Find out what is allowable by the NEC. Not sure of the hard wire to the panel option, but you certainly could tap into your main panel with a standard 2 pole 60 amp (or higher) non gfi breaker.
If you wanted to, you could put your 60 amp GFI into your main panel, assuming you could find one to fit, and put another means of disconnect by the spa. This could be as simple as a non fused 60 amp rated a/c pull box.
That option may save you a few bucks, since the pull box is cheaper ($10) than the 60 amp non GFI breaker.
But that would put your GFI away from the spa. That's not a saftey issue, more a convenience issue.
Brewman