Hypnos Pillow Top Select mattress review – tried and tested

If you know your Greek gods, then you'll know that Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep, so I went into this Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress review with some pretty high expectations.

Hypnos the god encouraged deep sleep via a 'horn of sleep-inducing opium', however, I was hopeful that Hypnos the brand would have an alternative means of lulling me into a restorative slumber. And, thankfully, it delivered. In fact, the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress offered the best night's sleep I've had in a long time. And as I test the best mattresses on the market for a living, that's saying something.

Hypnos is a British manufacturer with over 100 years of pocket-spring mattress and bed-making know-how under its belt. The brand has a Royal Warrant and is the only bedmaker to actively supply all of the royal residences including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, St. James Palace, Balmoral Castle, Sandringham House, The Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Kensington Palace.

The brand's mattresses are also used by Soho House hotels, and up until early 2023 all Premier Inn beds were made by Hypnos, so the mattress-maker knows a thing or two about delivering a good night's sleep. 

Hypnos mattresses are made the traditional way and with a focus on natural and sustainable materials – every Hypnos mattress is foam-free and 100% recyclable. The Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is one of the brand's bestselling 'entry-level' mattresses. It features a pocket-spring mattress topped with a handstitched and hand-tufted 'pillow top' comfort layer that's packed with British wool, and responsibly sourced natural plant-based fibres Himalayan allo, kapok, and cotton. 

Read on to find out why it passed our sleep tests with flying colours...

Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress review

Specifications

• Type: Pocket spring with pillow top
• Materials:  Pocket spring with Solotex™, British wool, eOlus™ recycled fibres, Himalayan allo, kapok, and cotton fill
• Memory foam: No
• Sizes: Small Single, Single, Small Double, Double, King, Super King
• Comfort level: Medium
• Height: 29cm
• Side handles: Yes
• Flip or rotate: Rotate only
• Manufacturer sleep trial: varies by retailer

Hypnos Select Pillow Top Mattress | starting from £1479 RRP
Available in small single, single, small double, double, king, and super king options.

View Deal

How I tested

Amy Lockwood

I'm Amy the Ideal Home team's Sleep Editor. My job involves putting all manner of products through their paces to find the best recommendations for a good night's sleep, whether that's the best duvets for overnight comfort or the best pillows for your preferred sleeping position. I tested the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress for over six months in my own bedroom, sleeping on it night after night to assess its comfort, motion isolation, temperature regulation, and edge support in comparison to the best-in-class mattresses reviewed in Ideal Home's best mattress guide.

As different sleep styles suit different mattress types, here are my sleep details: 

Usual sleep position: front or side
Tension preference: medium-firm to firm
Sleep problems: overheating, shoulder pain
Height & weight: 5ft 10 & 70kg

Construction

The Hypnos Select Pillow Top is a pocket spring mattress with a pillow top; that's a sewn-on upper layer of padding designed to add extra comfort. Or, in Hypnos' words, 'A pillow top mattress is designed to provide a softer, more sumptuous feel. These single-sided mattresses feature a sewn-in topper, full of comfy fillings, that cocoon your body as you sink into a blissful and relaxing night's sleep'.

If you're looking for an alternative to an often-too-warm hybrid memory foam mattress, but want a little more sink-in comfort than a pure pocket spring mattress can deliver, then a natural-fill pillow top mattress is a great alternative for a cushioned yet breathable sleep experience.

According to Hypnos, its Select Pillow Top mattress features 'ReActivePro™ 6-turn pocket springs that independently sense your shape and weight distribution and provide Triple Edge Protection™ enabling use of the whole surface area of the mattress'.

In addition, the pillow top layer is handcrafted with 'layers of Solotex™, up to two fleeces of wool traceable to British farms and certified to the Responsible Wool Standard, and Adaptiv™ comfort springs that flex to your body movements. This pillow sits atop a deep layer of Himalayan allo, kapok, and cotton to provide a sumptuous feel'.

And, good news for those looking for chemical-free sleep, 'the cotton sleep cover on the mattress is infused with a chemical-free treatment derived from natural extracts, which means the mattress can meet fire retardancy standards without the use of strong chemical fire retardants'.

The specifications promise good things, so I was eager to see how this mattress fared in practice.

Delivery

Unlike most foam-only mattresses which can be rolled into a convenient box for delivery, the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is delivered flat, wrapped in a sheath of what looks like plastic, but the brand promises is actually eco-packaging derived from plants. 

There's no denying that a mattress-in-a-box can be convenient if you have an awkwardly shaped hallway or twisting flight of stairs for the delivery team to navigate, but, as long as you've got your access measurements correct, then there shouldn't be any delivery issues and no decent pocket spring mattress actually benefits from being rolled.

