Best Cooling Mattresses for Hot Sleepers of 2023
Jun 20th, 2023 •
Few things can ruin a good night’s sleep like waking up in the predawn hours feeling hot, flushed and sweaty. Whether you’re dealing with night sweats or you’re just a hot sleeper in general, you need a mattress with great airflow and breathability to help you enjoy uninterrupted sleep. Many of today’s top-rated mattresses are up to the task, using everything from gel-infused foam to airflow-friendly hybrid designs to limit the amount of heat that gets trapped in the mattress.
We’ve tested more than 150 products and chosen our list of best mattresses for hot sleepers so that you can find the right temperature-regulating mattress. Compare our selections for top cooling mattresses, and then check out our buyer’s guide to pick up some tips for sleeping cooler and learn how mattress companies use science to help you chill out.
Best Mattress for Hot Sleepers: Our Top Picks
- Best Cooling Mattress for Couples – Cocoon Chill
- Best Cooling Mattress for Back Pain – Helix Midnight Luxe
- Best Cooling Mattress for Side Sleepers – Nectar
- Best Latex Mattress for Hot Sleepers – Saatva Latex Hybrid
- Best Hybrid Mattress for Hot Sleepers – Brooklyn Aurora Luxe
- Best Cooling Mattress for Athletes – Bear Original
- Best Memory Foam Mattress for Hot Sleepers – WinkBeds GravityLux
- Best Cooling Mattress for Seniors – DreamCloud Premier
- Best Cooling Mattress for Combination Sleepers – Nolah Signature 12″
- Best Cooling Mattress for Stomach Sleepers – Leesa Original Hybrid
Why You Can Trust Mattress Advisor
We hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in our product reviews and other content by incorporating real customer feedback, empirical testing, and objective evaluations. Our results and recommendations are never influenced by the commission we may receive from brands, and products we receive are never guaranteed a positive review.
When we evaluate mattresses for hot sleepers, we expand our review process to put additional focus on each product’s:
- Mattress Advisor cooling score. How it performed in testing, from 1-10
- Materials. Whether it uses latex, gel-infused memory foam, etc.
- Design. Whether it’s an all-foam mattress or a layered hybrid
See our recap to find out how our featured mattresses stack up against these criteria.

Cocoon
Best Mattress for Couples
Best for:
- Couples and co-sleepers
- Excellent motion isolation
- High responsiveness
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium-firm: 6/10
trial period
100 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Couples: The Cocoon Chill’s standout feature as a couples mattress is its excellent 9/10 motion transfer score. Its motion-isolating abilities should help you and your sleep partner shift and move without disturbing each other. Thanks to a 9/10 edge support score, couples can spread out and use the whole mattress surface comfortably.
Pros
- The mattress earns a 7.5/10 cooling score in our testing process, which isn’t bad for a memory foam bed.
- Its 8.5/10 pressure relief score is a promising sign for side-sleeper couples with aches and pains.
- The Chill incorporates some of Sealy’s signature cooling technology, including phase-change material that makes the surface cool to the touch.
Cons
- Although adding Extra-Chill Foam will improve cooling, this option costs extra ($99 for a queen size).
- With a relatively modest weight capacity (up to 500 lbs), it’s not the best option for plus-size couples.
Read our full Cocoon Chill mattress review or explore our top picks for the best mattresses for couples.

Helix Midnight Luxe
Best Mattress for Back Pain
Best for:
- People feeling back pain
- Healthy sleep posture
- Most sleeping positions
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium firm: 6/10
trial period
100 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Back Pain: A mattress that supports proper spinal alignment can do a lot to help alleviate back pain, and the Helix Midnight Luxe scored a 9/10 on our spine alignment test. Also, the Midnight Luxe has been endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association.
Pros
- The Midnight Luxe earns a near-perfect 9.5/10 Mattress Advisor cooling score, putting it in the elite class of mattresses for hot sleepers.
- The hybrid design combines pressure-relieving foam with supportive coils to cradle the body without letting you feel stuck in the foam layer.
- The pillow top is designed to absorb and then release excess body heat.
Cons
- Our testers give the Midnight Luxe a 7.5/10 motion transfer score, making it a less than ideal option for couples.
- The cost ($2,373 regular price for a queen size) could be a dealbreaker for budget shoppers.
Read our full Helix Midnight Luxe mattress review or check out our roundup of best mattresses for back pain.

