Why You Can Trust CNET Best RV Mattress for 2023
Our team of sleep experts has tested hundreds of mattresses, and we've selected our favorite picks so you can get a great night's sleep -- no matter where your adventures take you.
Enjoying life on the road is much easier when you're enjoying a good night's sleep while in the RV. With the best RV mattress for your space and your sleep style, you'll find it a little easier to catch some z's while making memories. Space can be very tricky when trying to fit more things into an RV, so make sure to measure before going through with your purchase.
Best Presidents Day mattress deals
Presidents Day sales are here. If you’re looking to spend less on your next mattress, now’s the time to snag a premium bed from a well-known brand. Our mattress experts have rounded up all the best Presidents Day mattress deals here.
Three of our favorite sales include up to $600 off Saatva mattresses, 50% off DreamCloud and 40% off all Nectar mattresses.
What is the best overall mattress for RVs?
The best overall bed for RVs is the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Mattress, and it was actually a pretty simple choice. Our team of mattress experts love the Brooklyn Bedding Signature mattress for its combination of near universal comfort, hybrid design, firmness options and value price point.
Not only is it a great hybrid bed, but it, and many mattresses from Brooklyn Bedding, are easily available in non-standard sizes, which we don't typically see with other brands. Odds are there will be a size available that works for your RV, including three RV King' size mattresses, short full and Olympic queen among others.
I have actually recommended this mattress to people in my personal life and it's always been a hit.
Best RV mattress: Video
Best mattresses for RVs of 2024
Mattress price scale:
$ = Budget: $799 and below
$$ = Average: $800 to $1,699
$$$ = Premium: $1,700 and up
These reflect MSRP or list prices. Sales might make a mattress less expensive, but are always changing.
Why we picked the Brooklyn Bedding Signature mattress: This bed is already one of our most highly regarded mattresses on the market. So much so it's featured on our overall Best Mattresses list. It is about 12 inches thick and features pocketed coils as its main support layer. Coils provide some extra bounce and airflow in comparison with a mattress with foam support, and the coils provide more long term support and durability.
The top comfort layers are a blend of proprietary foams from Brooklyn Bedding and those plus the coils gives the Signature mattress an accommodating neutral, hybrid feel that most people really like or can at least get by on.
The biggest reason we chose this mattress though is that it comes in a large variety of sizes beyond the standard twin, full, queen and king. It has three RV specific sizes that are common to a lot of RV manufacturers, and alternative full and queen sizes. The specific dimensions are available on Brooklyn Bedding's website so you can be sure of the fit.
The Signature also has an optional "cloud pillow-top" that costs up to an extra $400 in the larger sizes and $200 in smaller sizes like twin. We've done a whole video on this optional feature on the Aurora Luxe Mattress you can check out. It's nice to have but not really necessary in my opinion, and it will increase the height of the mattress, which isn't always ideal for an RV or camper.
Additional details
Type: Neutral Hybrid
Firmness: 3 firmness levels | Soft: Medium to Medium Soft or 4 | Medium: Medium or 5 | Firm: Medium-firm or 7
Trial: 120 nights
Warranty: 10-year warranty
Price scale: $$
Pros
- Accommodating feel
- Three firmness options
- Unique sizes for RVs
Cons
- Could potentially be too tall for certain RV setups
Why we picked the Dreamfoam Essential mattress: Dreamfoam is actually a sub brand of Brooklyn Bedding and the Essential mattress is the most affordable bed from Dreamfoam and it also features a plethora of size options.
It has 10 different RV specific sizes, including "RV King" and "RV Bunk" sizes in addition to alternative full and queen sizes. I would be surprised if you can't find an appropriate size for your RV with the Dreamfoam Essential.
It also comes in a variety of height profiles ranging from 6 inches to 14 inches so you can choose the one that best fits; however, the height profile will significantly affect the firmness profile. The thinner profiles will be firmer than the thicker ones.
The feel of the Dreamfoam Essential is a classic memory foam that you'll sink into and get a body conforming quality that is also slow to respond.
Additional details
Type: Memory foam
Firmness: 5 firmness levels (based on mattress height) | 6 inches: Firm or 10 | 8 inches: Medium-firm to firm or 8 | 10 inches: Medium-firm or 7 | 12 inches: Medium or 5 | 14 inches: Medium to medium-soft or 4
Trial: 120 nights
Warranty: 10-year warranty
Price scale: $
Pros
- Huge variety of sizes for RVs
- Multiple height profiles
- Affordable price point
Cons
- Thinner models (6- and 8-inch) are quite firm
- All-foam design makes it not ideal for heavier people
Why we picked the PlushBeds EcoGreen 8-inch mattress: As a brand, PlushBeds is more well known for its organic full latex beds, the Botanical Bliss and the Natural Bliss, but it also has a set of RV specific mattresses.
Full disclosure, we haven't actually gotten our hands on this specific mattress, but we chose the EcoGreen 8-inch because it has virtually the same design and uses the same materials as beds we've tested, but it comes in RV specific sizes.
The latex foam in this mattress will have a springy, spongy feel that will provide plenty of comfort and cushion while being super responsive as well. Latex foam has a dissimilar feel to memory foam so if you love the sink-in quality of memory foam then a latex bed might not be for you, but for everyone else, I think you'll find it comfortable.
Additional details
Type: Latex foam
Firmness: Medium-firm or 7
Trial: 120 nights
Warranty: 10-year warranty
Price scale: $
Pros
- RV specific sizes
- Natural latex foam
- Affordable price
Cons
- Latex foam feel isn't universally comfortable
- All-foam design makes it not ideal for heavier people
Why we picked the Leesa Studio mattress: Leesa is one of the most popular online mattress brands on the whole, and the Studio mattress isn't one they tend to emphasize on its website.