Once unwrapped, manouevring the mattress onto the bed is made easy thanks to two side handles on the left and righthand sides and two more sturdy handles both top and bottom – a super useful feature that most cheaper mattress brands tend to scrimp on to keep profits high and prices low.

The pillow top means it's easy to tell which way you need to put the mattress on the bed, and means this mattress doesn't need flipping, only rotating from time to time.

Once on the bed, it's easy to see that this is a quality mattress, from the hand-tufted pillow top surface finished with flat woolen pompoms to the hand-stitched seams.

The natural materials that fill the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress also mean that there's none of the unpleasant chemical offgassing smell that tends to go hand-in-hand with unpacking a memory foam mattress. Great news, if like me, you find this pungent memory-foam aroma a headache trigger. 

What's more, although this mattress is packed full of natural fillings – including up to two fleeces of British wool – unlike the wool-filled Woolroom Hebridean 3000 mattress I recently reviewed that had a strong 'sheep' smell that lingered for months – the Hypnos Select Pillow Top had no smell at all on unpacking. Bliss! 

Even better is the fact that the Select Pillow Top mattress meets the necessary fire retardancy regulations thanks to an odourless treatment derived from natural extracts – perfect if you prefer a chemical-free sleep surface.

So, mattress in place on the bed, now all I needed to do was put it to the all-important sleep test.

Comfort

Not only do I test mattresses for a living, meaning I'm fairly hard to impress on the mattress front, but I'm also a fairly tricky customer to please on the sleep front. 

I switch between side and front sleeping during the night which are two positions that really require two different mattress types – a softer sleep surface that cushions joints and allows shoulders and hips to sink into the mattress a little to keep the spine aligned when side sleeping, and a firmer sleep surface that prevents hips from dipping too low and pressure being put on the lower back and neck when front sleeping. (Caveat; front sleeping is generally frowned upon by physiotherapists and osteopaths, so don't do as I do if you can help it).

I also have some shoulder pain after recently tumbling down a hill whilst hiking, so a firm sleep surface that suits front sleeping can soon become uncomfortable if I lie on my side. 

Generally, I'd recommend a memory foam mattress for anyone who side-sleeps with shoulder pain, as the cushioned support that moulds around hips and shoulders is great for easing aching joints. However, my biggest sleep problem is overheating, so I usually find foam and memory foam mattresses too warm for comfort. 

I need a breathable and temperature-regulating mattress to get my best night's sleep, and – despite all the innovative ways synthetic mattress manufacturers try to prevent the common problem of synthetic mattresses reflecting heat and moisture back toward the sleeper – I still find natural fibres do the best job of keeping me cool throughout the night. 

However, natural fibres usually mean a pocket spring mattress, which can be a little on the firm side for side sleeping. 

The Hypnos pillow top mattresses change all that, by delivering a pocket spring base layer with a cushioned top layer that emulates the experience of a hybrid memory foam mattress (i.e. a synthetic mattress with a pocket spring base and memory foam top layer) but with natural materials.

Whilst the pillow top doesn't cocoon your body in quite the same way as a memory foam mattress – in my opinion, the Tempur Sensation mattress delivers the best body-hugging experience in this regard – that pillow top layer does offer a very welcome layer of softness and cushioning. It gives the mattress a far more luxurious feel than your standard pocket spring construction and makes it the kind of sleep surface that elicits an exhalation of satisfaction when you lie down.

That said, at no point did I feel 'enveloped' by the pillow top, which can often be the case with a memory foam mattress. As memory foam becomes more pliable the warmer it gets, body heat activates the memory foam to mould to your body, making you feel a little like you're sinking 'into' the bed depending on the memory foam's firmness level. If you struggle to keep your bedroom cool in the summer, then the warm ambient room temperature will also make a memory foam mattress even more pliable – potentially exactly what you don't want mid-heatwave when you're already feeling rather hot and bothered and don't need to be hugged by anyone, least of all your mattress!

Even better – and good news for me – the added softness of the pillow top layer didn't make the mattress too soft for front-sleeping. The pocket spring base layer still delivers enough support to keep your spine well aligned without hips sinking in too low, as they might with a memory foam upper.

For me at least, this is the Goldilocks and the three bears of the mattress world from a comfort perspective – not too soft, not too firm, instead, just right. The mix of pillow top comfort layer and supportive pocket spring base creates a sleep surface that's that rare combination of being comfortable for both side, back, and front sleepers. 

All in all, the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is a great all-rounder in the comfort stakes.