Nectar
Best Mattress for Side Sleepers
Best for:
- Side sleepers
- Budget shoppers
- Lifetime warranty
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium-firm: 5.5-6/10
trial period
365 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Side Sleepers: Memory foam is perhaps the best sleep material for side sleepers, and the Nectar mattress uses foam infused with semi-liquid gel to help prevent body heat from getting trapped in the mattress. It also scores 8.5/10 in pressure relief, a good sign that it will gently contour to the shape of your hip and shoulder.
Pros
- The Nectar scores a 7.75/10 for cooling in Mattress Advisor testing, which is respectable for an all-foam mattress.
- The 6/10 firmness should accommodate many side sleepers and even some back sleepers.
- Nectar’s lifetime warranty and 365-night sleep trial far exceed industry standards.
Cons
- The Nectar’s 7.5/10 score in spine alignment is above average, but people with neck or back pain should take it into consideration.
- The optional NectarTech Extra Cooling Cover costs an extra $99 and is available only in select sizes.
Read our full Nectar mattress review or compare our top picks for the best mattresses for side sleepers.

Saatva Latex Hybrid
Best Latex Mattress
Best for:
- Fans of natural latex foam
- Back sleepers
- Free white-glove delivery
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium firm: 6/10
trial period
365 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Latex Mattress: The Saatva Latex Hybrid’s key feature is a 3″ layer of all-natural Talalay latex foam. Talalay latex is renowned for its bouncy responsiveness, and the Saatva design boosts the material’s natural breathability by adding ventilated airflow channels. Another benefit of natural latex is its ability to repel dust, mold, and other allergens.
Pros
- We give the Saatva Latex Hybrid an 8.5/10 cooling score, thanks in part to the ventilated latex and the airflow-friendly pocket coil layer.
- The 6/10 medium-firm feel and 9/10 score for pressure relief make this mattress a good choice for back sleepers and some side sleepers.
- With free white-glove delivery, Saatva takes care of setting up your new mattress and removing your old one.
Cons
- A queen-size Saatva Latex Hybrid costs nearly $2,200, not counting sales or discounts.
- Each Saatva mattress is made to order, so delivery could take up to 21 days.
Read our full Saatva Latex Hybrid review. To compare more latex beds, check out our roundup of the best latex mattresses.

Brooklyn Aurora Luxe
Best Hybrid Mattress
Best for:
- Hot sleepers who like a foam/coil blend
- Choice of three firmness options
- Restless sleepers
customer rating
our score
firmness
Available in soft (3/10), medium (5/10) or firm (7/10)
trial period
120 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Hybrid Mattress: The Aurora Luxe hybrid from Brooklyn Bedding incorporates a combination of gel-infused memory foam and breathable coils for a cooler sleep experience. The layer of TitanFlex foam is designed to respond to the body’s movements, while the coils help prevent the sensation of sinking too deep into the mattress.
Pros
- Our testers give the Aurora Luxe a sparkling 9.5/10 cooling score.
- Restless sleepers and combination sleepers will appreciate the Aurora Luxe’s responsiveness (9.25/10 Mattress Advisor score).
- Because it’s available in three different firmnesses (soft, medium, and firm), the Aurora Luxe should accommodate any sleeping position comfortably.
Cons
- With just a single 1″ layer of memory foam, the Aurora Luxe might not provide the same contouring feel as a regular memory foam mattress.
- The 7/10 pressure relief score is above average but maybe not ideal for side sleepers with hip pain or shoulder pain.
Read our full Brooklyn Aurora Luxe review or check out the best hybrid mattresses reviewed by our experts.

