Summary: Naturepedic’s Halcyon Arcadia Mattress rivals comfort that I’ve only experienced in fancy hotels. Comfort aside, Naturepedic meets the highest standards for organic materials and sustainable production methods, so I feel good about the quality of the product I’m sleeping on — and I know it’s built to last decades, not years.

What I Love: 

• The Halcyon Arcadia Mattress feels like a bed at a 5-star hotel. 
• The firmness is customizable on both sides of the bed, making it ideal for partners who have different sleep preferences, or for replacing parts of the mattress after use without purchasing a brand new one. 
• Naturepedic is transparent about their material sourcing and manufacturing, boasting over 10 different certifications including GOTS, GOLS, and EWG Verified.
• The shipment arrived in a series of boxes, but it only took me 10 minutes to put together.

Things to Note: 

• Mattresses from Naturepedic’s Halcyon line must be purchased in store, with a 3–6 week ship time as some parts are made to order. 

For someone who writes about — and therefore thinks about — wellness for a living, I will admit that, for a time, the mattress that I was sleeping on accounted for 0% of that. Mattresses are mattresses, right? Well, my sleep score had been slowly declining over the past few months, per my Oura Ring’s measurements, and I continued to brush past it. I was fine! I could just sleep more on the weekend! But the truth is, dear reader, I couldn’t, and somehow I never thought to interrogate the actual surface I was resting on.

“It wasn’t until I was reminded that I had been sleeping on the same mattress since middle school that I couldn’t unhear — or unfeel — it.”

It wasn’t until I was reminded that I had been sleeping on the same mattress since middle school that I couldn’t unhear — or unfeel — it. The springs were suddenly perceptible to my previously unbothered back, and I found myself tossing and turning for the first time in decades. Like I said, my Oura Ring validated my concerns — my sleep score had been falling off a cliff — and the only nights of relief were during a trip to a very fancy hotel. In hindsight, it’s strange to think that high-quality sleep, the thing I prided myself on and the thing I knew to be essential to good health, was the thing I let slide for the longest in my own life. 

Given that it was clearly time to procure a new mattress, I decided to do a bit of research on the matter. I learned that most mattresses have toxic chemicals in them, and companies have very few requirements to disclose the materials. Things like flame retardants, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), and vinyl have been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and even poor air quality — all of which are incredibly upsetting when you recall the amount of time you spend on top of this object. After going down the aforementioned rabbit hole, I knew I needed to set my sights on a mattress that was proudly non-toxic, and all signs pointed back to Naturepedic. 

About Naturepedic

Naturepedic was founded in 2003 by an environmental engineer and loving grandfather, Barry Cik. As the legend has it, when he went to buy a baby mattress for his first grandchild, he couldn’t find a single one without the chemicals he’d been told to question (and avoid) in his work. Unsatisfied, he set off on a mission to create mattresses that he’d feel comfortable letting his own grandchildren sleep on — free from flame retardants, fiberglass, and the other 85000+ chemicals found frequently in consumer goods.

“He set off on a mission to create mattresses that he’d feel comfortable letting his own grandchildren sleep on.”

Today, the brand sells organic mattresses and sleep accessories for babies, kids, adults, and even pets, all of which are EWG Verified, certified MADE SAFE, GOTS, GOLS, and GREENGUARD GOLD certified too. When I see a brand boasting words like “organic” and “non-GMO,” I’m typically skeptical of greenwashing, so the fact that Naturepedic has over 10 different certifications and takes the time to actually define what they mean when they say “nontoxic” and “organic” instills a lot of trust in their transparency and genuine care for their customers.

The company is also a member of 1% for the Planet, donating at least 1% of its mattress-sales revenue to environmental non-profits each year. Plus, it regularly gives back to a cause close to its heart — including a $50,000 donation of mattresses and bedding to Humble Design, which furnishes homes for families transitioning out of homelessness. 

Why the Halcyon Arcadia is special 

You know what they say — go big or go home. The Halcyon line is Naturepedic’s luxury mattress selection, promising premium builds with the highest quality natural materials out there, all crafted with “heirloom-level construction.” The three models, Azure, Arcadia, and Elysium, are increasingly more intricate in their coil systems and customizability — and of course, their price.

“The Halcyon line is Naturepedic’s luxury mattress selection, promising premium builds with the highest quality natural materials out there.”

The Arcadia, my mattress of choice, is the Goldilocks of the bunch. It’s rather tall — 13” — though not as tall as the 16” Elysium. The core of the mattress is made from 816 individually encased coils, all of which have to be hand-stitched due to the high quality of the organic fabric that’s used. Unlike the Azure and the Elysium, which each have one comfort layer of organic latex, the Arcadia has two, making it more customizable and certainly more plush.

To wrap it all up, the Halcyon mattresses are finished with a 1” plush wool, alpaca, and cashmere quilt which adds unmatched levels of comfort. 

