 10.
Dillon Lopez/CNET
How we tracked our sleep
For the first half of this trial, I used my Apple Watch as a sleep tracker, and Dillon used his Whoop band. It didn’t take long for us to notice that his Whoop band seemed to provide more accurate biometrics than my Apple Watch, so our friends at Whoop sent a band over for me, too. With both of us using the Whoop band and app, Dillon and I now have the same exact sleep metrics to compare and contrast.
Apple Watch vs. Whoop
Once I received my Whoop band, I decided to conduct an experiment comparing the accuracy of the two. With my Apple Watch on one wrist and the Whoop band on the other, I went to bed feeling like a guinea pig in my own sleep study.
The next morning, I was surprised by the results:
Tracker Total SleepDeep SleepREM SleepLight SleepTime AwakeApple Watch 7:251:071:284:470:26Whoop band 6:521:590:394:140:58My Apple Watch reported that I slept over 30 minutes longer than my Whoop band. It also said that I got 1:28 hours of REM sleep, while Whoop reported that I only got 39 minutes. Whoop said I was awake for an hour, while my Apple Watch reported only 26 minutes. I specifically paid attention to the times I woke up throughout the night to compare the two, and Whoop seemed almost spot-on. I also found it interesting that there was such a large discrepancy between my time spent in deep sleep and REM sleep, which is a more complicated measurement to verify.
An example of the nightly sleep stage data provided by my Whoop band.
Aly Lopez/CNET
The main numbers we focused on for this trial were our sleep stages each night: how long we spent in light/core sleep, REM sleep, deep sleep and time awake. The Whoop bands were reliable and accurate in tracking these numbers and other metrics, such as heart rate, breath rate, stress levels, body temperature and more.
Our sleep data results
Let’s dive into the numbers. As you can see in the graph below, Dillon consistently slept less (sometimes much less) than I did. My nightly sleep ranged from a low of just under 6 hours to a high of nearly 9 hours. Dillon’s average sleep ranged much more drastically, from a low of 3 hours to a high of just over 8 hours. For four of the 30 total nights on the Avocado Luxury Organic, Dillon slept less than 4 hours.
Overall, Dillon’s average nightly sleep was 5 hours, 49 minutes (5.82 hours), and mine was 7 hours, 12 minutes (7.22 hours).
Avocado Luxury Organic: Nightly Hours Slept
Dillon’s nightly sleep ranged from lows of 3 hours to a few highs of around 8 hours.
Compared to our sleep data from our previous mattress, the Saatva Classic, Dillon’s average sleep went down nearly an hour, from 6 hours and 40 minutes (6.68 hours) to 5 hours and 49 minutes (5.82 hours).
Oddly enough, my sleep numbers stayed almost the same as the previous month. My average decreased slightly, from 7 hours and 15 minutes (7.30 hours) to 7 hours and 12 minutes (7.22 hours).
The luxury firm Saatva Classic and the base model of the Avocado Luxury Organic are similar beds in their feel, construction and firmness levels, so it makes sense that my sleep didn’t change much.
Average Sleep: Saatva Classic vs. Avocado Luxury Organic
My average nightly sleep stayed about the same, while Dillon’s average went down nearly an hour.
Throughout the 30 nights, on average:
I slept about 7 hours and 12 minutes per night.Dillon slept around 5 hours and 49 minutes per night. I spent 33 minutes awake each night.Dillon spent about 1 hour awake each night.
Interestingly, Dillon and I spent similar amounts of time in REM and deep sleep each night. The main difference in our sleep phases is that I spent over an hour and a half longer in core/light sleep (4 hours and 37 minutes) than Dillon (3 hours and 2 minutes).
For REM, Dillon averaged around 1 hour and 11 minutes (1.19 hours), while I was around 1 hour and 5 minutes (1.09 hours). Dillon and I both averaged around 1 hour and 30 minutes of deep sleep.
30-Night Sleep Phase Averages
On average, Aly slept longer than Dillon. Dillon was awake more but, percentage-wise, spent more time in deep and REM sleep than Aly.
When comparing our sleep on the Saatva Classic, the results made sense for my sleep but were somewhat surprising for Dillon: I slept nearly the same, while Dillon averaged over an hour less sleep per night than he had on the Saatva Classic. The Saatva Classic model we slept on was a luxury firm, which we ranked around medium firm to firm, and it was much too firm for Dillon as a side sleeper. Given that Avocado ranks its standard Luxury Organic model around a medium to medium-firm, we thought the softer profile would help Dillon sleep a little better — but alas, he slept worse.
After sleeping on the Avocado Luxury Organic for 30 nights and analyzing our sleep data, we would say it lands more around a medium-firm, even drifting into the firm category. Combined with us overheating quite a bit, that might have led Dillon to such low sleep numbers.
One night, while lying in bed and attempting to fall asleep, Dillon’s Whoop band notified him that his skin temperature was too high. One potential cause it listed was “a microclimate created by a sleeve or external heat source during sleep,” which we believe was the mattress, as he had not experienced any of the other reasons listed.
Dillon’s Whoop band told him his skin temperature was too elevated while lying in bed.
