The Hästens Difference: What Makes a $30,000 Mattress?

If you just glanced at the title before clicking on this article, you might assume I made a typo.

We’re talking about a three thousand dollar mattress, right?

Nope.

Folks, this is it: the king of mattresses.

You can’t find a reliable price anywhere online, but my sources tell me that the “average” model from Hästens’s lineup—the “2000T”—clocks in at about thirty thousand dollars.

They have some cheaper models (and some that are substantially more luxurious), but since all of their mattresses share some common features, any specificities I list will come from the 2000T.

What is Hästens?

Hästens is a Swedish mattress company with a tremendous reputation for luxury craftsmanship.

They’ve been in business since 1852, which they’ll be sure to tell you if you ever visit their website!

They’re very proud of their long history, and once you learn that they’re the Royal Purveyor of beds to the monarchy of Sweden, it’s easy to understand why!

What’s more, Hästens is family owned.

It’s been in the same family for six generations, ever since the company was founded.

Their process hasn’t changed too much in all those years, either.

The methods of discerning craftsmanship that go into a Hästens mattress have been passed down from one generation to the next, ensuring that no wisdom is lost.

Hästens uses traditional, artisanal methods in constructing their beds.

Every stitch is sewn by hand by master artisans, using long needles designed expressly for the purpose.

That may sound like an awful lot of trouble just for a mattress, but you have to consider the company’s target demographic!

They aren’t selling beds to the average Jan on the street.

No, Hästens is the epitome of luxurious furnishings.

They cater to the wealthy: kings, billionaires, luxury cruise lines—in short, the sort of people who can afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a bed.

In fact, their clientele is so exclusive that you can’t order a Hästens bed online.

You have to visit a brick-and-mortar store just to know how much each model costs!

And since everything is made by hand in a craftsman’s enclave in Sweden, the shipping costs must be astronomical.

But then, if you’re buying a Hästens, I suppose the cost of shipping is relatively negligible!

What Kind of Mattress is a Hästens?

The basic answer is that Hästens makes innerspring mattresses.

They use a pocket coil technique that’s not too dissimilar from what you’d find in a more affordable innerspring (though, of course, all of their components are assembled by hand).

The exact construction varies among models, with the relatively basic Marquis having, essentially, a layer of pocket coils and a few layers of padding.

(The padding is very important, but I’ll get to that in a moment!)

Their highest-end model, on the other hand, is so exclusive that I can’t find a cross section—but from the photos, it looks like it’s double stacked, with at least two layers of springs.

There’s one other key detail about Hästens products: strictly speaking, at least by our definitions, Hästens doesn’t make mattresses—they make beds.

They build the base and the mattress together, insisting one without the other just isn’t the same sleep experience.

The Hästens website offers a product that they call “mattresses,” but based on the construction of their full beds, these are more akin to mattress toppers (albeit very classy mattress toppers) than entire mattresses.

What’s Even In There?

I don’t know about you, but when I first heard that there was a $30,000 mattress on the market, my biggest question was, “what even goes into that?”

So much of a mattress’s price is determined by its materials, so I knew that whatever was inside a Hästens bed had to be something special.

But what?

Well, there’s certainly more layers than in your typical mattress, but the actual ingredients of each layer are simpler.

Horsehair is a key component of a Hästens bed.

(Don’t worry, it’s thoroughly cleaned before they use it!)

The layers of sturdy, curly horsehair, which make up their signature padding, provide a little extra bounce and a lot of extra cushion.

There’s also cotton, which provides all of the fabric that goes between layers and around the outside of the bed, and flax, which goes into the base and helps reduce pesky static electricity.

Of course, there are also metal springs, from the Bonnell spring system in the base to the individually-wrapped pocket coils of the support layers.

Really, the materials are simple!

The cost comes in when you consider the intensely high quality of those materials.

Everything is sustainably sourced, carefully processed, and combined by master craftspeople to create these top-tier mattresses.

There are zero shortcuts!

Is It Worth It?

That, dear reader, was my second question.

Unfortunately, it’s also one I’m unable to answer, since I can’t afford a bed anywhere near this price range!

However, based on the reviews I’ve been able to dredge up online, it seems like every reviewer had spectacular things to say.

And honestly, they’d better!

If a mattress is going to cost that much money, it ought to provide an extraordinary night’s sleep!

But that doesn’t really help answer the important question here.

Sure, a Hästens bed is great, but is it so much better than a regular mattress that it warrants a price tag higher than the one on my first car (not the one in the picture unfortunately)?

Well… for my money, the answer is no.

But that’s the thing—an item like this isn’t meant to be exponentially better.

It’s more of a status symbol than anything else—the sort of object you can own that says, “look, I have so much money I can afford to buy this very expensive mattress.”

It’s sort of like owning a luxury sports car!

In everyday use, a Lamborghini isn’t exponentially more pleasant or useful than a secondhand compact car.

But owning a sports car says something about you.

Mainly, it says, “I spent a lot of money on this car.”

But you know what? For some people, that makes it worth every penny.

If you are only looking for a way to improve your sleep though, you might find a cheaper solution starting to meditate (it’s free!) or by finding something that easily fits your budget like our picks here.

Conclusions

If you get a chance, I highly recommend visiting a Hästens store.

You might have to make a reservation if you want to test out the really top-of-the-line stuff, but you’d be able to find out for yourself what a $30,000 bed feels like.

It’s a great way to start a conversation at your next cocktail party!

Plus, aren’t you just a little bit curious?

And if you like me have other budget constraints, have a look at our popular Best Mattress Guide to find very good mattresses which are way more affordable.

Looking for more fun facts and useful tidbits about everything sleep? Check out our blog!

Spend wisely, friends, and as ever, happy sleeping!