NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. Barbro Sjotun approached the bed.

Good morning! she chirped.

Where had the night gone?

Disorientation and panic set in. Soon, shoppers would be arriving at Atrium Court in Fashion Island. Yet here I sat, in public, still in my blue-checkered jammies.

Sjotun, manager of Hastens, a Swedish maker of upscale beds, placed a coffee and a pastry on the nightstand.

I sat up in a medium-tension Hastens 2000T. Its a king-sized bed handcrafted from all-natural materials, including horsehair, and built to last at least 30 years.

Retail price: $27,500.

So, Sjotun said. How was it?

Investing in sleep

We spend a third of our lives in bed or try to.

Yet how many of us not in the bed business pay attention to how good or bad our mattress is?

Until recently, I hadnt heard of Hastens. But the family-run company has been making beds in Koping, Sweden, since 1852.

Kings and queens sleep on Hastens beds, which are renowned for their comfort and durability. The companys testing is rigorous. Mattresses are dragged down dirt roads; kids are encouraged to use the beds as trampolines.

Still, despite this whiff of rugged exclusivity, Hastens isnt just for the filthy (or sleepy) rich, Sjotun says. The cheapest model (the curiously named Naturally) goes for $3,500 a steal if you consider that the top of the line, the King Vividus, sells for $70,000.

Some people may find these prices offensive, said Sjotun. But when you buy a Hastens, you buy a bed for life.

John Wurmlinger, 51, of La Jolla, Calif., spent three months researching the beds last summer before he and his wife bought a 2000T.

This bed changed our lives, said Wurmlinger, a janitorial supply salesman. If our house caught on fire, one of the first things wed drag out would be this mattress.

Good luck it weighs 480 pounds.

Hastens opened in Newport Beach, Calif., in May 2006, attracting mostly aging baby boomers with disposable income, Sjotun said.

Our typical customers are people in their 40s and 50s who are starting to get aches and pains and who get the point of needing a good nights sleep.

The 2000T is Hastens top-selling model. Its 2 feet high with a bottom section, a thick spring mattress in the middle, and a thinner top mattress. The bed takes four days to construct by hand.

Would it be the stuff of my dreams?

Sjotun, 47, owns a 2000T. She looked suspiciously well rested.

Get on the bed, she said.

I laid down on my back and stuffed a pillow under my head.

You need to learn how to use a pillow, Sjotun said.

You never want it under your shoulders. The pillows job is to keep your head and neck straight and relaxed.

She fluffed the pillow. It kissed my ears.

The bed seemed to rise up to meet me, gently molding itself around me. My body felt in perfect balance, as if I were being held.

The bed is receiving you as it should, said Sjotun.

When you find the right bed for you, she added, you dont notice you are on a bed. You just feel comfortable.

I closed my eyes.

She powered down the store computer, turned off the lights, and left locking me in for the night.

I changed into my store-supplied pajamas (looking like a human tablecloth) and, around 10:45 p.m., went to bed.

Taking it for a spin

Typically, I struggle to find a comfortable position for sleeping. But the Hastens 2000T sort of found me.

I felt good on my sides or back. I felt no need to endlessly twirl like a hot dog on a 7-Eleven rotisserie.

Still, was it the bed, or was I being hypnotized by the outlandish price?

I opened the thick, slick Hastens catalog.

I read a lot about springs. The 2000T has three distinct spring systems. Some offer support, others absorb movement. And, when some springs are depressed (as in pushed down on, not sad), others are unaffected and dont scrunch down.

I also read that Hastens stuffs its beds with horsehair. (What? Not unicorn?) I even read that the bed channels moisture, keeping contact with your own sweat to a minimum.

On and on the catalog went, extolling the virtues of an environmentally friendly bed that is free of chemicals, foam or latex. The catalog even suggests the bed is an investment that should be taken more seriously than a car.

While trying hard not to obsess about the price tag, I …

Zzzzzz.

Then I woke up.

The problem wasnt the bed. But Atrium Court, after closing, is not a sleepy place. Cleaning crews crank up all manner of machines that, while no doubt cleansing, are not conducive to sleep.

Still, time passed. And then came sleep sweet, blissful sleep until 8 a.m., when Sjotun arrived with coffee and a pastry.

I love the bed, I told Sjotun. But sleeping in a mall isnt a good idea.

Cost of sleep

How does one put a price on a good nights sleep? Was the Hastens 2000T worth it?

Thats the $27,500 question.

I cant sell a person this bed, Sjotun said. I can only educate and inform. Someone … has to be on board with every aspect of our beds to make this kind of investment.

She mentioned a couple who recently paid $16,000 for a Hastens bed despite worries about the economy.

They told me, At least well sleep well at night, Sjotun said.

OK, but could I ever justify spending $27,500 on a bed?

Ill sleep on that.