The mattress came rolled up in a box and vacuumed sealed. A tool to open the plastic around the mattress was provided which was nice. The mattress was simply to unwrap and became full size in matter of minutes. There was no obvious smell which some mattress have these days. I would consider the mattress a softmedium in firmness. You will definitely sink into the mattress and it will cradle your body. So far it’s been extremely comfortable and my guest who have slept in it says it’s great!