Bear
Best Mattress for Athletes
Best for:
- Athletes and active lifestyles
- Back sleepers
- People with allergies or skin sensitivities
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium firm: 6.5/10
trial period
120 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Athletes: A cool sleep environment is critical for people with active lifestyles, since their core body temperature tends to run a bit hotter than average. This memory foam mattress from Bear—a brand endorsed by numerous professional and amateur athletes—uses graphite gel foam to help you stay cool as you rest and recharge.
Pros
- The Bear Original has a 9/10 cooling score, especially impressive for an all-foam mattress.
- The cover is woven with breathable Celliant fibers designed to promote muscle recovery.
- At 6.5/10 on the firmness scale, this mattress should be a great fit for back sleepers.
Cons
- The results of our motion transfer test (7.75/10 score) suggest that couples might not have the most restful experience, especially if one of them is a restless sleeper.
- The typical side sleeper probably needs more pressure relief (7/10 score) and less firmness than this mattress offers.
Read our full Bear Original mattress review or check out our roundup of the best mattresses for athletes.

WinkBeds GravityLux
Best Memory Foam Mattress
Best for:
- Fans of “hugging” memory foam
- Multiple firmness options
- Solid edge support
customer rating
our score
firmness
Soft, medium, and firm options
trial period
120 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Memory Foam Mattress: All-foam mattresses feel too doughy for some sleepers, and the tendency to sink into the foam can cause body heat to build up. The WinkBeds GravityLux meets both issues head-on with its AirCell Memory Foam, which contains billions of tiny air capsules designed to provide responsiveness and breathability.
Pros
- The GravityLux performs better than most memory foam mattresses in cooling (8/10 Mattress Advisor score).
- The 9/10 scores for spine alignment and pressure relief are good news for people with back pain and joint soreness.
- The soft, medium, or firm options make it compatible with every sleeping position.
Cons
- The price of a queen-size GravityLux (nearly $1,800, not counting sales or discounts) could put it out of reach of some budget shoppers.
- Delivery typically takes about two weeks, which could feel like a long time if you’re in a hurry to replace your current mattress.
Read our full WinkBeds GravityLux mattress review or check out our roundup of the best memory foam mattresses.

DreamCloud Premier
Best Mattress for Seniors
Best for:
- Seniors (ages 65+)
- Side and back sleepers
- People with joint pain
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium-firm: 6.5/10
trial period
365 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Seniors: Many seniors have trouble sleeping as well as they once did, but the DreamCloud Premier has qualities that can help you meet those unique challenges. The six-layer hybrid tests well for gently cushioning pressure-sensitive areas, as well as helping you stay cool as you sleep.
Pros
- The Premier has an 8.5/10 Mattress Advisor cooling score, thanks in part to gel memory foam and a coil layer that promotes good airflow.
- If you have hip or shoulder pain, the 9/10 pressure relief score is a promising sign.
- Good edge support makes getting in and out of bed much easier, and the Premier scores 8.5/10 in that performance category.
Cons
- Regular price for a queen size is just over $1,800, something to be aware of if you’re on a tight budget.
- Setting up this heavy mattress is probably a two-person job, and Premium In-Home Setup costs $199.
Read our full DreamCloud Premier mattress review or check out our roundup of the best mattresses for seniors.

