Dunlopillo built its reputation on latex. Whole mattresses of the stuff, no springs anywhere. So the Elite Supreme 2340 Pocket is an odd one on paper: a two-tier pocket spring mattress from the brand everyone files under solid latex. Look at what's inside and there's no identity crisis. The latex has moved house, up into the comfort layers where your body first meets the bed.
The springs are the headline act. Two layers of them stacked one above the other, every spring sewn into its own calico cotton pocket, and the number on the label is both tiers added together. Calico is the old-fashioned way of doing this. Cotton breathes and it doesn't rustle under you. It's also the kind of detail you normally see on beds costing a good deal more than this one. The outer rows are wound from thicker wire, and the sides are finished by hand stitching that anchors those edge springs upright, so you can sit or sleep right at the edge without feeling tipped towards the floor.
The ticket says medium to firm. For two tiers of pocket springs under latex, I'd believe that.
Talalay latex pushes back as soon as you lie on it, so I'd expect none of the gradual melt that memory foam makes you wait through. Wool sits above it as a softer, natural kind of padding. Underneath, the springs keep the whole thing taut. On a medium to firm bed a light shoulder sits proud of the surface where it ought to sink in, so if you're light and spend most of the night on your side, try this in a shop before you commit. Heavier back and front sleepers are the people this build flatters.
The quilted top is where the marketing thickens. It's stitched with what Dunlopillo calls a thermic yarn, spun through with phase change material, and the idea is that it soaks up heat while you run warm then hands it back once you cool. Maybe it does. Phase-change fabrics have never convinced me. To be fair, the bed doesn't depend on the trick: wool and cotton breathe on their own, and a sprung core airs itself out every time you stir.
Got standard fitted sheets? They won't reach. At 33cm deep this needs the extra deep kind, so factor new bedding into the order. It's single sided, and the upkeep is a monthly rotate using the sewn-on turning handles. No flipping. Even with the handles, the depth and all that cotton and steel make turning it a two-person job. The guarantee runs to 15 years. It's handcrafted in the UK, and Dunlopillo carries National Bed Federation approval, for whatever weight you give industry memberships.
What strikes me is how out of step the whole thing is. Bargain beds advertise counts of four and five thousand by stacking rows of tiny coils inside the padding; here you get full size springs in cotton and a count that looks modest beside them. Back and front sleepers who are sick of replacing a sagging mattress every few years should put this on the shortlist. Anyone who wants a bed that swallows them whole, or something forgiving for a lighter frame, should spend the money on a gentler design.
