I paid $7800 (base price) for a 2003 year end grandee, plus tax, near Baltimore, MD. Standard includes, except for spa steps and cover lifter which I did not need.
I think the grand total was 8,200 or 8,300 including tax and delivery. Plus electrician's fees to hook it up. Hot Springs is nice in that they throw in the breaker box, but they don't also throw in an electrician to hook it up!
My wife and I actually preferred the 2003 model to the 2004. We didn't like the waterfall, nor the new "sleek" controls which we found hard to grip when our hands were wet. Of course we also have the rough white finish as pearl finishes tend to scratch (it sounds so odd trying to be practical and then spending $8k for a tub of hot water
).
A couple of things for delivery of such a tub:
1) There is a hole cut in the side of the tub for the spa audio control box. There is a standard and reasonable attractive cover plate screwed on to mask that hole. Make sure they put that on for you (and that they put on one big enough to cover the hole) when you have them remove the spa audio.
2) Pillows in a hot tub are only under warranty for 1 year, and the pillows in a demo tub are old. Realistically these pillows can last 2-4 years, but why start out with used pillows. We had our dealer put in three new pillows at no cost (they cost about $37.00 each).
3) Check all jets in the grandee. A cool feature (to us) of the tub is that many of the jets are removable, but some are held in with small plastic "nibs". As you walk through the tub befor eyou buy ask that each jet be removed and inspected to be sure none of the nibs has bent or broken off. Dealers take these off several times to show customers so they get *alot* of wear and tear. These are all covered under warranty so it isn't a big issue, but why risk the inconvenience of a service call.
4) Make sure the tub comes with new filters. We chose not to get the tri-x yet, as they wouldn't give us a discount/trade-in on the standard included filters to apply to the purchase of tri-x filters, so we decided to use the regular filters until they died and then upgrade.
5) Make sure they clean the spa after they drain it (if it was wet). Look to make sure that the tile around the tub (if any) is clean and the grouting looks secure. This is also something only covered under a 1 year warranty that will have gotten some abuse after a year in a dealership.
The grandee is an absolutely *terrific* tub. We entertain frequently and often have at least 6 people in there. You can run the jets and still talk, all seats are comfortable, and when it is just you and your SO you feel like you are in a warm, massaging pool. I get in it every night it isn't raining!
-Ed
