Mattress protectors have come a long way and while the cheap ones will sound like plastic, are made of a soft vinyl while only covering the top the higher end ones are a full encasement and will protect from bedbugs and water dripping through to the mattress. I bought a really nice one off Amazon that feels like a woven cloth material that completely zips around the mattress. It does have a bit of a soft crinkly sound but you get used to it once it gets worn in. The zipper did end up failing on me and this idiot of a guest ended up spilling red candle wax on my sheets and the encasement caught all of it. So i just had to charge him to replace the protector and not the mattress.
In conclusion, its an investment you buy before something bad happens that pays for itself the first time around.
Good Luck.