Temperature regulation

As previously mentioned, a mattress that offers good temperature regulation is a must for me.

It took learning a little about materials science for me to realise that the synthetic and memory foam mattresses I had been sleeping on – and the lack of breathability of these materials – were the main factors behind my disturbed sleep. I'd often wake up around 3am because I was too hot and sticky under the covers, and this interruption of my deep sleep cycle left me feeling tired and unrested. 

Our bodies naturally give off heat and moisture during the night, and with a synthetic mattress, this heat and humidity is often reflected back toward the sleeper. Whether foam or memory foam, a synthetic mattress is made of materials that are some variation on polyester or polyurethane – both of these forms of plastic derived from petroleum – and, if you think of their essence as being similar to a plastic bag, it's easy to see why a synthetic mattress can lack breathability and get hot and sweaty pretty quickly! 

As such, most synthetic mattress manufacturers spend a lot of time and money trying to come up with innovative ways to combat the lack of breathability of these man-made synthetic fibres. However, natural fibres, like wool and cotton, are breathable by default.

Wool especially does a great job at regulating temperature throughout the night when close to the body – and no wonder, seeing as a sheep's temperature-regulating fleece has specifically evolved to keep the sheep warm in the winter and cool in the summer! 

Wool is also adept at wicking moisture away from the body and releasing it into the air, therefore creating a breathable sleep surface that's ideal for hot sleepers. This built-in temperature regulation is perfect for those prone to overheating or who are troubled by night sweats as it helps the body to maintain a comfortable, steady temperature, and therefore delivers a deeper, less-disturbed night's sleep.

The pillow top of the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is packed with wool – up to two fleeces of British wool in its largest sizes in fact – along with a mix of Himalayan allo, kapok, and cotton, that all help to create a cushioned yet lightweight and breathable top layer. The outer surface of the Hypnos Select Pillow Top is also covered in woven natural cotton, another breathable non-synthetic fibre.

Beyond the materials used in the mattress construction, a cool, deep sleep is all about creating airflow throughout the mattress. This is needed in order to dissipate body heat and wick away humidity during the night, and below the natural-fill pillow layer, the Select mattress' pocket spring base is designed to aid in keeping the mattress well-vented. 

In Hypnos' words, the use of 'a single continuous pocket spring creates a ‘bellows-like’ affect that drives cool air around the mattress and facilitates greater hygiene. This extra breathability ensures better ventilation, helping to reduce moisture and maintain a comfortable body temperature for a healthy, relaxing and energising night’s sleep. In addition, eOlus™ recycled fibres, alongside the pocket springs, allow air to flow around the mattress and moisture to dissipate'.

The mattress also features neat metal air vents around all four sides of the mattress – 16 in all on the double mattress – to allow heat to dissipate from the centre of the mattress and fresh air to penetrate and keep things aerated.

However, none of these attributes matter if they don't work in practice. 

The good news if you're searching for a cool night's sleep, is that I haven't overheated once since sleeping on this mattress. The only time I've woken feeling too warm was when I swapped my usual wool-filled duvet – I recommend the Floks wool duvet collection or Woolroom's wool-filled duvet range – for a lighter-weight synthetic duvet during a heatwave.  (Despite the synthetic duvet's thinner fill, it didn't work, the wool duvet was still far more breathable in the heat).

If, like me, you consider yourself to be a hot sleeper, I highly recommend giving a natural-fill mattress a try, and the Hypnos Select Pillow Top is a winner in terms of both breathability and temperature regulation in my eyes.

Motion isolation

If you share your bed with a partner, then a mattress with good motion isolation is essential for getting a better night's sleep. Motion isolation reduces the reverberation of movements through the mattress, so if you or your partner toss and turn at night, that means you're less likely to wake each other up.

Pure foam and hybrid memory foam mattresses are particularly good at motion isolation as the solid foam layer dampens movement. Motion isolation becomes a little more tricky with a sprung mattress, as those springs are designed to provide the mattress with bounce, and that bounce can easily travel from one side of the bed to the other. 

To combat this, the Hypnos Select Pillow Top firstly uses pocket springs rather than coil springs. Pocket springs are housed in individual pockets and designed to operate independently of each other, as opposed to coil springs that are connected to each other and move as one unit. Pocket springs, therefore, reduce the likelihood of movement travelling across the mattress, plus they prevent two sleepers of different weights who are sharing a bed from rolling towards each other.

Secondly, Hypnos uses what it calls a 'ReActivePro™ pocket spring system, where each spring has 6 active turns'. As the brand explains, 'the more active turns in a single continuous pocket spring the greater its ability to sense the exact comfort and support requirement of you and your partner, seamlessly and smoothly spreading vertical downward pressure'.

