1st Time buyer here

[monkeyrra]

Hi all,

I am a soon to be first time spa owner.  I am trying to narrow my want list down to a few spa's.

But what I have found thus far in my search is NOTHING!!!  It seems like you are the only forum or review site that I have found for spa's.

Does anyone know of any other review sites?

So far I looked at Sundance, Clearwater Spa's, and will visit Hotsprings soon.  Any other manufactures I should be considering?

[Spatech_tuo]

So far I looked at Sundance, Clearwater Spa's, and will visit Hotsprings soon.  Any other manufactures I should be considering?

We don't see too much about Clearwater here but sundance and Hot Spring get discussed often. Here are some of the other spas usually discussed in a positive manner on this site:

Arctic
Artesian
Caldera
Coleman
D1
Jacuzzi
Marquis

... and there are others so if I left any out it wasn't necessarily a purposeful omission.

[anne]

Does anyone know of any other review sites?

None that are of quality.

I am a nut when I buy anything new, and have to research it to the hilt before I'll spend a dime, and I spent DAYS online looking for other sources of info and reviews. This was by far the best site, which is why I'm still here on and off!!!

[Spatech_tuo]

Hi all,


Does anyone know of any other review sites?

There are reviews here as well.

http://www.rhtubs.com/cgi-bin/reviews/reviews.pl

[drewstar]

Hi all,

I am a soon to be first time spa owner.  I am trying to narrow my want list down to a few spa's.

But what I have found thus far in my search is NOTHING!!!  It seems like you are the only forum or review site that I have found for spa's.

Does anyone know of any other review sites?

So far I looked at Sundance, Clearwater Spa's, and will visit Hotsprings soon.  Any other manufactures I should be considering?

HI Mokey.

There arn't too many places for hot tubs on the net, strange eh?

Anhow,  here, and over at www.poolspaforum.com  are the only places I know of that I would send any to.  (Here seems to have a bit more response and deal with some of the higher end tubs, while the pool and spa forum is a bit slower, some of the same folks as here, but they seem to discuss some of the lower end tubs (the ones at costco, hydrospas and such more)..


As far as reveiws,  its tough AND I say take what you read with a large grain of salt.

1) Most people only buy one, maybe tw tubs in thier lives.  So reveiws and opinons are not based on broad experences.

2) just about everbody loves thier new tub.  Really.  You want to talk to someone who has had thier tubs 3, 5, 7 10, 20 years.  Yea, there are a few folks out there that have that depth of experince, but not many. Most too will be dealers or salesfolks, and thier opion can be biased.

3) keep in mind anyone on the internet can be an expert.  Look at me...I've got a bazillion and one posts to my name, owned several tubs, but am I an expert? No way....At best I am an experienced ethusiast.   Be careful who you talk to.

4) on the flip side,  one bad expereince, and a person can rant and rave and blow it all out of proportion, and give a good tub, and dealer a bad reveiw.

So what are you going to do?  Well , I'll tell  ya....

1) Shop local dealers.

2) shop brand names (Hotsprings, Caldera, Sundance, Marquis, Artic, Jaquzi, to name a few)

3) Avoid the spas on tv (Therma Spas!). Do not buy a tub off the internet, or from e-bay, or from a roadside sale.

4) Wet test tubs. Wet test several and from different brands (to get a feel for what fits you, and what you like). Dry testing does nothing. WET TEST.

5) Research. Check out the dealer, check out the BBB. ask questions, seek out the bad information. Ask questions here. REad the warrenties.

6) Ask questions here.  For the most part, even though we have different opinions, for the most part on the quality tubs, you'll get a decent opions.

7) wet test. wet test wet test

Buy quality.

9) HAve fun. Really this is a fun thing.  

10) Wet test,

Soooooo

What's your budget, where do you live and what are you looking for? What did you like, not like about the spas you saw already?

[monkeyrra]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I guess this will be my new forum of choice :-)  

I have sat in the Clearwater and Sundance spa's.   I didn't like the Clearwater spa and only found a few Sundance Spa's that would fit me.  (ALL DRY TESTS)

The things I am looking for in a Spa are a lounge seat and HOPEFULLY a lower profile.  Seating should be comfortable for 4 adults, but most of the time there will only be 2-3 people in there.  I have a spa pad already poured 120" x 120" or (10' x 10') and have a 220 prewired in the location.  I would prefer to spa to be no more than 36" tall and would like to have a few feet to put some nice pots for plants in front of the spa.

I am 6' 2" and want a lounge seat, which I have found many that do not accomodate taller people.  So I thought I will dry test the lounge seats to ensure I have enough room to stretch my legs.  Once I narrow things down I will wet test the remaining contenders.

