DynastyMattress 14.5" CoolBreeze Full

General Use Observations: We bought this bed about 10 days ago, but wanted to wait a little while to fully experience the mattress before reviewing the product to make sure we are truly satisfied with it. So far we have no complaints about it at all, and both my husband and I look forward to crawling in bed every night! He says I wake up less during the night, rolling over or trying to get comfortable. He and I both are no longer waking up with any soreness or aching. We are both side sleepers, and we have found that we can practically stay in the same position all night and not wake up feeling sore or achy from sleeping on that side for too long. Unpacking: It came in a tall box, maybe 4 or 5 feet long, about 2.5 ft sq wide, and weighed about 65 lbs. When we opened the box, it was rolled up (top to bottom) and wrapped in a couple layers of plastic that were vacuum sealed. Once we broke into the vacuum sealed inner layer of plastic, the mattress immediately began to expand. We cut all of the plastic away, unrolled the mattress, and set it on the bed. Within 4 or 5 hours it had expanded from maybe 4in. thick to about 10 or 11in. thick, which was most of its height. By the next day or two, it had completely expanded and filled up all of the space inside the beautiful cover. (The photo was taken the night we unpacked it, maybe 2-3 hours afterward) Chemical Smell: Everyone (including myself before purchasing) seems to be worried about the strong chemical smell that can be associated with memory foam beds. I have to say, once we opened the box, and cut open the plastic I did not immediately notice a chemical smell of any kind. After we finished unpacking it and set it up to expand on our bed frame, we shut the door and left it alone for a few hours. When I went back into the bedroom hours later, I did notice the smell for the first time, but by no means was it intolerable. It does smell a little bit chemical, but it's not a strong-fumes type of chemical smell, like that of kitchen & bathroom cleaners, bleach, etc. It isn't anywhere near that strong or that potent. After more than a week of use, I'd say the smell is completely gone now, but it didn't really bother us in the first place. Comfort Level: It is definitely a firm mattress, but not uncomfortably so. When I first sat on it, I began to immediately wonder if it was too firm. However, before I could really finish that thought I realized I was slowly sort-of melting into it and the material was conforming to me. There's no "push-back" feeling like spring-coiled mattresses, which is what we had before. Also it's much more dense than cheaper generic "their brand" versions found in locally-owned-type mattress stores. My parents have one of those types, a generic brand of memory foam mattress, that's essentially a giant magic-eraser-feeling sponge (and as light as one too). Hers is semi-comfortable, but is still nothing compared to this Dynasty mattress, and the cost difference between the two isn't even that extreme - probably only $150-$200. Considering this mattress was about $440, the extra money is WELL WORTH it. Temperature: Neither my husband nor I have found that we get hot during the night on this mattress. It was a concern of ours, since the mattress material isn't made up of natural materials and we assumed it wouldn't "breathe" well. However, the cooling technology they've infused in this model seems to really be worth it. My husband always goes to bed feeling hot, and I always go to bed feeling cold, so I was more concerned about him getting hot during the night. So far that has not been an issue for either of us. Included Pillows: We both have tried using them. They are comfortable for generic use, like if you want to use it on the couch for extra support (because they are both pretty firm), but for sleeping on it at night, I don't think either of us like them very much. They were free, so we aren't complaining about them really. It's always good to have extra pillows around the house for guests and memory foam pillows aren't that cheap, generally. These are maybe too dense, and maybe even too thick, as I've found when I have tried using it at night, my head is angled upward when laying my head on it. It's not necessarily uncomfortable --I've used worse pillows-- but it's not as good as the memory foam pillows we already had, with cooling gel pockets on one side. Those are all of the things I wanted to know before making our purchase. Hopefully my information helps some of you potential buyers out there who are looking at this mattress. My husband did find this mattress brand is rated highly all over various mattress rating sites (not just on Amazon). We really couldn't be any happier with it!!