Dreams Mattress Review
The largest bed specialist in Britain, and the most practical way for most people to lie on a mattress before buying. The trade is that much of what it sells exists only there.
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Verdict
The largest bed specialist in Britain, with around two hundred stores, which makes it the most practical way for most people to lie on a mattress before buying. The trade is that much of what Dreams sells is made for Dreams, which makes cross-shopping on price genuinely difficult.
Buy it if
You want to try mattresses in person, you value delivery and old mattress disposal being handled, and you are willing to pay for that.
Avoid it if
You want to compare the exact model against other retailers. Many Dreams lines exist only at Dreams.
See the current Dreams offer
Dreams runs frequent sales and price promises. Check the specification, not the percentage.
No code needed. The discount is applied automatically at checkout. Opening the site in a new tab.
Dreams on Amazon UK
Not directly comparable. Amazon carries different brands at different terms.
No code needed. Prices on Amazon change frequently, so check the seller and the returns terms before you buy. Opening in a new tab.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Bed and mattress specialist retailer |
| Stores | Around 200 across the UK |
| Own brands | A substantial proportion of the range |
| Services | Delivery, assembly and old mattress disposal, usually chargeable |
| In-store fitting | Sleepmatch style bed-testing systems in most stores |
The scores
The most useful retailer in Britain for trying before buying, at a price for that convenience.
You are paying for stores, staff and logistics, and those genuinely cost money.
The widest selection you can physically lie on in one visit.
Exclusive lines make like-for-like comparison against other retailers hard.
Varies by product. Read the terms for the specific mattress before buying.
Handled properly, which matters more than people expect.
Trained and commissioned. Useful, and remember which of those two is paying them.
Why the retailer matters
Why the retailer matters more than the brand
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 your statutory rights sit with whoever sold you the mattress, not the manufacturer. Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time, and you have up to six years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to bring a claim, five in Scotland.
That is why this page exists. A good mattress from a retailer that argues is a worse purchase than an ordinary mattress from one that does not.
The exclusive lines problem
This is the single most useful thing to understand about buying from any large bed specialist, and it is not sinister.
A substantial part of what Dreams sells is made for Dreams, either under its own brands or as an exclusive specification of a manufacturer's model. That means when you try a mattress in-store and go home to compare prices, you frequently cannot, because the exact model does not exist anywhere else.
Every large retailer in every category does this, and the commercial logic is obvious. The practical consequence for you is that you should compare on specification rather than model name. Depth, spring count, spring type, comfort layers and firmness. If a Dreams exclusive has 1,200 pocket springs at 25 centimetres, look for 1,200 pocket springs at 25 centimetres elsewhere rather than for the same name.
Use the shop for what a shop is good at
The strongest argument for Dreams is that you can lie on things, and most people use that badly.
Fifteen seconds sitting on the edge tells you nothing. Lie down in the position you actually sleep in, for at least ten minutes, with a pillow of roughly the height you use at home. Ask for one. If you share a bed, go together and both lie on it.
What you are checking is whether your spine stays level, whether your shoulder or hip feels pressed, and whether you want to stay there. What you cannot learn in a shop is how it behaves at month three, which is what the trial period exists for.
Then take the specification home and check whether something comparable exists cheaper online. That is not exploiting the shop, it is the correct use of both channels, and the difference is often enough to matter.
Delivery and disposal are worth real money
Mattress disposal in the UK typically costs 20 to 40 pounds through a council bulky waste collection, and usually requires you to get the mattress to the kerb yourself. Around seven million mattresses go to UK landfill each year.
A retailer that takes the old one away, carries the new one upstairs and unwraps it is providing something with a genuine cash value that never appears in a price comparison. If you live in a flat with stairs, or you cannot easily move a 40 kilogram mattress, weigh that properly rather than treating it as a footnote.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
Bed retailers are frequently compared on headline discount percentages, and for retailers selling exclusive lines the percentage is close to meaningless. A discount is measured against a reference price the retailer sets on a product nobody else stocks, so there is no external check on either number. Compare specification against specification across retailers instead: depth, spring count, spring type and firmness. Those travel between shops in a way model names deliberately do not.
Should you buy it?
Yes for trying mattresses in person and for having delivery and disposal handled. For a lot of people, particularly anyone who has never been confident about firmness, that is worth paying for.
Take the specification away and check it against Otty and Origin before committing. Use the shop to decide what you want, then decide where to buy it.
Questions people ask
Is Dreams expensive?
You are paying for around two hundred stores, trained staff and logistics, and those genuinely cost money. The harder problem is that many Dreams lines are exclusive, so you cannot check the price elsewhere. Compare specification rather than model name: depth, spring count, spring type and firmness travel between retailers.
How should I test a mattress in a shop?
Lie down in the position you actually sleep in, for at least ten minutes, with a pillow roughly the height you use at home. Ask for one. If you share a bed, go together. What you cannot learn in a shop is how it behaves at month three, which is what a trial period is for.
Is it worth paying for delivery and old mattress disposal?
Often yes. Council bulky waste collection typically costs 20 to 40 pounds and usually requires you to get the mattress to the kerb yourself. A retailer that takes the old one, carries the new one upstairs and unwraps it is providing something with real cash value.