Nolah Signature 12''
Best Mattress for Combination Sleepers
Best for:
- Back/side sleepers
- Restless sleepers
- Pressure relief
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium-Soft
trial period
120 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Combination Sleepers: Combination sleepers need a mattress that allows them to move around and switch positions easily, so a high responsiveness score is essential. The Nolah Signature 12″ scored an impressive 9.5/10 on our responsiveness lab test, making it our top choice for combination sleepers in need of a cool mattress.
Pros
- We give the Nolah Signature 12″ an 8/10 cooling score, thanks to its temperature-neutral AirFoam and the organic, moisture-wicking cover.
- The top layers of AirFoam and high-resilience foam help the Nolah Signature earn an outstanding 9.25/10 pressure relief score.
- The medium-soft feel (4.5/10) is also a good match for side sleepers.
Cons
- Although better than average in spine alignment (7.75/10 score), the Nolah Signature might not be the ideal choice for people with neck pain.
- The Nolah Signature’s 6.6/10 edge support score is a discouraging sign for people who have trouble lifting themselves out of bed.
Read our full Nolah Signature 12″ mattress review or see our roundup of best mattresses for combination sleepers.

Leesa Original Hybrid
Best Mattress for Stomach Sleepers
Best for:
- Stomach sleeping position
- Value-minded shoppers
- Excellent customer service
customer rating
our score
firmness
Medium firm
trial period
100 days
What Makes It a Great Cooling Mattress for Stomach Sleepers: Getting a restful night’s sleep in the stomach sleeping position can be a challenge, made even more challenging if you sleep hot. We think the Leesa Original Hybrid could be the answer, having a sturdy foam/pocket coil design and one of the highest cooling scores of any mattress we’ve tested.
Pros
- The Original Hybrid earns a downright chilly 9.5/10 cooling score in the Mattress Advisor sleep lab.
- The score for spine alignment (8.5/10) bodes well for stomach sleepers, who need a mattress that keeps their hips and lower back in a healthy, comfortable alignment.
- It has a perfect 10/10 score for edge support.
Cons
- With 2.5″ of foam and 8″ of springs, the Original Hybrid might feel too bouncy for some sleepers.
- The 100-night sleep trial and 10-year warranty meet the industry standard, but some competitors offer more generous terms.
Read our full Leesa Original Hybrid mattress review or check out our roundup of best mattresses for stomach sleepers.
How to Find the Best Cooling Mattress for You
A mattress that regulates your temperature well does more than provide comfort. It can also help you avoid sleep interruptions—getting so overheated that you wake up in the middle of the night. For people who tend to sleep hot or suffer from night sweats, the right cooling mattress can be one of the keys to getting a healthy, restorative night’s sleep on a consistent basis.
In this guide, we’ll shed some light (but hopefully no heat) on the role of materials and design in producing the best cooling mattresses. We’ll also share some tips to help you chill out at night.
- Who Should Get a Cooling Mattress?
- Best Types of Mattresses for Hot Sleepers
- How Do Cooling Mattresses Work?
- Tips on How to Sleep Cooler
Who Should Get a Cooling Mattress?
While just about anybody can benefit from staying cool and comfortable at night, some types of sleepers might benefit even more.
- People with certain medical conditions. An overactive thyroid, rheumatoid arthritis, and other disorders can lead to increased body temperature.
- People above average weight. Heavier people tend to have higher body temperatures than people of average weight.
- Menopausal women. The best mattresses for menopause can help women experiencing one of the most common symptoms, hot flashes.
- People who live in hot, humid climates. In some regions, high temperatures and stifling humidity don’t always take the night off.
- Athletes and people with active lifestyles. Getting regular exercise can lead to a slight increase in core body temperature.
Best Types of Mattresses for Hot Sleepers
Not all mattress types do as well at dispersing your built-up body heat. Let’s examine the materials found in many mattresses and find out what makes them ideal (or less than ideal) for hot sleepers.
Mattress Type | Good for Hot Sleepers? |
Innerspring | ✅ |
Hybrid | ✅ |
Latex | ✅ |
Gel-infused foam | ✅ |
Conventional memory foam | ❌ |
Polyfoam | ❌ |
Innersprings and Hybrids
With innerspring mattresses, air is able to circulate in the spaces between the coils to provide breathability. Steel coils in particular are resistant to absorbing or retaining body heat.
Likewise, a hybrid mattress that includes an innerspring layer offers more breathability than an all-foam or all-latex design since it’s not made from a solid block of material. Many modern mattresses, even those with innersprings, also contain a memory foam top layer. If two or more inches of memory foam are in an innerspring mattress, it’s considered a memory foam hybrid.
Latex
A latex mattress will generally keep you cool thanks to aeration—the tiny air holes punched into the material. Natural latex (made from rubber-tree sap) has greater cooling properties than most synthetic products, which might not have the same breathability and aeration properties. But even synthetic latex isn’t known to absorb heat, unless it’s combined with memory foam or polyfoam.
Traditional Memory Foam
Memory foam mattresses have a general reputation as being heat-trapping and bad for hot sleepers. However, a lot depends on the design. Gel-infused foam generally sleeps cooler than traditional memory foam, for example, and breathable mattress toppers and fabric covers can help you sleep cooler.
