Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm the type of person that reads reviews a lot before purchasing and ends up being confused with so many good and so many bad reviews all for the same product. I generally don't write reviews, but felt it important to weigh in on this mattress pad/cover as there are so many choices on here it is almost overwhelming. My Amazon delivery arrived only yesterday, so I'll update this review if there are any changes to my opinion. Most of the photos on other reviews are accurate, so I'm only including packaging photos and a quick video. Packaging: Arrives in a medium-sized box (rough measurements 12" x 17" x 7") inside of which is the mattress pad, inside a vacuum-sealed plastic bag. No instructions came with the package, although stitched onto the pad are standard washing/drying instructions. Scent: None. Some critical reviews talked about a strong scent upon opening. I didn't find that to be the case at all. To the contrary, it was scent-neutral. Fit: The deep, elastic pockets are very helpful. My pillowtop mattress is about 15" deep and this pad/cover easily fits over the entire mattress. I ordered a queen-sized pad and the pad fit perfectly over the mattress. Cooling: I'm not sure why it's called a "cooling" mattress pad. I've only slept on it one night, but I did not perceive it to be any different from a cooling factor than sleeping on my standard mattress. Note: I do not have a memory foam mattress, just a standard pillowtop, and my central air is set to maintain temperature, so perhaps this is why I didn't notice any cooling benefit. Padding Thickness: Having read reviews saying the padding was 2"-3" deep, and seeing the professional product advertising photos, I thought "Wow, this is a going to be a nice pad". In reality, it doesn't seem to be that thick and the marketing photos make it look far more plush that it is coming out of the box. The instructions online (none in the packaging) say to leave the mattress pad out for a few days so that it will return to its normal, fluffy thickness. It would be nice if there were instructions in the packaging so that you wouldn't have to go online to get tips for how to prepare the pad for use. In any event, I did not let it sit out for a few days. What I did do was put it in the dryer on "fluff" (cool / no heat) and let it bounce around for 10 minutes. No noticeable difference in thickness. I may take it off the bed, run it through the fluff cycle again and let it sit out for a few days to see if that changes anything. I'll try to get a photo of it at that point as perhaps then it will match the fluffy marketing photos depicted online. What I can say relative to thickness is that whatever thickness it was last night was more comfortable than my standard mattress. It was most definitely "softer." UPDATE: I left it out all day and it did "fluff" up a bit more. I tried taking measurements and uploading the photos. When aired out, there's about 2 1/2" of air and fluff in the pad. Comfort: I really liked how soft the mattress pad felt. I had a good night's sleep. If the mattress pad fluffs up more over the next few days I imagine it will be even more comfortable. Either way, it's a win. It was comfortable right out of the box. The original plan for these mattress pads was one for me and one for guests to use on an inflatable air mattress (which arrives tomorrow). When that arrives, I'll end up giving it a whirl on the air mattress to see if it makes an air mattress any more comfortable. I suspect it will, although as air mattresses are never really comfortable, I also suspect I may need to go out and buy a separate topper and then use this over the foam pad. I purchased an 18" air mattress to be sure this pad would fit well over the mattress even if I do need to go and get an additional topper. UPDATE: I've slept two nights on the air mattress with this mattress pad in place. While it most certainly helps a lot, I could still tell I was sleeping on an air mattress. The first night the mattress was too firm and after letting air out the second night it was much more comfortable, although I still woke up about 4 times throughout the night. As to the pad, I'd say it helps hide the ridges in the air mattress and it does make the bed feel more soft. It is certainly "good enough" for kids or an adult guest with a short weekend visit ... but for an extended stay I would suspect an additional foam pad might make the air mattress feel even better. I know this review is about the pad not the mattress, but in the sense that they have to work together, this pad in my opinion doesn't fully resolve the air mattress feel. It helps a lot but if you're looking for a pad alone that hides the air mattress feel fully, this isn't it. In conjunction with a eggcrate pad, I suspect it would be fine. If you found this review helpful, please give it a "Helpful" vote and feel free to comment. If it wasn't helpful, please let me know what you would like to see, and I'm happy to go in and edit.... at least that way you'll know this isn't a fake or paid-for review. There are far too many of those these days. Thanks and good luck with whatever product you decide to try!