Carleton has finished upgrading the beds in its residence buildings, an update which saw an increase in the length of all the mattresses.
The move to larger bed sizes in residences started in 2011, according to Laura Storey, the director of housing and residence life.
Labelled as ‘Twin XL,’ the new mattresses are 80 inches long, or six feet eight inches, rather than the old 72 inches, she said in an email.
The upgrade has taken almost six years to complete. Storey said this is because all of the 3,600 beds at Carleton could not all be changed at once.
“Based on both cost and timing, it would be difficult to complete this [transition] in one or two years,” she said. “We purchase mattresses each year. Therefore, we would not want to get rid of mattresses that were still relatively new.”
Meg Oldfield, a first-year journalism and humanities student living in Prescott residence, said she is unhappy with the mattresses.
“The beds are incredibly uncomfortable,” she said. “It feels like you’re sleeping on a box spring. Unless you buy a mattress topper, there’s no way you’re going to be . . . getting a good night’s sleep.”
Caitlyn Rogosynski, a first-year journalism and humanities student living in Dundas residence, agreed with Oldfield.
“The beds are literally the most uncomfortable thing on the face of the planet,” Rogosynski said. “I think it’s almost a little ridiculous because it’s hard to find mattress toppers to fit the XL.”
However, Glengarry resident and first-year journalism and humanities student Sarah Sheils said she doesn’t mind the beds.
“The mattress is pretty stiff so it was hard to sleep the first few nights, but I got a mattress topper which made sleeping easier.” she said. “The quality of beds is important to me in a long term situation, but because we get breaks [from school] every two months or so it’s not as bad as it could be.”
Oldfield said residence still lacks in options for students.
“You have to sleep on the bed they provide,” she said. “We’re stressed out, we’re — all we want is a good night sleep and a comfy mattress to sleep on. If we aren’t sleeping well, we won’t be performing well in our classes.”
