Inexpensive, No Frills, Quality Round Hot Tub?

[dave]

I am in the market for an inexpensive, no frills, quality round hot tub. I used to own a Sundance Optima, but my priorities in a hot tub have changed since then. After a while, I found myself sitting in the hot tub enjoying the silence without the jets on more often, and didn't like how sitting in front of the jets made my skin itch more. Also, I didn't like how the seating sometimes created barriers between the users of the tub. Ideally, I'd love to find a tub that had no jets in it at all except for those required for circulation and filtration, but I don't think these exist. So, here's a list of what I'm looking for to recap:

Barrier free (like what's found in the typical round tub)
Seating for 4 -6 people with an adequate seat for my 6-year old daughter that keeps her head above water.
Minimal/no jets other than what's required for circulation and filtration.
Good heating and filtration (I have a 220 line set up for the hot tub).
Good warranty and quality build.
Fairly inexpensive ($3000 - $5000 range)
Composite skirt instead of wood.
No stereo, color LED lights, waterfalls, etc.
Fairly quiet when jets are off, but heater is on.

I live in the Colorado area.

Recommendation?

Thanks,

Dave

[Tman122]

The Marquis 524 is for you. Or the D1 Journey or Arena. Nordic makes a nice solid round tub.

[JohnnyK45]

Viking 2; can't say enough about the company and our tub, awesome!

http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,16101.0.html

J

[mjb]

Check out Nordic Hot Tubs.
They have a few round ones.
We've carried them for years and it's a good product.

[wmccall]

I am in the market for an inexpensive, no frills, quality round hot tub.
Dave

Welcome to the forum. Nice job of stating what you are looking for.  I'm sure a lot of people are looking for the same thing.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

Nordic....no frills, cheap (relatively speaking of course), whirlpool jet feature, solid track record as a company

[Sam]

Based upon your needs, I would go with the Bullfrog Sport X line, 151R.

http://www.bullfrogspas.com/listings/display/86/42/151r

It comes with 1 jetpak of your choosing.  This way you can decide what type of jets you want, which in your case would be a very basic one.  It is a quality, American made hot tub that is extremely energy efficient and reliable and seems to meet your needs. 

Another option is the Tuff Spas TS350.  This is a very basic, no frills spa that has an artificial stone appearance.  It has variable depth, barrier free seating.  It uses Balboa electronics and Aqua-flo pumps, which are known to be very reliable.  This is also another American made hot tub that is energy efficient ane reliable.

http://www.tuffspas.com/tuffspas/ts350.html

[MarKee]

Marquis makes a couple of nice round models:

The 524-
http://www.marquisspas.com/hot_tub/models/524.asp


And a little bit less expensive:

The Napa-
http://www.celebrityhottubs.com/napa-hot-tub.asp