And thirdly, there's the pillow top, which adds an extra layer of movement-absorbing cushioning to the mattress.

In practice, this meant the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress delivered a good level of motion isolation in our tests. 

The movement dampening isn't as good as a pure foam mattress can deliver – the all-foam Tempur Sensation mattress or all-foam Emma Original mattress are the best mattresses we've tested in this regard – but it was certainly good enough to provide an undisturbed night's sleep with two in the bed.

And, if you want more movement dampening from your mattress without going the foam route, then the Hypnos Elite Pillow Top and Hypnos Luxe Pillow Top mattresses both add an additional layer of cushioning natural latex to the mix to absorb movement even further.

Edge support

I'd always recommend opting for the largest mattress your bedroom and budget allow so that there's plenty of space in the bed and no one is sleeping on the edge of the mattress. However, shrinking home sizes and tight purse strings mean a super king mattress is rarely a viable reality.

If you do find yourself gravitating towards the outer edges of the mattress, then good edge support is what will keep you from rolling off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. Edge support should also keep your from body waking you during the night because it senses that you're about to plummet to the ground, which can be almost as disruptive to a good night's sleep as actually falling!

Edge support is also important if you're someone with reduced mobility who can find getting out of bed a little trickier.

The Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress addresses edge support with its Triple Edge Protection™, a system that uses higher tension pocket springs along the mattress edges to keep your body within the mattress borders.

This worked brilliantly in our tests, with the mattress remaining a flat surface with no dipping at the edges – even when I pushed my luck and laid with half of my body overhanging the mattress edge.

Sustainability

Like all consumer product industries, the mattress world is awash with dubious sustainability claims. In recent years, mattress manufacturers have been quick to jump on the eco-friendly bandwagon to attract customers looking to shop more sustainably, but often a little digging reveals more green-washing and marketing spin than actual sustainability efforts.

Much 'sustainable' mainstream mattress manufacture currently revolves around the use of recycled plastics as opposed to the creation of more and more virgin plastics. A definite step forward, but still a long way from anything truly sustainable or regenerative.

However, with over 100 years of mattress craftsmanship in its stead, Hypnos has long opted to use more environmentally friendly means of manufacture – such as pocket spring mattresses that use natural fill rather than foams or memory foams. And in recent years the brand has invested in several initiatives that serve to demonstrate its commitment to more sustainable design and production. 

The brand's latest mattress launch, Origins, is its most ethical and sustainable mattress collection yet. As the brand states, 'At Hypnos, we firmly believe a more eco-friendly mattress can be more than just recycled polyester. Fibres made from recycled water bottles play a role in our sustainable mattress designs, but natural materials have many advantages for the environment, being both renewable and biodegradable. Our Origins collection features traceable fillings which are responsibly sourced and certified by accredited initiatives such as Better Cotton Initiative, the Forestry Stewardship Council, Global Recycled Standard and Red Tractor Food and Farming Standards'.

Hypnos goes on to say, 'Sustainability is at the heart of our business and runs through everything we do. Over the past 11 years, we’ve undergone a comprehensive sustainability journey that saw us become the first carbon-neutral bedmaker in the world'.

The brand was also the recipient of the Queen's Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development in 2020, and in 2021 was the first bed-maker to be recognised by the National Bed Federation's (NBF) “Sustainability Award” for its leading position within the industry and its responsible and sustainable ethos.

Sustainability is a very important factor for me in my purchases. However, most of the natural mattresses I've tested so far have been... well, let's just say it's amazing how multiple weeks of poor night's sleep, a bedroom that smells strongly of sheep from natural wool filling, and mattress-induced backache can make you reassess holding eco-friendly manufacture as the most important principle in your mattress search. 

So no one could be happier than me to discover that none of that applies with the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress.

Whilst the mattress isn't entirely made from natural fibres, they do feature heavily in the mix, and Hypnos states that where it does use synthetic polyesters, 'We use polyesters that have been recycled'. 

The Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress' pillow top layer combines British wool alongside what Hypnos says is 'responsibly sourced' Himalayan allo (a type of giant nettle that's fibres are revered for both their strength and silk-like lightness), kapok (a cotton-like plant fibre procured from the seed pods of trees), and cotton. 

Also in the pillow top is the manmade material Solotex™, which is a polymer that the brand says 'unlike foam, allows moisture to dissipate through the mattress to aid breathability' and Adaptiv™ springs that the brand states 'provide comfort rather than the foundational body support which is provided by the ReActivePro™ pocket springs'. 

