I Wish This $56,000 Mattress Wasn't So Incredible.

New York Times

14-02-2025

Most Presidents' Day deals are lousy. Our experts are rounding up the select few that are actually worth it.
As Wirecutter's resident sleep expert, I've tested nearly a hundred mattresses, including a dozen of those in my own home. I've slept on everything from affordable beds-in-boxes to $10,000 mattresses made from materials developed for NASA. While I have found decent, even wonderful, options across the spectrum, none have compared to the Hästens 2000T.
It also costs $55,780.
To be clear: Wirecutter, in general, is not in the business of recommending any product that would be so out of reach for so many. And I live in a basement in Brooklyn. So spending over $50,000 on anything is a massive ask, nearly comically beyond my general spending habits and those of many of our readers.
But the Hästens mattress had been a white whale, something I'd wanted to try since I had started testing mattresses for Wirecutter, nearly three years ago. I knew they were high-end pieces with a devoted following. Drake owns one that costs as much as a one-bedroom co-op. And I wanted to know: How good could these mattresses be? (Considering their price, they'd better be good.)
I figured Hästens would have more-accessible options that we could group test for our innerspring mattress guide. Not quite.
The more I learned about these mattresses—how they're crafted and maintained, along with their extraordinary cost—the clearer it became that they weren't suited to our typical mattress-testing protocol. So Linus Adolfsson, co-founder of the Sleep Spa, which sells Hästens mattresses, offered me a slightly different setup than usual. I would undergo a 'Sleep Spa Experience,' to pair me with the right mattress, which Hästens would lend me (along with a box spring and headboard, which brought the cost to over $75,000), so I could test it for a longer period of time.
As I do with anything I cover, I adhered to Wirecutter's ethics policy: I would return the mattress at the end of the testing period, and I made no promises of a review. Six months later, I'll just come out and say it: The 2000T turned out to be far better than I could have imagined. But it really made me wonder: What price can we put on our sleep?
Each Hästens bed is handcrafted and made from natural materials: horse hair, wool, flax, cotton, and steel coils. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
Hästens (derived from the Swedish word for 'horse') was founded in 1852 as a saddle-making business, and it eventually shifted to luxury bed-making in the 20th century. All of its mattresses are handcrafted from the same base materials: horsehair (hence the name), wool, flax, cotton, and steel coils. The company claims that each mattress is 'sustainably produced and ethically sourced.' Though I couldn't track down where it sources its horsehair from to verify this myself. But a big selling point of this mattress is that it should last a lifetime, if not longer.
Horsehair is the star of the show in every Hästens mattress. The horse mane and tail strands are heat-treated, braided, and steamed to create a permanent curl—an expensive process, according to Hästens and a Chinese-based supplier, Tallie. The curls are dense enough to create a loose, springy structure that feels airy yet supportive. The fibers are hollow, which helps the mattress feel breathable by wicking away moisture and excess heat. Hästens isn't the only source for ultra-pricey horsehair mattresses; other companies include Vispring, Kluft, and the Bronx-based mattress manufacturer Charles H. Beckley, among others. But Hästens is arguably the best known of these status-symbol mattresses, recognizable by its peppy, royal-blue plaid ticking. The plush topper sits snugly on top of the mattress. Hästens recommends flipping and rotating it frequently to avoid depressions. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
Because of the company's very specific dogma of matching you with the right bed, Hästens usually requires potential buyers to try mattresses in person before they buy one. So I embarked on a 'Sleep Spa Experience' at the company's flagship store in New York City's SoHo neighborhood. There are 13 mattresses in the line, ranging from $14,000 to $600,000. And I was able to try each mattress at my own pace, in a dimmed room, swaddled in a down comforter, with two pillows for my head and one for my knees (crucial for a side-sleeper). Ambient music played gently in the background. Adolfsson was lying on a bed across the room, guiding me to scan my body to assess the feeling in my hips and back. If the mattress felt unsupportive or too soft, we moved on to the next one. Compared with the fluorescent lights and eager salespeople of mattress depots, shopping at Hästens felt like a meditation session in a cool, quiet studio—relaxed, unrushed, fully focused on the internal sensations of my body.
After 45 minutes, I landed on the 2000T Soft. The mattress by itself is designed with a simple cotton cover; the tufting creates peaks and valleys that can't be felt through the topper. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter As a sleep expert, I have tried nearly 100 mattresses. None of them have come close to the cushion and support of the Hästens. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
I know from years of mattress testing that comfort is subjective, and no single mattress will work for everyone. That being said, sleeping on the 2000T feels like nothing I've ever felt before. When I settle in, the mattress conforms just enough for my whole body to sink into it, while what feels like a thousand little hands support me from below. The closest comparison I can think of is floating in a sensory-deprivation chamber. When I lie on the Hästens, I feel weightless, like I'm bobbing in a pool of water calibrated to exactly my body temperature. I can barely tell where the mattress ends and my body begins, regardless of what position I'm in.
Unlike the slow-sink of memory foam or the cushion of a padded pillow top, the horsehair in a Hästens mattress has a natural springiness, but it is just as soft and far more breathable. I'm a hot sleeper, and I never once woke up sweaty in the 2000T. Below the horsehair, 2,340 individual springs offer a sensation that is as delightful to experience as it is difficult to describe—but imagine being suspended in a tide of soft, shifting air, cradled yet free. I tested the mattress and topper (which together cost about $56,000), plus the box spring and headboard, which brings the total to about $75,000 for a king. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
I'm a loyal side-sleeper, so I've always preferred mattresses with a supportive foundation and a plusher topper for my hips and shoulders. My first great love as a sleep writer was the Stearns & Foster Estate PT Firm, a lofty, pillow-topped Wirecutter pick that allowed me to get comfortable on my side without my body feeling like it was being pressed up against the mattress. But even on that superb mattress, I often felt like I was sinking slightly downward, compressing its top plush layer until my hips neared the firm coils below. I never feel like that on the 2000T, which cradles my hips and shoulders while remaining supportive overall. Unlike memory foam, horse hair has a natural springiness that keeps you buoyant, even on the edge of the bed. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
The edge support is also impressive, considering how soft the mattress is: Sleeping near the side doesn't feel precarious, and sitting directly on the edge simply causes it to gently sink, not slump. I was initially worried that those 2,000-plus springs (which are great for support) would mean the mattress would transfer motion. High coil counts tend to make you feel like you're sharing a canoe on testy waters—every movement your partner makes is felt. But with its layered construction, the 2000T mutes the motion across the bed. The 2000T is both cradling and springy, so it's comfortable to sleep yet still easy to shift positions throughout the night. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
After a couple of weeks on the mattress, I could feel the materials start to compress together, creating lumps after I got up in the morning. But that's normal, assures Hästens, because its mattress requires regular, complimentary massaging . Yes, every mattress sold by Hästens comes with a 're-calibration program,' in which Hästens employees visit your home to loosen up the materials and redistribute them, to prevent the mattress from settling into a you-shaped valley. Each Hästens owner is entitled to this service for a decade or more. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
They remove the topper, flip the mattress, and then systematically tread across the surface in weighted steps, like they're marching. Then they knead it with their fists, before reapplying the topper and systematically rolling the edges in to redistribute the materials in an even layer. After each 20-minute 'massage,' I could feel the difference. The mattress again felt like the first day it was delivered to my home. Hästens owners are entitled to the company's recalibration program. The company sends a team to routinely fluff up your mattress, for decades. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
But the team can go even further, if needed. The 2000T felt a little too cushy at first, so I let Hästens know. In response, the next time the team came to my apartment to recalibrate the mattress, they re-tufted the entire thing by hand, functionally tightening each coil to adjust the bed to feel a little firmer than it was before. Again, I could really feel the difference, as if I'd swapped a soft mattress for a medium one without the hassle. The team members explained that they can do this procedure for only half of the mattress, too, which is ideal for couples with different firmness preferences.
After six months of sleeping on the 2000T, every night I crawl into bed, it feels like falling in love all over again. I get a rush as I slide in between the sheets, and sometimes as I snuggle in, I can't help but kick my legs in excitement, like a little kid. Then I drift off into another world and remain there, blissful, until my alarm goes off in the morning.