The bed's construction is similar to the more popular Leesa Original, only instead of memory foam being in the middle layer, the memory foam is the top layer. This means the mattress has a responsive memory foam feel that fans of the sink-in sensation should enjoy, but I also think that people who don't love memory foam should be able to sleep fairly comfortably too, it has a nice balance.
Its firmness profile is also accommodating landing between a medium and a medium-firm in our testing so most people should be able to sleep comfortably in any position on the Leesa Studio.
It doesn't come in any RV specific sizes however, but if you have the space for a standard size mattress in your RV, I think it's a great option at an affordable price point.
Additional details
- Type: Memory foam
- Firmness: Medium to Medium-firm or 6
- Trial: 100 nights
- Warranty: 10-year warranty
- Price scale: $
Pros
- Responsive memory foam feel
- Leesa is a certified B corporation
- Budget friendly
Cons
- No RV specific sizes
Why we picked the Helix mattresses: Helix is one of my personal favorite brands, and it's pretty easy to recommend to people because it has so many options available.
In total, it has 19 different Helix branded mattresses on its website, which sounds like a lot, but it's actually pretty easy to understand. It has six different mattresses in its "core collection" and upgraded "luxe" and "elite" versions of those beds. They also have a sleep quiz you can take to help narrow down which of the six beds should work best for you.
We chose to recommend the core models because there should be one that works for every sleeping preference, they're the thinnest of the three collections to better fit in RVs, and they're pretty affordable.
Helix beds don't come in RV specific sizes though so keep that in mind if you're interested in Helix.
Additional details
Type: Hybrid (varies by mattress)
Firmness: Varies by mattress
Trial: 100 nights
Warranty: 10-year warranty
Price scale: $$
Pros
- Huge variety of options
- Sleep quiz to help you find the right mattress
- Hybrid design
Cons
- No RV specific sizes
What to consider when buying an RV mattress
You should ask yourself a few questions when considering a new mattress for your RV, trailer or camper van. Finding something comfortable is priority No. 1 because even if you seldom sleep in your RV, you should still be comfortable.
Mattress size
This is probably the most important thing to keep in mind when shopping for a RV mattress. Space is much more limited in a vehicle or trailer, and depending on the manufacturer, it might not accommodate standard sizes like queen or king.
So before buying anything, make sure you precisely measure your available space for a mattress and decide accordingly. If a standard mattress size doesn't fit, that would eliminate quite a few options.
The height of the mattress is also something to consider. If the mattress space in your RV is in a loft for example a thicker, taller mattress could make you feel cramped and uncomfortable so choosing a thinner mattress would be more ideal.
Durability
The durability of a mattress is something we strongly consider when recommending beds, which is why we often recommend coil beds. Durability is still an important factor for RV beds, but it will be less of a factor depending on how often you actually sleep in it.
If you live in an RV, trailer or camper full time, or spend months at time on the road, a less durable mattress isn't a great idea, but if you only sleep in it a few weeks out of the year, then you can probably afford to go with a super affordable foam mattress like the AmazonBasics.
How we tested the best mattresses for RVs
Our team of experts has a very extensive mattress testing process. You can read about it here.
For this particular list, we looked at a variety of factors and paid special attention to mattresses that are available in non-standard sizing specific to RVs.
Mattress feel
Probably the two most important things we test for are a mattress' firmness rating and feel. The feel of a mattress is dependent on its construction, especially the top layers, although we don't always agree with what the brand says their bed feels like.
Getting an idea of your feel preference can be a little tough without trying a huge number of beds. If you're unsure of what feel you prefer, going with a mattress we describe as "neutral" is generally something most people like because it's unspecific.
Mattress size
Not many brands we test have non-standard sizes, or RV specific sizes available so the ones that do have priority for this particular list.
Brooklyn Bedding and their sub-brand, Dreamfoam, has many mattresses that come in RV king and RV bunk sizes and "Olympic queen" size, which is slightly wider than a standard queen (66 inches x inches" versus 60 inches x 80 inches), a "Short queen" size which is slightly shorter (60 inches x 74 inches) and "Short full" (48 inches x 74 inches versus 53 inches x 75 inches).
Other brands like PlushBeds have RV sizes as well (and possibly other brands we haven't tested), but Brooklyn Bedding has the widest variety, which is why they are well represented on this list.
Other mattresses we've tested
For all of our best lists we have to make the cutoff somewhere, but here are a few picks that we considered but didn't quite make the cut but are also solid picks.
AmazonBasics Mattress: This is one of the most affordable beds we've ever tested, and it's solidly comfortable, especially for the price. Our concerns with this bed are primarily with durability as it uses "egg-crate" or "convoluted foam," which we don't often see and doesn't come with a traditional 10-year warranty.
I don't recommend the AmazonBasics mattress to folks intending to sleep on it every night (unless you just need the most affordable mattress available), but if you're going to be sleeping on it only occasionally, then I feel good about recommending it.
DreamFoam Doze: The Doze is actually more affordable than the DreamFoam Essential (depending on the thickness you select), and I personally find it a bit more comfortable, but that's subjective. It also comes in some RV specific sizes, just not as many as the Essential. It's a great option at a very low price point, but we felt the Essential was a slightly better pick.
Plank Mattress: this mattress has a flippable design and both sides are meant to be quite firm, so it's really only appropriate for back and stomach sleepers. If you're looking for an ultra firm mattress for your RV, this does have a handful of RV specific sizes and an optional cooling cover.
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