How to test-ride a full-suspension bike?
Bike shops have a special test-bikes to be lent for a whole day or even a weekend. I tested Specialized, Scott and RB for the whole weekend this way. 

You will pay them a refundable deposit (20-80% of price of the bike - depends on the shop). Some of them will charge you a little for cleaning/service or whatever. This may vary across the countries; I have experiences only with mine, but Specialized and Scott are international brands, so I expect similar offers around. 

This is an answer for the topic, not your last question, but I think this is the right way to choose a bike.

There are also test-centres in some Single-tracks where you can borrow a bike for couple of rides. But they have a limited offer of models there. 
Or some shops organize test-events near nice places to ride with many bikes to try if you book in advance. 

This is the best way to choose a bike. I was in the same situation as you. On the first test I borrowed two bikes from one Shop (RB): similar hard-tail and full-suspension and rode it with my friend exchanging couple of times to discover if is it even worth to invest to full suspension. It was quite convincing. Then I tested couple of other models of brands above for weekends. It's a fun to have a different new bike on every weekend. From these tests I came with very certain conclusion what I like the most.