When you have a $56,000 mattress, word gets around. My bedroom became a destination. My mom and aunt drove four hours to sleep on the Hästens mattress, and said they would gladly make the trip again. My best friend, her sister, and her daughter (who has a particularly hard time falling asleep) all enthusiastically offered to house-sit—despite piling in three to the bed, they declared it the best sleep of their lives. Even my editor took the G train to my apartment one evening, heading straight to the Hästens to see what the fuss was all about. Although initially skeptical, she ended up lying flat on her back, remarking at how she felt like she was floating.
But ultimately, I can't tell you whether a Hästens mattress is 'worth it' in the same way Wirecutter might designate a nonstick frying pan or vacuum. I can tell you that the Hastens 2000T is the best thing I've ever slept on. But I'll probably never sleep on one again. Like the vast majority of us, I'll likely need to be content with any number of well-made, comfortable, even amazing mattresses that cost a tenth or even a hundredth of the price.
Instead, my experience with the Hästens made me think about the types of possessions we value the most.
I grew up with a piano, an upright Petrof with a rich mahogany finish that was the centerpiece of our living room. My parents came from families that couldn't afford non-necessities, and they wanted to give their children the gift of learning a musical instrument. The Petrof was a major investment for them, and, like the Hästens, it was one that required maintenance. I loved that piano, playing it for guests, marveling at its outer beauty and inner workings. But I played it for only a few years of my life before I inevitably grew up and moved away. Now, the piano is a silent relic, pushed into a corner of my parents' home.
We might stretch our budgets for a fancier car, marble countertops, an exquisite piano.
But we spend a third of our time on earth asleep. Our mattresses are among the most intimate, constant companions of our lives.
What if your most prized possession was your bed?
That's something to sleep on.
This article was edited by Christina Colizza and Courtney Schley.
What I Cover
Caira Blackwell is a senior staff writer covering sleep, and co-host of our podcast, The Wirecutter Show . She has spent countless hours testing more than 50 mattresses and has slept on nearly a dozen at home. Her work has been published in Nylon magazine, Okayplayer, and Narratively. When she isn't busy sleeping (for work), she's busy trying new recipes in the kitchen or reading in the sun.