Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Eco Pillow Top Mattress review: a supportive, plush option for the guest room

If you’re looking for one of the best mattresses to upgrade your guest room, the Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Eco Pillow Top Mattress from Dreams is one to consider. This mattress has 1,000 supportive pocket springs and while it may be firm, it comes with a quilted pillowtop that gives it a nice comforting finish. It’s a great choice for the master room, but I’ve found it a particularly reliable option for the guest room as its firm and supportive nature will keep all sleeping positions happy.

I’ve tested numerous roll-up foam mattresses in the past from the likes of Simba, Emma and Nectar, so testing the Silentnight pocket-sprung design that is delivered fully formed came as a welcome change. I trialled it for a month to find out just how comfortable and durable its structure is.

As it comes at a very reasonable price and I was keen to see if its Mirapocket support system layer that features 1,000 individually housed pocket springs could keep my body evenly supported. I wanted to see if its pillow-top cover could keep me sleeping soundly and whether its breathable eco-comfort layer kept me at the optimum temperature. I’ve rated it on price, design, performance, motion control and edge support and noted how easy it is to dress, clean and rotate.

Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Mattress review: price and availability

A well-respected brand in the UK homeware industry, Silentnight has been trading since 1946 and offers a wide range of bedding products including duvet covers, heated blankets, bed toppers and pillows. While Silentnight sells a wide range of foam, pocket sprung and hybrid mattresses, the Newbury 1000 Pocket Eco Pillow Top Mattress is one of the brand’s latest pocket-spring additions.

It comes in a range of sizes including a single, small double, double, king and super king. At the time of writing, it costs $392 / £299 for a double at Dreams, which is down from its usual RRP of £399. MattressNextDay and Mattress Man also sell the mattress with very similar credentials, albeit without the Newbury branding and with differing guarantees and sleep-trial durations.

Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Mattress review: Set up

Unlike the majority of all-foam mattresses I’ve tried, the Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Eco Pillow Top Mattress comes fully formed and doesn’t need to be unraveled. Ordering online is easy to do and the Dreams delivery team were swift at bringing the mattress into the house and placing it on the bed. The mattress arrives protected in plastic packaging that can be easily removed so that the bed can settle in place ready for the first night’s sleep.

I ordered a small double and set it up on a wooden slatted bedframe in my guest room. The 27cm depth of the mattress suits the frame nicely, but I think this mattress would work equally well on a divan too.

After taking it out of the plastic, I was glad that there was limited off-gassing to contend with, which is that new factory smell you can sometimes get with a brand new mattress. I dressed the mattress with cotton bedding in the way of a mattress protector, duvet cover and sheets from both Simba and Nectar and teamed it with a Soft as Down Soak & Sleep pillow, which seemed to complement the mattress well.

Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Mattress review: Design

A cosy choice for anyone who likes their mattress on the firmer side, there are four layers to this 27cm firm deep design that is handmade in the UK. It comes with a fitted pillow top that feels smooth and tactile underhand and while it isn’t removable, it can be spot cleaned if needed to keep it looking fresh.

Beneath its comforting top layer is an Eco Comfort fibre section – made from recyclable flame-retardant plastic bottles. It’s designed to provide even support while helping to maintain the breathability of the mattress to regulate temperature and keep sleep comfortable. This sits on top of a Mirapocket support system that has 1,000 individually wrapped pocket springs designed to evenly distribute weight and provide good edge support. Completing its design spec is a protective base layer that helps to disperse pressure from each of the springs above and create a stable base.

Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Mattress review: Performance

I set this mattress up in my guest room and slept on it for four weeks to see how comfortable it felt, how easy it was to share with my partner and whether it helped improve my sleep quality. While it’s firmer than what I’d normally go for, I was impressed with just how well I slept.

A firm mattress with a pillow top to keep both sides happy

While this is a firm mattress, it’s finished with a quilted pillowtop cover so it doesn’t feel as rigid as some firm mattresses can. I sleep on my back and side and prefer a medium-firm mattress and given the chance would always add a mattress topper to make my bed softer. But I share a bed with a partner who prefers a firmer feel and sleeps on his front – and if I tamper with the bedding to make it ‘cosier’, there are always complaints.

I think having a built-in topper on this mattress helps provide a good compromise between firm and comfy. It provided good pressure relief and we both felt equally supported. My partner who’s predominately a front sleeper, found it particularly comfortable. While we tested this mattress at the start of winter, so far it’s breathable structure has ensured we’ve never felt too hot in the night.

Edge support does the job

Good edge support is integral to a mattress to provide as much sleeping space as possible and stop you rolling off the sides. It also helps when you’re getting in and out of bed and allows you to sit for a moment on the sides before you get up to start your day.

While the pillow topper on this design makes the edges of the mattress a little less solid than one without, I found the edges maintained their structure reasonably well as I was getting in and out of bed. We slept on a small double version of this bed, which didn’t give us as much sleeping space as we’re normally used to on a king size. But we both found that the edges held together well and we felt evenly supported from head to toe.

Limits motion so your sleep won’t get disturbed

I tested the motion isolation technology of this mattress using a 5kg weight to test how well it does to limit movement across its surface. To do this, I placed an empty wine glass on the mattress and dropped it at intervals to see whether the glass buckled.

From 25cm away, the glass stood tall, but when dropped the weight 5cm away it finally caved. This indicates that while the motion isolation technology is good, it’s not perfect. This was reflected in my experience sleeping on the mattress too and the closer I got to my partner next to me, the more I noticed him turning. That said, I slept well on this mattress and once I was fast asleep nothing could get in the way of me and my dreams.

Easy to move, clean and dress

While it doesn’t come with handles which seems a shame, I found the small double version of this 27cm deep mattress is relatively easy to move. It only needs rotating (as opposed to flipping) weekly for the first three months to keep it in shape – and then monthly.

The top cover can’t be removed but it can be spot cleaned, but it’s always advisable to protect your mattress with a good-quality cover. The topper is tactile and nicely fitted right up to the edges to make it feel more luxurious and inviting. It doesn’t flap around or protrude too much at the edges, which makes the bed easier to dress and place fitted sheets at the corners too. When you’re tired and need sleeping, it’s small details like this that always feel like a win.

Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Mattress review: verdict

For anyone who likes a firm mattress, I think the Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Eco Pillow Top Mattress is a great budget buy. At the time of writing, a super king costs under £350, which I think is good-value for a breathable, firm pocket sprung mattress that does well to support from head to toe.

Silentnight Newbury 1000 Pocket Mattress review: alternatives to consider

While this mattress is doing a great job in my guest bedroom, its pillow top finish may not be suitable for everyone. If you're looking for a firm option in this price range that doesn’t include a topper, I think the Aspire Advanced Temperature Control Mattress is a good option to explore. It too has 1000 pocket springs in its breathable design.

Alternatively, for something a little softer, but equally supportive the Panda London Hybrid Bamboo Mattress is a positive option to consider. I found its 25cm depth balanced, breathable and very easy to dress with bed linen when you’ve got guests arriving imminently.