Dillon Lopez/CNET
A nightly play by play
To paint a picture, the nights when we got little sleep usually went like this: I would first fall asleep either lying on my stomach with Jess on my head or my side with Jess curled in my arm. An hour or two later, Dillon would crawl into bed as gently and quietly as possible to prevent me from waking up. I would say about half of the time, it would work, and I wouldn’t wake up. In the other half, I would wake up from the motion transfer, and it would be difficult to fall back asleep.
This mattress has hypoallergenic materials that helped my allergen sensitivities since we share the bed with our pets.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Not long after this, one of us usually became overheated, throwing off the covers in exasperation. Dillon would try to sleep on his stomach since he knew it wasn’t pressure-relieving enough for his side, but stomach sleeping is not his natural sleep position. He would eventually make his way to his back, where, unfortunately, snoring is more likely to occur (especially when you’re overly tired, which Dillon usually is).
I’d awaken once again and try to get comfortable without waking Dillon, but I’d often have no choice but to ask him to please roll onto his side or stomach, which I felt awful for doing because I knew it was uncomfortable for him. Other times, I’d jump ship and move to the couch in the wee hours of the morning.
We recognize that our sleep numbers are not solely based on our experience with the mattress. Many other factors affect sleep quality, such as diet, exercise, bedroom environment, stress levels, etc., and we did our best to keep these outside factors as consistent as possible throughout the trial.
When one partner finds a mattress uncomfortable, the problems can become exacerbated and affect both people, such as Dillon having to lie on his back because there’s not enough pressure relief for his side, causing him to snore, or me getting too hot and sweaty on a bed with no cooling technology and ripping the covers off.
Final thoughts on the Avocado Luxury Organic
In continuing our search for the perfect mattress, we’d still like to see three areas of improvement:
More sleep (8 hours per night for Dillon and at least 8.5 hours for me)More consistent sleepLess time spent awake throughout the night (15-20 minutes or less)
After trying this bed for 30 nights, we both feel that the Avocado Luxury Organic is an incredibly high-quality and luxurious mattress. We appreciate the fact that its materials are organic and sustainably sourced, which is an important factor for us.
Avocado boasts an impressive list of certifications — some of the toughest to receive in the mattress industry.
Avocado
Still, this mattress didn’t work well for us and our particular needs, which is sad because we both love Avocado as a brand and had high hopes that it would be our perfect mattress.
Charlie loved the Avocado Luxury Organic mattress and would choose to keep it if he could.
Aly Lopez/CNET
Avocado’s firmness options and pricing
The Avocado Luxury Organic mattress comes in three firmness options: standard or medium, plush with the pillow top and ultra-plush with the box top. Let’s break down who each would work best for.
Ultra-plush: If you and your sleep partner are primarily side sleepers and prefer a softer mattress, check out the ultra-plush model of the Avocado Luxury Organic. It is a medium-soft mattress, or around 3 out of 10 on the firmness scale. The box top adds three inches of soft and cushioning Talalay latex, making the mattress 19 inches tall.Plush: As combination sleepers with different sleeping positions, Dillon and I think the plush version of the Avocado Luxury Organic with the pillow top would have been better for us. It’s rated medium, making it ideal for combination sleepers. With the pillow top, there’s extra pressure relief for side sleepers, which would have been better for Dillon (and me since I also occasionally sleep on my side).Standard: Suppose both of you sleep predominately on your backs and stomachs (or are heavier) and prefer a firmer bed. In that case, we recommend checking out Avocado’s base model of the Luxury Organic (the one we slept on). We rank this around a medium-firm on the firmness scale, so it provides enough support to keep your spine neutrally aligned. If you and your partner are heavier individuals with varying sleep positions, this will likely feel a little softer and could be a great option.
Keep in mind that the plush model with the pillow top is an additional $800 for a queen-size, and the ultra-plush model with the box top adds $1,600 to the price tag, bringing the total for a queen-size ultra-plush Avocado Luxury Organic mattress to an MSRP price of $6,599.
If you’re considering the standard version of the Avocado Luxury Organic but it’s a little out of your budget, we recommend checking out the Avocado Green mattress instead. For less than half the price of the Luxury Organic, it has a similar construction and feel. Depending on your preferences, you can also choose to add a pillow top or box top to the Avocado Green bed to make it softer.
Our key takeaways
An unexpected takeaway from this experience is that Dillon and I sleep hotter than we initially realized. Moving forward, we’d like to try a mattress with cooling technology to see if it helps us sleep better and longer.
As hot sleepers, Dillon and I would like to try a mattress with cooling technology.
Dillon Lopez/CNET
Going into the trial, Dillon knew he’d prefer a soft mattress that would allow him to rest comfortably on his side, which was confirmed again. I could also benefit from a slightly softer mattress, as I spend more time on my side than I initially thought at the beginning of this series.
It wasn’t perfect for us, but we still highly recommend Avocado and its high-end mattresses. If you’re looking for a luxurious and organic mattress with sustainably sourced materials — and it’s within your budget — the Avocado Luxury Organic with an added pillow or box top could be an excellent choice for you and your partner. Additionally, if you live in a colder climate or tend to sleep cool and want to stay warmer and cozier at night, this mattress could help you retain some body heat with its organic cotton and wool cover.
How many beds will it take to find the perfect one for us? Stay tuned for the next mattress in our 30-Night Mattress Testing Series: Casper Snow.