As for my price range:  I am open.  I do not want to go cheap and get a 3k-4k spa online.  I want to make sure I get a quality spa.  I have browsed through your forums and have heard griped about electric bills, and durability of cheaper spas, etc.  I figure if I get a cheap spa, it will cost me more in the long run when you factor in the electricity bills.  The spas I was looking at are around 8k...but I would hope to not spend more than 10k.  

Im here in Sacramento, CA. and from what I have heard there is a Sundance dealer (went there and liked the owner), Hot Springs but I haven't been there.  I will take the list of manufactures that Spatech mentioned and see if I can find a dealer in my area to take a look at them too.

[thearm]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I guess this will be my new forum of choice :-)  

I have sat in the Clearwater and Sundance spa's.   I didn't like the Clearwater spa and only found a few Sundance Spa's that would fit me.  (ALL DRY TESTS)

The things I am looking for in a Spa are a lounge seat and HOPEFULLY a lower profile.  Seating should be comfortable for 4 adults, but most of the time there will only be 2-3 people in there.  I have a spa pad already poured 120" x 120" or (10' x 10') and have a 220 prewired in the location.  I would prefer to spa to be no more than 36" tall and would like to have a few feet to put some nice pots for plants in front of the spa.

I am 6' 2" and want a lounge seat, which I have found many that do not accomodate taller people.  So I thought I will dry test the lounge seats to ensure I have enough room to stretch my legs.  Once I narrow things down I will wet test the remaining contenders.

As for my price range:  I am open.  I do not want to go cheap and get a 3k-4k spa online.  I want to make sure I get a quality spa.  I have browsed through your forums and have heard griped about electric bills, and durability of cheaper spas, etc.  I figure if I get a cheap spa, it will cost me more in the long run when you factor in the electricity bills.  The spas I was looking at are around 8k...but I would hope to not spend more than 10k.  

Im here in Sacramento, CA. and from what I have heard there is a Sundance dealer (went there and liked the owner), Hot Springs but I haven't been there.  I will take the list of manufactures that Spatech mentioned and see if I can find a dealer in my area to take a look at them too.

Very good advice you are getting so far. I might suggest you look at a EMERALD if there are any dealers near you. I own one with a lounger that fits me fine and I am 6'2'' 205 lbs. overall height is 36'' tall. I had it for almost 2 years without any problems or complaints. Just another option to check out.

[longshot]

Monkey - you might check out the Caldera Cumberland.  

This site is a good site - people here are very helpful/informative.

[anne]

Im here in Sacramento, CA. and from what I have heard there is a Sundance dealer (went there and liked the owner), Hot Springs but I haven't been there.  I will take the list of manufactures that Spatech mentioned and see if I can find a dealer in my area to take a look at them too.

I'm in Sac, too!

Try the Elk Grove HS dealer- he is sometimes on here, too, (HottubDan) and I met him as a dealer before I met him here. He's a good guy, and it was just too bad that I didn't fit HS spas a bit better.

We no longer have a local Arctic dealer. That is what I have, tho

I visited one other- the brand wit the integrated headrests(?help?), and they had nothing available to wet test, and didn't seem to want to bother accommodating filling one. But that may have changed in 18 months.

There were reasonable buy slightly schmarmy D1 and Coleman dealers in Roseville. Worth a visit. When I say schmarmy, it is just that typical saleman approach that makes my skin crawl, but I know is just part of the game. But they were both very accommodating to multiple wet tests, and the Coleman guy had LA spas, too.

As far as I know you have to go to Vacaville for Jacuzzi, and I did not do that, but I have seen a shop there along Hwy 80.

Artesian is in Roseville. The dealer I met was very inexperienced....but that was a while ago. He was very nice, and there was lots to wet test, I just didn't like the seats or jets.

No Marquis locally- Auburn, I think? I did not go.

Good luck!!!

[hottubdan]

Anne,

Thanks for your kind words.

Monkeyrra,

I have sent you an email.  Let me know how I can help you.

Dan

[monkeyrra]

I will add Emerald to the list of places to stop by.  

I think I got a lot of research completed today.  Artesian and Jacuzzi are the same dealer in Roseville so I will kill 2 birds with 1 stone there.  Marqius is in Auburn, D1 in Roseville, and Caldera and Emerald in Rancho.

Dan, I tried your Laguna/Elk Grove location on Sunday but it was 11:30 and I had to get to a friends house by 12...so I couldn't stick around till you opened.  Seeing how you also have a location in Roseville maybe I'll stop by there while I am visiting the other dealers.

