This Grandma-Approved Mattress Topper Is a Guest Room Essential

Recently, my roommate moved out, and for a couple of months (because my rent is a great price for a two-bedroom and it would have been more expensive to move — that’s NYC apartment hunting for you!), I had an empty second bedroom. My friends referred to it as the rec room. 

It actually came in handy in the spring because I hosted lots of visitors. I scored a second bedframe from my neighborhood’s No-Buy group, bought a cheap mattress to go on it, and turned the “rec room” into a bona fide guest room with a very minimalist setup (but a little better than an air mattress, IMO). 

The problem was that the mattress I selected was perhaps a little *too* cheap and actually more low-profile than I realized. It got the job done but I panicked when my 82-year-old Nana came to visit me. 

She’s super spry and walked tens of thousands of steps around New York City every day, took the subway (including climbing all the stairs that accompany the subway), and walked up the stairs to my fourth-floor apartment. But I wanted her to have an ultra-comfy bed that wasn’t too low to the ground to crash on at the end of the day, so I added a mattress topper: Sleepyhead’s Super Topper with CoolTech 2.0 Cover.

One of my favorite design features of this mattress topper was evident before I even opened the packaging. It came rolled up in a compact, tall box with handles, which made it easy to carry up all the stairs of my apartment and would also be perfect for something like college move-in day. My full-sized mattress topper was 24 lbs in the box, and the Twin XLs are even lighter.

It has adjustable straps in the corners and grippy little beads on the bottom, so it won’t slide around on top of your mattress. I love that I was able to unroll and hoist the topper on top of this full-sized bed myself. 

The mattress topper added an extra three inches of oomph (plus cooling capabilities!) to my sad little 6-inch-tall mattress. The result? Nana loved it and told me she slept great each night! 

I, too, have slept on the mattress topper (go ahead, sleep in your guest room for a night!), and I can attest that the Super Topper is super soft and super foamy, so you melt right into it. If you prefer a more firm mattress, then this is probably not for you. If you’re a hot sleeper, then this is for you. It kept me perfectly cool and I even slept without AC (in the spring), but this would help cool you in the sweaty summertime, too.

Sleepyhead — based on its marketing — is actually more geared toward college students, but I can confirm that it’s lovely for ages 18 to 82! 

Well, I’m something of a sleepyhead myself, and I love a memory foam mattress. For my main bedroom, I have a Tuft & Needle mattress (not this one, but similar) I love and will sing its praises forever, but I can honestly say that adding a foam topper to my cheapo guest mattress (sorry, guests) gave it nearly Tuft & Needle vibes (you’re welcome, guests).

I have also been to college recently-ish, and experienced an out-of-state college move-in day. I know that it’s worth it to have something compact, that can be shipped straight to your dorm, and that’s just easy. This mattress topper is exactly that, and everyone in your hall will be jealous of how comfy your bed is, especially because most dorm “mattresses” are plastic-covered pieces of foam that look more like rafts than beds. I think you’ll definitely want something to supplement your standard-issue mattress, whether one of Sleepyhead’s options or an alternative.

Pros: 

• It’s the Cadillac of college mattress toppers and certainly more comfortable than your basic egg crate-looking setup. 
• You can wash the detachable cover — a plus for college, where your bed is also sometimes your couch and your desk and even your dining table. 
• Speaking of, it’s also odor-resistant and pest-resistant. 

Cons: 

• The Super Topper is kind of pricey. My full-sized mattress topper retails for $519, which, for me, was more expensive than the mattress underneath it. A Super Topper Twin XL ranges from $369 to $469.

Insider tip: The codes APARTMENT60 & DORMTHERAPY60 (or SLEEPYHEAD60) will save you $60 until the end of July.

It’s an investment, so I’d think about it that way. I’d definitely recommend the Super Topper if you know you’ll keep your mattress topper all throughout school, if you’re a sensitive sleeper, or if you’re beyond college and away from the overall dinginess of dorms and are looking to upgrade a mattress you already own.

Buy: Sleepyhead’s Super Topper with CoolTech 2.0 Cover