Our Tiffin motorhome came with a fairly nice king-sized mattress on the bed, but it was a little uncomfortable.

As a Christmas present to ourselves, we purchased a new mattress. We purchased it online from MattressInsider.com; we got the “Luxury Gel Foam RV Mattress with Organic Cotton”.

Our old mattress was 72” wide by 75” long — what’s commonly called an “RV Short King”, being a bit narrower and shorter than a residential king (which is 76 x 80”). But the bed frame could support a 80” length; we used to use yoga blocks at the foot to keep it from sliding down. And I’m 6’1” tall, so a longer bed is better for me. So we ordered a 72 x 80” mattress aka a “RV King” size, 11.5” high.

Here’s a handy list of US mattress sizes (width x length), for reference:

• California King: 72″ x 84″
• RV California King: 72” x 84”
• King: 76″ x 80″
• RV King: 72” x 80”
• RV Short King: 72” x 75”
• Queen: 60″ x 80″
• RV Short Queen: 60” x 75″
• Full: 54″ x 75″
• RV Three-Quarter: 48” x 75″
• Twin XL: 38″ x 80″
• Twin: 38″ x 75″

(There are other variations, too.)

Here’s our old mattress, with a topper in an attempt to make it a bit more comfortable:

We had the new mattress shipped to Corpus Christi KOA. Unfortunately it arrived a week before we did, but they were very accommodating in storing it for us. Which was much appreciated, especially since their office was upstairs. When we checked in, a KOA maintenance guy helped cart it down to our coach:

Using the ADA wheelchair lift to get it downstairs:

Our old mattress; it was subsequently picked up by a local junk removal company, that said they’d donate it to a local charity:

The bed base has a split, as it can tilt the head upwards. The whole bed slides out from the wall at a press of a button, too, which makes it much easier to make the bed:

If you peek in the gap, you can see a bunch of wires below the bed:

We also got a Hypervent Aire-Flow moisture barrier from MattressInsider, to put below the mattress; it is supposed to provide better air flow to help protect the mattress; probably not needed in our situation, but can’t hurt:

The new mattress box:

Preparing to unwrap the mattress:

Once released from the multi-layer plastic wrap, it very quickly expanded to its full size:

Finally, we also got a zippered mattress protector to enclose the mattress:

We are enjoying the increased comfort of this new mattress.