Visiting the showroom and trying my options

Because Naturepedic prevents customers from buying any mattress from their Halcyon line virtually — a move that instills intentionality and requires a personalized experience — I took a trip to my local Williamsburg location and met with Chad, the incredibly knowledgeable and lovely salesperson who helped me with my decision. 

Like I said, Chad was an absolute pro, and walked me through not only the Halcyon line (which I already had my heart set on) but the rest of the offerings as I asked them no less than 100 questions about the mattress industry at large during my visit. After lying on a few mattresses just for fun, I got serious about the Arcadia and worked with Chad to swap different comfort layers in and out to ensure I was creating the bed of my dreams.

The good news, they assured me, is that it’s fairly easy to take out a soft organic latex layer, and replace it with a firmer one if my preferences changed. They did tell me that they highly recommend customers make the initial comfort layer firm to prevent any unwanted future backaches, and I went ahead and took it a step further, adding a second firm layer. 

“It’s fairly easy to take out a soft organic latex layer, and replace it with a firmer one if my preferences changed.”

Once my preferences were set, Chad set up my order for delivery, and I was on my way. 

At home with my Halcyon Arcadia

About three weeks after my visit to the Naturepedic showroom, my mattress arrived in a series of boxes, ready for me to unpack and assemble. It was a daunting task, especially given that I’d arrived home from a weeklong trip to Greece the day before, but I had no other choice. I enlisted my mom as the brains of the operation (jet lag was not my friend), and after a quick review of the instructions that accompanied the materials, we got to work.

“We were pleasantly surprised when we managed to put the whole thing together in all of 10 minutes.”

Expecting it to take upwards of half an hour, we were pleasantly surprised when we managed to put the whole thing together in all of 10 minutes. Once we put the casing on my bed, all we had to do was zip in each additional layer according to the instructions. First the coil layer, then the two comfort layers, and then — boom. Ready for bed. 

That first night was incredible. Yes, I did just return from a weeklong trip so my exhaustion levels were uncharacteristically high, but I mean it when I say this mattress is magical. Every day since, I’ve looked forward to bedtime, simply because it means that I can spend time luxuriating on my perfect mattress. It’s firm yet plush, almost identical to the famously world-class mattresses at the Four Seasons Resorts. Also, and I didn’t realize this was an issue until it was solved, but I’ve stopped waking up in a pool of sweat in the morning (sorry). It’s clear that the plush quilt made of alpaca, cashmere, and wool is keeping my bed nice and cool, while the organic cotton is keeping breathability at a high. 

“It’s clear that the plush quilt made of alpaca, cashmere, and wool is keeping my bed nice and cool, while the organic cotton is keeping breathability at a high.”

It’s been a few weeks with my Arcadia, and not to be dramatic, but this mattress has changed my life. For starters, I’m consistently getting crowns on my Oura Ring for having such incredible nights of sleep. Also, the firmness I selected was certainly the right call — I feel so at home in this bed that I truly want to spend all of my time there. 

If there’s a favorite feature beyond comfort, it’s the knowledge that the mattress is built to be maintained rather than replaced. Naturepedic’s construction means that if a comfort layer eventually breaks down before the rest of the mattress does, I can swap that layer out instead of buying an entirely new bed — a meaningfully different proposition from most mattresses, which get thrown out wholesale the moment they sag.

Should you get this mattress?

Yes, yes, and yes. I highly recommend this mattress to anyone who wants their bedroom to feel as luxurious as a 5-star hotel, who cares about the materials they’re sleeping on, and who wants to invest in high-quality sleep. It’s an especially great pick for couples with mismatched firmness preferences, since the whole system is built around customizing each side independently. Of course, the Halcyon Arcadia is rather expensive, clocking in at a cool $9500 for a queen size, but when you compare its 25-year lifespan to, say, repeatedly purchasing lower-quality mattresses every few years, the numbers start to make a lot more sense. 

“It’s an especially great pick for couples with mismatched firmness preferences, since the whole system is built around customizing each side independently.”

It’s also worth noting that Naturepedic’s customer service and warranty promise is excellent. You’re able to sleep on the mattress for 100 nights during the trial period to ensure that you picked the right one for you — even after the break-in period. Plus, for any of the mattresses that come with removable comfort layers (like the Arcadia), Naturepedic offers replacements — free for the first 90 days — so you can extend the lifespan of your mattress, instead of completely starting fresh. 

The people who should skip this mattress? Anyone with a tighter budget who wants the convenience of ordering online without an in-store visit. But for anyone ready to make the investment in their health and nightly pleasure, the Halcyon Arcadia certainly fulfills its promise of the best materials, construction, and sleep you’ll be able to find. 

Katie Stone is a brand consultant, writer, and the creator of the best-selling wellness Substack, Plant Based. She’s worked with brands like Earthbar, Soft Services, west~bourne, Jolie, and Sakara, and her writing has been published in NYMag, Vogue, SSENSE, and WSJ. She studied journalism at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and currently lives in New York City, where she can be found paying too much money for fancy health food and speed walking even on her aimless strolls. Find her on Substack and Instagram.