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Some community members in a recent discussion mentioned difficulties with finding plush/soft spring/sprung mattresses, or even mattress pads/toppers. Looking around here and elsewhere online, this seems to be a common complaint among visitors and expats in Portugal. Others here have referred to Casa & Jardim as an option, but the product descriptions there are confusing ("firm yet balanced and soft"???), not to mention cost-prohibitive.
Ikea is frustrating, as they plush spring mattresses in other countries (US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, for example--Belgium, Italy, and UK have medium/semi-firm), but Ikea will not ship those to Portugal because Portugal has Ikea stores, even if those stores only carry firm and extra-firm mattresses. Portugal is not alone in this respect, as Spain, France, and Germany at least appear to have the same problem with their Ikea stores.
Does anyone know of other options for getting soft or plush (or at least medium/non-firm) spring mattresses in Portugal at a reasonable price? When I see Algarvian specialty furniture shops charging 1K-2K EUR (not including VAT or domestic shipping) for certain items that I can presently get stateside for 200-500 USD, it makes me wonder if it could make sense in terms of time and money to get those newly purchased (e.g., from Amazon or another retailer) and shipped from overseas, or delivered from elsewhere in the EEA at least. Is international shipping of newly purchased mattresses ever a viable option, assuming a budget in the triple digits?
I used to prefer firm mattresses myself, but that changed following some back/neck injuries, and now I usually need some forgiving surfaces to sleep on. I am aware of alternatives, such as all-foam mattresses, air mattresses, foam/rubberized toppers over firm surfaces, etc., but those have their own sets of trade-offs. I have found springs (preferably pocket springs) to be the best compromise for me thus far, as long as they are not too firm.
Decent foam/air mattresses seem cheap and plentiful in Portugal, so I may ultimately have to resort to those if there's no reasonable way to get a softer pocket-spring mattress in Portugal. I just would be curious if anyone in the Expats Portugal community of late may have had better luck finding soft spring mattresses on the Portuguese market or nearby. Thanks in advance!
as you mentioned Amazon is a possibility. They have a decent amount and shipped from Spain. If you have prime you can even get free delivery on a lot. I personally bought a king size mattress topper from them and got it free delivery within 2 days.
Excellent recommendations thus far (thanks again)! It's good to have more options to consider. A lot of the trends now appear to include multi-elastic/continuous pocket springs, as with Emma, Molaflex, etc., so that may be worth checking out in person (maybe at El Corte Inglés or wherever I can) when possible.
I may also have to check out the Spanish version of Amazon Prime. At every American address where I've used Prime over the last several years, it's been a bit of a joke where the deliveries are delayed or lost (or cost extra) at least as often as without Prime, often as a result of the different last-mile logistics involved, so being a Prime member was typically not worth the (ever-increasing) membership dues. It will be interesting to see how the Iberian deliverers compare with those in the States.
@dxj Amazon Spain is less than half the price for prime compared USA. it was 36 euros and has gone up to 50 euros which is for me still a no brainer given I get a lot of next day or 2 day deliveries as well as Amazon prime video and music. So far never had any lost or delayed deliveries and I've ordered dozens of items. (I would prefer to spend locally but a lot of stuff I just can't get locally or it would mean a 1hr train trip to get to a shop that does sell it or require a car to transport it which I don't have) Saying that your mileage may vary depending on your location, I'm very near the Spanish border.