You'll find these ReActivePro™ pocket springs in the main part of the mattress, along with eOlus™ recycled polyester fibres.

Hypnos states that the whole of the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is recyclable at the end of its lifespan, and now packages its products in eco-packaging derived from plants.

Price comparison

The Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is one of the brand's most affordable mattresses. However, prices start at £1479 RRP and reach £2466 for the super king size, so 'most affordable' certainly doesn't mean cheap. 

That said, natural fill and hand-tufted mattresses are pretty much always more expensive than synthetic mattresses, and in the grand scheme of more-sustainable-than-most mattresses, the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress is still at the more affordable end of the price scale. 

You can find cheaper natural-fill mattresses, for instance, the Woolroom Beulah mattress currently starts from £775 RRP, but that could mean some sacrifice in comfort.

Unfortunately, cheaper synthetic mattresses that have a high cost in terms of environmental damage, still tend to be the most affordable mattress options for the majority of us. A real problem that needs to be addressed, and quickly, with the impending climate crisis.

However, if you have the budget to do so, then 'voting with your cash' and using your consumer spending power to invest in the brands that are, in turn, investing the profit from your purchase into developing more environmentally-friendly products and processes can be a way to 'change the world for the better'. As such, it might mean that paying a little more for a mattress like the Hypnos Select Pillow Top is worth it for you.

Hypnos mattress deals

Unlike many mattress manufacturers – we're looking at you Simba and Emma mattresses –  Hypnos doesn't tend to rely on regular price-slashing deals to drive sales. Instead, it lets its mattress quality do the talking. 

That said, as the brand sells to consumers via third-party stockists, that doesn't mean that its retailers won't run sales of their own. 

Our mattress deals page breaks down all of the best times of the year to look out for mattress sales – in particular, think Black Friday and the January sales – so if your mattress purchase isn't urgent then timing your investment with a sales event could mean you can pick up a great Hypnos mattress deal for less.

Verdict

Overall, I'm very impressed by the Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress. 

Its comfort levels are excellent, and the pairing of that cushioned pillow top with the support of a responsive pocket spring base makes for a great sleep. For me at least, this is that unicorn of the mattress world – a rare find that's comfortable for both side, back, and front sleepers.

Thanks to the natural materials used in its fill, and its airflow-enhancing pocket spring system and ventilation features, I also find the Select Pillow Top highly breathable. For me, this means it delivers a great night's sleep as my temperature is regulated throughout the night leading to a deeper and more restful sleep.

The Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress' motion isolation is also good, if not quite as impressive as an all-foam or hybrid memory foam mattress. However, personally, I'd rather sacrifice a little movement dampening to avoid the hotter sleep, off-gassing, and less sustainable materials that are part and parcel of sleeping on a foam mattress.

And, if sustainability is important to you too, then Hypnos as a brand has strong sustainability credentials. For the most part, the Select Pillow Top mattress utilises responsibly sourced biodegradable natural materials as fill rather than non-biodegradable foam, doesn't use chemical fire retardants, comes in eco-friendly packaging, and can be fully recycled at the end of its lifespan. 

What are its downsides? Well, although I love the comfort of its pillow top design, some might question whether a sewn-in pillow top offers the best longevity longterm. As the pillow top layer is stitched firmly in place, it can't be replaced, so if, over time, the pillow top layer should become compressed in your regular sleep positions then that means the whole mattress would need replacing. 

As an alternative, you could opt for a pocket spring mattress and add your own mattress topper. This would mean you could flip the mattress to use both sides, whilst the detachable mattress topper would offer similar comfort to the pillow top and could be more easily replaced should it become unevenly worn. This could potentially prolong the mattress' lifespan, making for both a more sustainable purchase and a more savvy investment.

That said, I haven't yet tested a natural-fill mattress topper that's as comfortable as the Hypnos Select's pillow top layer. I'll let you know if I do. And although I haven't yet tested this mattress for long enough to see how it performs several years in, Hypnos gives the Select Pillow Top a fairly lengthy guarantee, which is reassurance as to its quality.

All things considered then, I think the Hypnos Select Pillow Top is a great buy. 

The mattress will particularly suit hot sleepers who need breathability, those looking for an alternative to the now ubiquitous memory foam hybrids, eco-conscious consumers searching for a more sustainable mattress choice, and, like me, tricky customers who need a mattress that's comfortable whether you sleep on your side, front, or back. The Hypnos Select Pillow Top mattress delivers on all counts.

Hypnos Select Pillow Top Mattress | starting from £1479 RRP
Available in small single, single, small double, double, king, and super king options.

View Deal