I have been in the midst of a lot of mattress talk lately (me buying one, friends buying some), and generally speaking a lot of people do not actually say what they think they mean with respect to mattresses. For example people who say they like a "soft" mattress many times don't actually like that - that would be very weak coils that compress by inches when weight is put on them. What they actually like is a firm mattress with a bit of softer material (pillow top or featherbed) over the top. The latter is what most hotels shoot for. They dont want people to feel like they are falling into the center of the earth, but also do not want a mattress that feels like poured concrete.