Nolah Original vs. Nectar
Few things feel as good as a quality night’s sleep. This is especially true if sleep seems to escape you continuously night after night.
If you’ve heard about all foam mattresses and all their ability to provide extraordinary comfort and rest, you may wonder if one of them could possibly improve the quality of your sleep.
In this review, we’ll be comparing Nolah Original and Nectar, the two highest quality foam mattresses present on today’s market, to help you realize all the benefits of all-foam mattresses and pick the right one for you.
Both Nolah Original and Nectar mattresses are durable and extremely comfortable, coming in at a fraction of the prices of the in-store brands. Both sleep quite cool and both can provide you with sound and undisturbed sleep, but which can better suit your needs and preferences? Let’s find out. Last updated
Nolah Original
The Nolah Original mattress is unique in that it delivers the benefits of memory foam without the use of the memory foam. Nolah created their own proprietary foam, Nolah Air Foam, which sleeps cooler than memory foam and is more durable than latex.

Nolah Original mattress
Construction and Materials
The Nolah Original mattress is 10″ thick and made up of 3 layers of proprietary foam:
- 2″ Top Comfort Layer – This layer is 2″ of proprietary cooling Nolah Air Foam designed to provide superior pressure relief and comfort and ensure cooling during sleep. It will contour perfectly to your body without making you feel trapped in foam.
- 1″ Transition Layer – This layer is 1″ of deep supportive high-resilience foam that is stronger and more durable than latex. It provides a healthy and responsive bounce and aids in transitioning motion between the upper and lower layers.
- 7″ Support Layer – This layer is 7″ of high-density breathable base foam that provides durability and stability to the mattress, excellent support as well as deep compression support for the body.

Nolah Original mattress layers
The cover of this mattress is a new snow-white Botanic Origin Tencel cover. It is a sustainable cellulosic cover of botanic origin that has a nice soft textured pattern and feel to it.
Firmness and Support
The Nolah Original is a universal comfort model and it only comes in one firmness option, which we rate at a 6-7 out of 10 (10 being the firmest). It initially may feel a little bit firm, but after a week or two, it totally adapts to your body.
This model is ideal for all sleeping positions as it offers enough give in the top comfort layer to support your shoulders and hips and has the necessary firmness if you switch to your back or stomach.

Nolah Original mattress, corner view
Comfort
Although the Nolah Original mattress initially feels rather firm and not as cushioned, as time passes your body adapts to it and molds to memory foam.
The Air Foam and the other layers in its construction work well together to provide the classic memory foam feeling of body hug and contour without causing you to feel trapped in a mattress.
The layer of high-resilience foam does a good job of supporting your body and providing good responsiveness when changing positions during the night without causing excessive motion transfer.
Sleeping Hot
The Nolah Original does a good job at creating a cool sleeping surface due to the use of the proprietary Nolah Air Foam. It retains a minimal amount of heat which is typical for most all-foam mattresses, but it’s nothing too serious to cause a sticky, sweaty feeling and deprive you of sleep.
Sinkage and Motion Transfer
With the Nolah Original mattress sinkage and motion transfer are reduced to the minimum. Andrew who is 230 lbs compressed the mattress to a certain degree, but he did not sink all the way down through it and come to rest on its foundation which is often the case with other all-foam mattresses.

Nolah Original mattress – profile
Edge support is also good with this mattress as edges don’t compress when sitting or lying near them, and they don’t cause the feeling of rolling off the bed.
Smell / Off-Gassing
The Nolah Original had an average amount of off-gassing when taken out of the box and packaging. This is to be expected due to its all-foam nature and the fact that it is delivered wrapped in a plastic package within a box, but any smell that was present dissipated within a few hours.
Customer Service:
- 120 Night Sleep Trial Period
- Lifetime Warranty
- Made in America
- Free Shipping
Price
This model is reasonably priced coming in at $799 for a Queen, which is a good price given the quality materials used in its construction.

Click here to read the full Nolah mattress review.
Nectar
Construction and Materials
The Nectar is an 11″ all foam mattress made up of 4 layers of various foams.
- 1″ Top Comfort Layer – This layer is 1″ of quilted foam that is sewn into the cover that is designed to improve airflow and relieve pressure points, while providing softness and a luxurious feel to the top, and it also provides pain relief.
- 1″ Support Layer – This layer is 1″ of 4lb patented Lush Foam semi-open fast-recovery gel memory foam, which provides primary support and aids in cooling and comfort.
- 3″ Transition Layer – This layer is 3″ of 3lb medical grade cooling gel embedded foam that acts as a transitional support layer between the upper and lower layers and also aids in cooling.
- 6″ Foundation Layer – This layer is 6″ of high-density foam that acts as the foundation and provides deep compression support.

Nectar mattress layers
The cover of the Nectar mattress is made up of soft, long staple cotton that includes Tencel – a fabric more absorbent than cotton, softer than silk, and cooler than linen. It adds to the soft and luxurious feel of this bed, allows the circulation of air through the upper layer to improve airflow and circulation, and is naturally resistant to bed bugs.

