This week I was expecting to receive the first of the Millbrook Planets mattresses for testing, but for some odd reason I ended up being supplied the Reims, a mattress from the French Collection.

Another surprise was that I wasn’t supplied a base for this mattress. Instead I was given a bedframe, as we didn’t receive the divan base from our warehouse in time. Not phased by this, I set to work getting my mattress and newly acquired bedframe into what I’ve now dubbed ‘the sleep laboratory’ (my bedroom).

The Millbrook Reims mattress

Millbrook call the Reims a ‘luxury divan’, with an emphasis on quality fabrics and affordability. It’s not often that a bed manufacturer can reach a compromise between quality and low price, but in this case, it seems to have been made possible. At Bedstar you can pick up a Millbrook Reims 4FT6 Double divan set for less than £600, which is very reasonable for a bed from this manufacturer.

The mattress is a pocketsprung unit with 1260 pocket springs in the Kingsize model. I could try and work out how many springs I got in my Double mattress, but it doesn’t seem important. All you need to know about the pocket springs in this mattress is that they feel fantastic. I always make a habit of lying on a new mattress before placing it on its base (or frame in this case) and the feel of the Reims was awesome.

The Reims mattress is a medium tension mattress and the fillings are a mixture of soft white fibres and cotton that give a very soft feel. As with most Millbrook mattresses, the Reims has double side stitching to the mattress borders, chrome air vents and flag stitched handles. The interliner is hypoallergenic (which is a major advantage at this time of the year) and hand tufts have been used to keep everything held together.

The Divan Base

I didn’t get to experience the Reims mattress and divan base together, but I did manage to sneak a look at the bases when they arrived into stock last Friday. The base is fairly standard for a Millbrook bed. It has a fully aprung edge and the usual choice between no drawers, 2 drawers or 4 drawers (with the 2 and 4 drawer units having Conti options available as well). Brass linking bars are used on the split bases to hold the bases together and ther are headboard fixing holes in either end of the bases. Chrome double wheel castors have also been included to help make the bed easier to move around.

Overall impression

If your budget can stretch a little further you may want to consider the next model up in the range (The Monaco, which we’ll be reviewing soon), but for people on a budget of less than £600 will find the Reims to be a very high quality bed for a reasonable price, which is exactly what Millbrook set out to achieve.

The Paris divan set is a non-turn mattress, so all that needs to be done is to rotate the mattress. This is definitely a plus. It’s 2009 and we have more important things to remember than turning a mattress!

The Millbrook Paris divan offers the best night’s sleep ever experienced (according to Millbrook. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve actually slept on it).

With 1700 individually hand nested pocket springs (king size) and a contemporary cream fabric, a valance is optional allowing easy access to the storage drawers (this is very clever. Admit it; every time you open a drawer in a divan bed the valance gets stuck).

Lambswool layers are used in the construction for breathable, natural fillings, also aired by smart chrome ventilator’s. Personally this means nothing to me, but there’s something about lying on this bed that immediately tells you you’re in the presence of a very well-crafted piece of furniture.

Technical information:

MATTRESS

• 1700 individually hand nested pocket springs in 5’0 size

BORDER

• 3 rows of side stitched borders secured to spring unit
• 8 upholstered flag stitched handles
• 16 chrome ventilators

UPHOLSTERY (sleeping surface)

• Hypo allergenic interliner
• Luxurious layers of resilient cotton and polyester
• Layer of resilient polyester
• Layer of soft lambswool
• Tufted with adhesive felt washers
• Quality double knit fabric

UPHOLSTERY(non sleeping surface)

• Hypo allergenic interliner
• Luxurious layer of resilient polyester
• Tufted with nylon washers

BASE

• 12” fully sprung edge zonal unit
• Hypo allergenic insulator
• Pine frame with load bearing joints glued and screwed for added strength
• Polyester interlining between timber and cover
• Solid hardwood corner blocks with castors set into end grain
• Easy-glide chromed Twin wheel locking castors
• Protective mini ‘roll edge’ divan trim
• All doubles split as standard with chrome side linking bars
• Improved ‘finger touch’ headboard fittings

Overall I’d say that, like most other Millbrook beds, the Paris will make you happy. Priced competitively and very comfortable (note: it’s firm), I don’t think you can go wrong.