Related: How to Make a Memory Foam Mattress Cooler
Things to Look for Besides Cooling Performance
If night sweats are the main thing standing between you and comfortable sleep, it only makes sense that finding a cooler mattress would be your top priority. Nevertheless, choosing the right mattress involves a lot of other considerations. They include:
- Sleeping Position: Each sleeping position puts different amounts of stress on certain parts of the body. Choose a mattress that matches up with side sleepers, back sleepers, stomach sleepers, or combination sleepers based on the position you use.
- Size: Don’t buy more or less mattress than you need. Your ideal choice might depend on your bedroom space, your height, or whether you need a couple-sized bed.
- Pressure Relief: Mattresses with memory foam or latex typically do a great job of contouring around pressure-sensitive areas in the shoulders, hips, and lower back.
- Spine Alignment: A mattress that keeps your spine in a healthy, neutral alignment as you sleep can help relieve and prevent back pain.
- Firmness: Most mattresses have a feel in the medium to medium-firm range, but you might want to go softer or firmer based on your sleeping position or size.
- Responsiveness: A highly responsive mattress is easier to move around on—a plus for restless sleepers and combination sleepers.
- Price and Value: A quality queen-size mattress typically costs $1,200-$1,600. Warranties, sleep trials, durability and customer service policies help determine a bed’s long-term value.
For a full overview, see our comprehensive Mattress Buying Guide.
How Do Cooling Mattresses Work?
When you’re lying on a mattress, usually covered by one or more layers of bedding and whatever clothing you have on, your body heat naturally tends to build up. If your core temperature gets significantly higher than the ambient temperature around you, the body compensates with a process called thermoregulation—meaning that you start to sweat.
However, certain materials and designs can reduce the amount of heat that builds up in the mattress. Examples include:
- Gel-infused foam: Adding semi-liquid gel beds helps counteract memory foam’s structural tendency to absorb and retain heat.
- Perforated memory foam and latex: Some mattresses use memory foam or latex foam manufactured with tiny holes to allow air to better circulate through the material.
- Breathable covers: Many mattress companies use breathable materials in their mattress covers, including loose-weave cotton and Tencel fibers. One term you’ll probably see is “moisture-wicking.” It simply means that the material doesn’t absorb sweat and will dry quickly.
- Coil layers: Hybrid mattresses with coil layers have a built-in cooling advantage since the empty spaces in and around the coils add breathability.
So how well do cooling mattresses work? Some mattress companies cite specific numbers to illustrate their effectiveness at cooling. Tempur-Pedic, for example, claims that its Tempur-breeze models feel up to 5-10 degrees cooler than its Tempur-PROAdapt models over an eight-hour period. Casper says its Wave Hybrid Snow mattress sleeps “six degrees cooler for at least 12 hours.”
Since your core temperature normally falls 1-2 degrees in the second stage of light sleep, an increase can disrupt the process. A mattress that can keep you cooler by even a few degrees could make a huge difference in the quality of your sleep.
Tips on How to Sleep Cooler
For very hot sleepers, cooling mattress technology might not be enough on its own. Here’s a list of steps you can take give your bedroom a cooling boost:
Lower the Room’s Temperature
One sleep psychologist recommends 67-70 degrees as the ideal temperature range for sleep—which could seriously crank up your summertime power bills. If sub-70 is too cool for your energy budget, you could always aim for 72-74 degrees.
Related: How to Sleep Better in the Summer: 13 Tips to Stay Cool
Use Cooling Mattress Accessories
- A cooling mattress topper or mattress pad made with latex foam or copper, graphite, or gel-infused memory foam
- Cooling sheets made of moisture wicking fabrics such as cotton or bamboo-derived rayon (some companies even make cooling comforters and cooling weighted blankets)
- Cooling pillows made from bamboo fiber, gel, latex foam, or charcoal-infused foam, with breathable fabric covers
Keep Your Bedding Clean
Not to gross you out, but dirt could be one reason why you feel overheated at night. Sheets, pillowcases, and mattress covers that are clogged with dead skin cells and dried sweat don’t have the best airflow. Consider washing your bed linens as often as once a week to get rid of the grime.
Use Lower Thread Count Sheets
An unfortunate side effect of bedding with high thread counts is that the more threads leave less room for air to circulate through the fabric. Looser weaves might not convey the same sense of luxuriousness, but they do provide better airflow.
Try Some Cool Sleepwear
What you wear to bed also affects temperature. Try some loose-fitting cotton or rayon fiber sleepwear instead of those beloved sweatpants. Alternatively, you could even consider forgoing clothes altogether (yes, we mean sleeping naked).
Circulate and Dehumidify the Air
Use your bedroom ceiling fan, or a plug-in fan aimed at your bed, to keep the air circulating. You could also use a dehumidifier to keep indoor humidity between 30% and 50%, making your sleep environment less muggy.
Try a Cooling Sleep Mask
It won’t affect your mattress, but a high-quality sleep mask could offer an easy way to make you feel cooler. Some masks have removable gel inserts that you can put in the freezer before bedtime and then re-insert into the mask when it’s time to turn in.
Related: 10 Tips to Stay Cool While Sleeping

