Artesian or Hot Spring w/a Splash and a Twist

[KieuPhong]

Not your normal choice...A 6-month old, installed Artesian Santa Cruz ($4k) or a new Hot Spring Jetsetter ($8k+ including installation).

We're buying a home that has an Artesian Santa Cruz Hot Tub installed. We can buy the hot tub with the home or the Seller will remove and take the tub with them.

Dropped by a showroom that sells and repairs hot tubs in the area. They represent Hot Spring and Jacuzzi. When asked about Artesian, they called them "leakers" as the jets frequently leak. Artesian Santa Cruz has 33 jets vs 22 in the Jetsetter. They say: most of their repair calls are on brands other than Hot Spring or Jacuzzi. They say that Hot Spring and Jacuzzi are very reliable...if maintained properly. We are also considering salt vs chlorine, which apparently is not an easy conversion with the Artesian Santa Cruz.

Price is important, yet reliability and service are more important to us. We have read other discussions that suggest that Artesian's warranty is less than expected. Artesian is not sold in our immediate area, so repair is third party and provided by those who represent competitive brands. Buying and getting service locally always seems to be a smart move considering the odds are always better you'll get better service from where it was purchased.

So...

- Is the Hot Spring Jetsetter worth twice that of the 6-month old, installed Artesian Santa Cruz 33?;

- Which maker's hot tub will provide the most years of reliable service with the least troubles?; and

- Any and all thoughts you'd like to share is greatly appreciated...about hot tubs that is!

[Sam]

Total b.s.  Artesian jets do not frequently leak.  I would personally take a brand new Santa Cruz over a brand new jetsetter at the same price all day, every day.  That little spa rocks.  In my opinion, it's a no brainer to take the Artesian at half the price.  As for the saltwater vs chlorine route, if the Santa Cruz has their @ease system I would encourage you to give it a try.  It's a fantastic system that is very easy and you won't smell any chlorine. 

I've sold both brands and both are good and reliable.  The Artesian does not use any proprietary parts like the hot spring so getting it repaired will not be an issue.  Of all the brands that I've sold over the years, Artesian is among the most reliable and probably my favorite.  The jetsetter is a great little spa and aesthetically nicer than the Artesian, but performance wise the Artesian wins.  2 jet pumps on that little thing makes for some great power. 

[castletonia]

Two things.  First, since you said 22 jets, that means Jetsetter LX.  $8k is a ridiculously low price on that.  Second, the Artesian will have no warranty, just an FYI. 

As a Hot Spring dealer, I have my opinions and bias.  Artesian has a good reputation though I have no personal experience with them.  If you can, try and wet test both models.  Small spas don't have a lot of seats so you need to make sure they fit you and your needs.  A wet test may be able tell you which one you should get. 

[d00nut]

If service is important... call around to see who will service the Artesian.  Are they reputable? 

I hate hate hate one aspect of this industry... and it's salespeople bashing other brands.  I'm a Hot Spring guy, always been partial... but it's arrogant and ignorant for me to bash everything else...  Artesians are hardly leakers.  They are no more than a Bullfrog, Sundance, or even Hot Spring.

Service is going to be important, figure out who does it.  Proprietary parts vs no proprietary parts really don't matter... if you have no one reliable to actually service the product.  Unless you are super handy yourself.

That's what would determine my decision.

[Spatech_tuo]

If service is important... call around to see who will service the Artesian.  Are they reputable? 

I hate hate hate one aspect of this industry... and it's salespeople bashing other brands.  I'm a Hot Spring guy, always been partial... but it's arrogant and ignorant for me to bash everything else...  Artesians are hardly leakers.  They are no more than a Bullfrog, Sundance, or even Hot Spring.

Service is going to be important, figure out who does it.  Proprietary parts vs no proprietary parts really don't matter... if you have no one reliable to actually service the product.  Unless you are super handy yourself.

That's what would determine my decision.

Part of it is salesmanship for sure and could simply be a smear. Another part at times is not being fully informed about the situation if he wasn't the seller.

A dealer of a certain brand sells that brand and services as well. He sees his own service issues with the brand but knows how much of his brand is out there plus he sees all the happy customers coming in the store for supplies. While he may have a few leakers to deal with he can see the big picture and know its out of a large population of spas he has sold.

Now if that dealer also services other brands he mostly just sees the problem spas with that brand. Maybe the last 3 Artesians he's worked on really were leaks but is that a problem overall? Does he have any idea how maybe the Artesian dealer sold in the area to know if there is a trend. 

[BrwDistribution]

Both are nice tub