Hugo Mattress: Made For Australians, In Australia

The Hugo Mattress is made in Australia by an Australian owned company, but that’s not the only thing that sets it apart from its competitors. Unlike other all foam mattresses in boxes, Hugo uses natural latex and memory foam inside its mattress. Latex is a premium material you’ll read more about in this Hugo Mattress review. As well as giving you all the details you need to know about Hugo (including how the price stacks up against its competitors), I’ll also help you decide if Hugo is the best mattress for you.

Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll find in this review:

• Hugo Company Overview
• Hugo Mattress Features
• Hugo Mattress Prices
• What Does A Hugo Mattress Mattress Feel Like To Lie On?
• Is Hugo The Right Mattress For You?
• Are There Any Problems With Hugo Mattresses?
• What Are People Saying Who Love Theirs? (Reviews From Real People)
• Final Opinion – Is It Worth Your Money?

Hugo Mattress Company Overview

Hugo is an Australian company that focus all their efforts on one specialty product: the Hugo Mattress. Hugo was formed in 2016 with the vision of creating a Australian made, great quality, comfortable mattress for an affordable price.

Hugo is based in Melbourne, as is their manufacturing facility. Hugo makes their mattresses from locally and internationally sourced materials (for example the latex in this mattress needs to be sourced from the sap of a rubber tree, which is sustainably grown in South-East Asian countries for foam production). Hugo sources as many of their materials from within Australia as they can.

The Hugo mattress is available online only. You can buy either direct from Hugo (your best option, it’s cheaper) or from online furniture retailer Temple and Webster.

What’s the customer service like? I messaged Hugo with a list of questions about their mattress and I got a reply within hours that was friendly and helpful. This seems to reflect the experiences I’ve read from customers.

Hugo Mattress Features

Hugo is an all foam mattress with four layers. It has a total height of 24.5 cm, which is standard for its price range. What’s NOT standard is the use of all natural latex in the top layer: this is a huge advantage Hugo has over other brands. Natural latex is widely regarded as being the most durable, naturally cooling, responsive (and expensive) mattress material. It’s a premium product that isn’t very common for mattress-in-a-box companies.

Hugo Mattress From Top To Bottom:

• Durable stretch knit cover
• 1.5 cm All Natural Latex
• 3 cm Contouring Memory Foam
• 5 cm Transition Foam
• 15 cm High Density Support Foam

The foam layers are bound together with thin layers of water based glue (no chemicals that are bad for your health or the environment here).

Because your Hugo mattress is made in Australia, it won’t have sat around in its box for long by the time you receive it. This means it will decompress quickly and evenly (it should be 90% of its full height within minutes and fully ready within hours) with less off-gassing odours that all foam mattresses produce as they expand.

Hugo Mattress Prices

The retail prices for Hugo are below. Never pay full retail for a mattress in a box, there’s always a discount or deal to be had.

Single $695

King Single $795

Double $895

Queen $995

King $1095

Hugo mattress is massive value for money. It has four foam layers instead of the usual three, one of which is natural latex which is widely accepted as the most durable (and often most expensive) mattress material.

These prices are slightly cheaper than other brands like Ecosa or Koala, but given that all these companies regularly run discounts the price ends up about the same (Koala and Ecosa cost more, but they run bigger discounts so it evens out).

What Does A Hugo Mattress Feel Like To Lie On?

Hugo has been designed to have a medium feel, and in my opinion will sit at around a 6 out of 10 on the mattress firmness scale. This means it should be very comfortable for a wide range of people.

The combination of cooling, responsive latex and contouring memory foam means Hugo should deliver a good balance of pressure relieving comfort with great support.

Like most foam mattresses, Hugo will be great at isolating motion from another person turning on the bed or getting up. You shouldn’t feel any partner disturbance with Hugo.

The natural latex through the top means Hugo will have a slightly different feel through the top of the mattress, and may feel slightly bouncier than other brands. It will also do a great job of keeping you cool as latex is naturally heat dissipating.

Is Hugo The Right Mattress For You?

As I mentioned above, Hugo is designed to have a universally comfortable medium feel. This should be a good fit for most people. However, it will not suit 100% of people. Here are my guidelines:

Buy Hugo If:

• You are a light to average weight person looking for a comfortable and supportive mattress
• You usually sleep on your back and/or side
• You are a couple who can’t agree if they want a soft or firm mattress
• You want the benefits of a natural latex mattress without breaking the bank
• You want to support Australian made

You’ll Need Something Firmer If: 

• You weigh more than about 160 kg. You might find that Hugo is a bit soft, and you need something firmer to adequately support you. This is particularly the case if you’re a stomach sleeper, where a firm sleep surface is important for your spine alignment
• You really like a firm mattress

Are There Any Problems With Hugo Mattresses?

It’s not easy to read the reviews on the Hugo site. You can’t search by star rating, you can only scroll across them.

I couldn’t find any negative comments on their social media (which is where people who are feeling frustrated with a company often take their grievances), but there hasn’t been any social media activity since 2018 so I guess they’re focusing on their website.

Overall, I didn’t find anything amiss with Hugo. There’s the usual comments of people saying the mattress wasn’t the right fit for them, but this is to be expected when they only make one mattress. It won’t please everyone, but you can feel assured by the fact you can try it in your own home for a whole three months. If you end up not liking the mattress, don’t worry about trying to get it back in that box. Hugo will arrange for the local Salvation Army to collect it, or if that’s not possible they will arrange for it to be recycled.

Since Hugo is an Australian brand who cares about their staff, they are currently experiencing delays on manufacturing as they work to keep their staff safe during COVID-19. This means there is currently about a 2 week delay on mattresses so the usual same day dispatch Hugo is so proud of is not available right now.

What Are People Saying Who Love Theirs? Reviews From Real People

Hugo reports that 95% of people who buy Hugo love it and keep it. 

Here are some examples of what happy Hugo sleepers have to say about their mattress:

“We bought Hugo for the guest room in our daughter’s house so we had something comfortable to sleep on when we visit. We sleep so well on it we ended up buying another for our own home.”

“Hugo mattress is supportive and comfortable. I weigh 58 kg and find it slightly firmer than medium. It will probably feel softer if you are of average or above average size.”

“I tried a few other mattresses and boxes, they were too firm for me. Hugo is finally the right mattress for me: it’s soft enough to mould around your shape but supportive enough to stop you sinking in.”

“I like a softer mattress and my wife likes a firmer one. However, we both agree that Hugo feels comfortable for both of us, more so than other brands we’ve tried.”

Final Opinion

I think Hugo represents great value for money. If you think about the fact that Hugo is Australian made and uses premium natural latex, it’s surprising it’s not priced slightly higher than the other mattress-in-a-box companies.

You’re getting a high quality mattress that should feel comfortable for most people, and the latex will mean it’s more durable than a mattress that only contains memory foam.