A Closer Look at Our Selections
In evaluating our best cooling mattresses for hot sleepers, we focus on each product’s Mattress Advisor cooling score, the cooling properties of its materials, how well the design promotes airflow and breathability. Here’s how our featured mattresses stack up:
Mattress | AVERAGE (OUT OF 10) FOR COOLING SCORE, MATERIALS, AND DESIGN |
Cocoon Chill | 8.2 |
Helix Midnight Luxe | 9.2 |
Nectar | 8.1 |
Saatva Latex Hybrid | 8.9 |
Brooklyn Aurora Luxe | 8.8 |
Bear Original | 8.7 |
WinkBeds GravityLux | 9.1 |
DreamCloud Premier | 8.9 |
Nolah Signature 12″ | 8.6 |
Leesa Original Hybrid | 9.1 |
FAQs
Do gel mattresses keep you cool?
Although there’s no hard science to support the concept as of yet, mattress companies have invested a lot of resources into developing gel technology. Gel materials infused into mattress foam are designed to draw heat away from your body and prevent it from getting trapped inside the mattress. Liquid and semi-liquid materials are also known to make surfaces feel cooler.
Which is cooler, gel or memory foam?
When it comes to cooling, memory foam infused with semi-liquid gel beads has structural advantages over a solid block of memory foam. Scientifically speaking, liquid material is better at absorbing heat than solid material. Gel foam is also denser than memory foam, so you’re less likely to experience a “hugging” effect that can lead to feeling overheated.
Are cooling mattresses more expensive?
Mattresses that offer features such as gel-infused memory foam and cooling covers often cost more than mattresses that don’t. The mattresses featured on this page have an average regular price just under $2,000 for a queen size, not counting sales or discounts, which is a few hundred dollars more than a typical mattress.
How much you’re willing to pay all depends on the value you place on comfort. Given the popularity of cooling mattresses, many hot sleepers find the extra cost worth it.
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