At this point I think I will continue to dry test loungers to ensure they can handle my height of 6'2" until I narrow the playing field.  Then quality, durability, jet effectiveness, cost, and warranties etc. will help me choose the right spa.

Anyone see a flaw in my theory or can recommend any other companies besides the following please chime in...all recommendations are welcome.

Spa's to look at:

Artesian
Caldera
D1
Hot Springs
Jacuzzi
Marquis (Possibly)
Sundance

[Spatech_tuo]

Spa's to look at:

Artesian
Caldera
D1
Hot Springs
Jacuzzi
Marquis (Possibly)
Sundance

If you really look at all of those you'll undoubtedly find more than one that will meet your needs which can be nice when it comes to making a final decision. Most people don't have that many premium brands at their disposal in one area so take your time and you'll do fine.

[monkeyrra]

Welp I have been one busy bee lately and have things narrowed down substantially.  I met hottubdan briefly and he is a super nice guy.  (I appreciate the time on the phone Dan).  

I narrowed down the tubs that I fit comfortably (Lounge wise) as I am 6' 2", using dry tests.   Then Sunday I took my neighbors with me and we wet tested (4) tubs from (4) different manufactures.  I was surprised at the results.  When this all started I was about 75% sure that I would end up getting a Sundance Spa, but wanted to make sure it was the right tub before investing the money.  I had a good vibe from Hotsprings due to all the rants and raves here on this forum and thought that they would be a good competing spa to try out.  I like to buy from people who I trust, but honestly I thought that Hottubdan, the Sundance dude (John) and the Jacuzzi dude (Brent) were all nice trustworthy people.  So really there is no going wrong there.

Originally I was looking for a lower height spa, taking as little space as possible...but by the end of this adventure I am looking at the larger spa's.

The results of Sundays "Crusade" to find my spa:

Sundance: While I was going there thinking they were the one to beat, their Spa's didn't do it for me.  My original desire was the Marin, but I ended up looking closely at the Cameo, and even tried out the Maxxus.  What a non-personal spa the Maxxus is.  Everyone sits so far away...

Hotsprings:  I really liked the Moto massage and was interested in the Vista and the Envoy.  Their other jet configurations felt good as well.  While the lounger in a dry spa works well for me, it felt a little awkward when there was water and the jets were going.  The Moto massage only reached the lower half of my back, and when the foot massage was on it pushed my feet up making me feel like I was going to float out.  Once I found that the reason for the floating sensation was cause by the foot jets it made me a little more comfortable.  On the flip side of things when I would slouch to have the moto massage on my upper back I had a hard time not floating or getting comfortable.  While at the beginning I was up in the air regarding getting a stereo, I have decided that I do want one with the spa.  I was really disappointed with Hotsprings in this department.  The Aria had an adequate stereo option but I didn't really care for the aria much.  The spa I saw had a small portable CD player connected by 2 RCA jacks in a cheaper looking housing.  Even the Aria's stereo looked a little awkward because it isn't recessed into the tub.  Other than the speakers and the lounger floating issue the jets were nice, and I like the filtration system.  Hopefully if I decide on a Hotsprings I could buy/work with Dan (hottubdan), because I really didn't click with the salesman locally.

Jacuzzi:  I really had the least amount of expectations here.  They were last on my list of tubs to research online, and for that reason I wasn't really into them (or any spa websites for that matter)  I was quite frankly tired of looking at spas online.  I spoke to the dealer Brent a few weeks ago and knew that I would be looking into the Jacuzzi spas but really didn't have a great feeling going into their store.  I was completely and happily surprised with their tubs.  Their jets felt just as good as Hotsprings, and although I really liked the Moto massage by Hotsprings it only covered half my back...the lounger felt much better with the Jacuzzi and I also like the aesthetics of the tub.  The raised back gives it a unique and finished look.  Specifically I am looking at the J-465.

So at this point its really down to Hotsprings Vista and Jacuzzi J-465, but I am leaning towards the Jacuzzi J-465.

[Mez]

It seems you have it narrowed down to 2, and very good choices I think. Both tubs you listed are quality choices. I too liked the styling of the J-400 series with the raised back but it was a bit out of my $ range so I opted for a J-345. I really like the RX jets on the 400 series and that raised back looks awesome. The Hotsprings is a fantastic tub as well, once again, a bit out of my range but my wife wasnt into the moto massage (you either love it or hate it)...good luck in your decision.

[monkeyrra]

Welp,

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to thank all of you who gave me input and recommendations.  I ended up committing to Jacuzzi and will take delivery on a J-480 within the next few weeks.  Funny how in the beginning I was looking for the smallest tub with the largest lounger...but ended up with the biggest tub and a smaller lounger.

Anyway, I will post picks after the tub is delivered.