Ready to purchase - which manufacturer

[bundhar]

I live in New England and am about ready to build a SPA into my deck.  Cost is no issue.  I dont want lounges and it needs to be big 6-8 people.  Which vendors should i consider and if you had your preference which model would you buy.  I will build the deck around the spa and plan to drop it into the deck - so servicing is important.

How much distance do I need to keep around the deck for servicing reasons?

[Isaac-1]

Welcome, this is an all to common open ended sort of question that is hard to answer, picture the same question with car substituted for Hot Tub.  With your help we can perhaps narrow things down a bit for you, first off, on size do you mean 6-8 actual people, or a 6-8 person size tub?  Hot tubs are often sized with each "seat" counting as a person, but actual real world capacity typically being about 2/3 -3/4 of the rated number.  If your wanting 6-8 actual people, this is going to limit you to a few companies, and even then it is probably going to be on the lower end of that range.  Now for one of those big questions, how do you plan to use the tub, will this be a social tub, soaking, how important is hydrothearapy, are the bells and whistles important (tv, sound system, color changing water falls, etc.)?

[wmccall]

Welcome to the forum, If you did indeed mean 6 to 8 really big people, you should definitely wet test if that is possible.  Both the best and worst brands may  have tubs that fit and some that don't.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Or, big (enough) for 6 to 8 people ?

[Water Boy]

I live in New England and am about ready to build a SPA into my deck.  Cost is no issue.  I dont want lounges and it needs to be big 6-8 people.  Which vendors should i consider and if you had your preference which model would you buy.  I will build the deck around the spa and plan to drop it into the deck - so servicing is important.

How much distance do I need to keep around the deck for servicing reasons?

Typically I would tell a customer to leave at least 18" of clearance or so per side if you were wanting to get into that side to service it. Enough rook for a service tech to get down in there with a set of tools to do the repair. Sometimes though with spas that are sunken into a deck, or with a deck built around it, you can build it in a way where you can removable boards to allow someone to get in there for service.

Arctic Spas offers a very nice 8-9 person spa called the Summit XL. It measure at roughly 9.5 ft bu 8 ft. You should have some dealers in your area in the NE area that can tell you more about it. If not, you can go to Arctic Spas website to see more about it. If you don't want a spa quite that big, they also offer the Tundra in a 8x8 spa, that does have seven seats, but like some of others have said, it can be a little cozy with seven people in there.

Other brands that are often mentioned on here with high regards are Jacuzzi, Sundance, Hot Spring, Dimension One, and Marquis. You might check any of those local dealers out as well. Like others have mentioned, if you can wet test, that will really help with the decision. I always recommend to buy from a good local reputable dealer that has credibility, and has been in business for a number of years. Good luck in your search for the perfect spa. If you have any questions in particular to Arctic Spas, please let me know and I'll be glad to help!

[richierich]

The Sundance Aspen is a very large hot tub from a quality manufacturer. I own a smaller version, Optima, and I am very happy with it. It seems that many of the larger hot tubs from different companies include a lounge, which does take up a lot of space.

[hottubdan]

Are you in the Boston area? New England Spas carries Hot Spring and Sundance.  You cannot go wrong. http://www.nespas.com