Nectar mattress cover
Nectar Sleep is unique in that it offers its customers the option to replace the cover at no charge. Therefore, if the existing cover wears out, you don’t have to spend your money on buying a new mattress when you can simply replace the cover.
Firmness and Support
The Nectar mattress, like the Nolah Original, only comes in one firmness option which is medium-firm, and scores 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale, with 10 being the firmest.
Its top comfort layer provides a soft, luxurious feel, while the underlying support layers made of dense foam provide firmer support below and do not allow heavier sleepers like Andrew who is 230lbs to press through the top comfort layers and come to rest on the base support layers.
The Nectar provides good support for all sleeping positions. It provides the necessary support for back and stomach sleeping and it provides enough give in the top comfort layer to perfectly hug and mold to hips and shoulders when sleeping on your side.

Nectar mattress – side view
Comfort
The Nectar is a very comfortable mattress. The top layer with its Tencel cover provides a soft and supple sleeping environment, while the layers below consisting of gel foam and adaptive foam support and contour the body during sleep.
These underlying layers also provide the needed response when switching positions during the night and a nice degree of push-back and bounce ideal for late-night amorous activities of couples.
Sleeping Hot
The Nectar mattress does a good job at reducing heat, sleeping cool, and eliminating sweating and the feeling of stickiness present with many other memory foam mattresses. This is due to the multiple gel-infused foam layers and the quilted foam within the cover that allows easier circulation of air.
Sinkage and Motion Transfer
The Nectar does a pretty good job in this category. It does not cause too much sinkage when lying or sitting on the mattress due to the high-quality dense foam layers used in its construction.

Nectar mattress – profile and logo
Edge support with this mattress, like with the Nolah Original mattress, is also good, and it prevents you from rolling off of the bed when sitting or sleeping near the edge.
Motion transfer with the Nectar mattress is almost non-existent due to its all-foam construction known for its capability of reducing the motion transfer when adjusting positions or getting in and out of bed during the night.
Smell / Off-Gassing
Nectar gets high marks in this category too for not having any noticeable smell upon opening the box. There is not much off-gassing and odor with this mattress as it is the case with many other memory foam mattresses, and any smell present dissipates within 24 hours.
Customer Service:
- 365 night Trial period
- “Forever Warranty” for the life of the mattress
- Free Shipping
- 100% money back guarantee for Returns / Refunds
Price
Nectar is reasonably priced, coming in at $799 for a Queen. This is a great price for a mattress of such high quality.

Click here to read the full Nectar mattress review.
Nolah Original vs. Nectar Mattress Comparison
Below is our comprehensive side-by-side comparison of the Nolah Original vs. Nectar mattress.
Nolah Original | Nectar | |
---|---|---|
Layers | 2″ of proprietary cooling Nolah Air Foam, 1″ of deep supportive high-resilience foam, 7″ of high-density breathable base foam | 1″ of quilted foam, 1″ of 4lb patented Lush Foam, 3″ of 3lb medical grade cooling gel embedded foam, 6″ of high-density foam |
Height | 10" | 11″ |
Cover | A new snow-white Botanic Origin Tencel cover | Soft, long staple cotton including Tencel |
Firmness | 6-7 out of 10 | 6 out of 10 |
Support | Very good | Very good |
Motion Transfer | Very minimal | Very minimal |
Price-Queen | $799 | $699 |
Price-King | $899 | $799 |
Warranty | 15 years | Everlong warranty |
Trial Period | 120 days | 365 days |
Shipping | Free shipping | Free shipping |
Refunds & Returns | Yes | 100% money back guarantee for Refunds & Returns |
Which Mattress Is Right for You?
Choose Nolah Original mattress if you like:
- Memory foam feel – As it has been already mentioned, this mattress offers a classic memory foam feel without the actual use of memory foam. The company created their own Nolah Air Foam which sleeps cooler than memory foam and is more durable than latex. It perfectly molds to your body and provides a hug typical for memory foam mattresses without causing you to feel trapped.
- Supportive mattress – The Nolah Original mattress does an excellent job at supporting your body in all sleeping positions. It will not compress too much under your weight, and it will not cause you to sink down to the foundation.
- Sharing your bed – With this mattress, there is almost no motion transfer which means that it is perfect for couples. So, if you plan on sharing your bed with a partner, the Nolah Original mattress may be the right pick for you. It will allow you to move freely around your bed and get in and out of it during the night without disturbing the sleep of your beloved one.
Choose Nectar mattress if you like:
- A medium feel –The Nectar comes in only one firmness option, which is a medium-firm scoring 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale, with 10 being the firmest, and it is suitable for sleepers of different firmness preferences and different weights.
- A full memory foam mattress – The Nectar is a full memory foam mattress composed of the highest-quality memory foam layers. It offers the sleepers many benefits of traditional memory foam such as deep compression, pressure relief, more hug and contour, minimal motion transfer, etc. while at the same time provides enough support and eliminates the feeling of being trapped in foam that many classic memory foam mattresses cause.
- A very supportive mattress – As it has been already mentioned, this mattress offers enough support for all sleeping positions which makes it ideal for sleepers of different weights.
- Responsiveness and bounce – The underlying gel foam and adaptive foam layers of the Nectar mattress provide the needed response when switching positions during the night and a nice degree of push-back and bounce ideal for late-night amorous activities of couples.