Buying Our 1st Hot Tub

[uskiwi]

We've been shopping for one for years. I'm tired of all the sales people pushing their model as the best. They all seem to be good - one has one thing better, one has another thing better, etc. etc. We're looking at dealers that have been in business for many years - selling top brand names. But overall, still not sure we know what to look for to get the best and the most for our money. In your experience, what is the best/good and worst/bad brands you have come across? And what is the expected price one should pay for a decent hot tub? Thanks for your experience and insight.
uskiwi, ohio

[Vinny]

Pretty much stay away from Home Depot spas and the like and from some people have wrote, Cal Spas.

There's a lot of quality brands and they have secondary lines ... you can spend $7,000 or you can spend $12000. Their both good but will have different features and possibly longer warranties with the more expensive units.

What you should get depends on you and your budget. I bought an Artesian Island series and it was much less expensive than an Artesian Platinum series. They both are great tubs but do use different size jets, have different electronics and the Platinum's have more pumps and longer warranty.

[In Canada eh]

uskiwi,


      Welcome to the forum,  

whats the best hot tub is very subjective to your own likes and dislikes, wants and needs, let alone budget.   You are on the right track by staying to a name brand and a dealer that has been in business for a while.  The best advice I can give you is to wet test, wet test, wet test.   Pick out a few tubs that you like and ask the dealer to schedule a wet test for you, that way you can determine for yourself "whats the best"

Some brands you might want to look at and in no particular order,           Bullfrog
                                                                                                          Hot Springs
                                                                                                          Sundance
                                                                                                          Jacuzzi
                                                                                                          Dimension 1
                                                                                                          Marquis
                                                                                                          Artesian
                                                                                                          Caldera
                                                                                                          Beachcomber
         I am just naming a few there are alot of good tubs out there, if you have a question about a certain brand post it here.  There are alot of helpful dealers and owners always willing to lend a hand.

Good luck with your search

[uskiwi]

We're looking at an Artesian - Island Spa. Any comments on this brand in particular?
uskiwi

[In Canada eh]

We're looking at an Artesian - Island Spa. Any comments on this brand in particular?
uskiwi

   Wait a bit for Vinny to chime in on this he has an Artesian Island spa, not sure of what model.  I know he is very happy with his.

[Vinny]

I have a Artesian Island Cayman. It's a 2005 and IMO it is a great tub. The one thing I will caution you is with the neck collar seats. I am 6' and have a long torso and I just fit into one seat and I don't fit into the other. It was explained to me that one is shorter than the other to accompdate shorter people and it does. I definately will say to at least dry test any tub with neck collar seats but wet testing is better as I found the tub fits differently wet than dry ( I didn't wet test).

I liked the tub because you can customize it how you want it. I bought a 56 jet with 3 pump model and I could have gotten one with less for less $$$. At the time I got pretty much the "top of the line" Cayman. I don't have the stereo, upgraded ozone or multi LED lights but I believe I got everything else. I believe it was the greatest value for me when I was looking.

I like the jet action - it can be really strong with the air on (I like it this way the best) or it can be gentle.

As far as quality, it's a quality tub and I have to say that in the year that I've had it I only had one issue - the same size jets were breaking. The dealer was taking care of them as they broke but I contacted Artesian and they took care of me. I'm a happy Artesian customer.

There are a few more Artesian owners here and I'm sure we will be happy to answer your questions.

I hope this helps!

[wmccall]

ohio

O.H...........,


It sounds like you have done the looking. In this case the right spa is the spa that is right for you. Have you wet tested at all?  

[uskiwi]

We've not wet tested this particular model but have been in many different models, brands etc over the years. Thanks for all your input and insight - -- I'm tired of looking for one...I think I'm gonna buy the Artisian Island Spa today ---- it's fall in Ohio and the best time to have a hot tub. My back is in spasms w/ anticipation. uskiwi

[spaman--]

Pretty much stay away from Home Depot spas and the like and from some people have wrote, Cal Spas.

There's a lot of quality brands and they have secondary lines ... you can spend $7,000 or you can spend $12000. Their both good but will have different features and possibly longer warranties with the more expensive units.

What you should get depends on you and your budget. I bought an Artesian Island series and it was much less expensive than an Artesian Platinum series. They both are great tubs but do use different size jets, have different electronics and the Platinum's have more pumps and longer warranty.

OK you said it "some people have wrote, Cal Spas"  of course I have heard the same about other brands , however I find this to be an ignorant statement. TO point that out is simply rediculous as I could go on and on about the trials and tribulations that every manufacturer has gone thru in order to become the best there is. I do believe pointing these out does not help anyone. To blatenly compare Home Depot Spas to Cal Spas is so far off base it becomes rediculous. I have found Cal Spas to be in the Top 5 manufacturers when it comes to Quality and service. I am not bias as I have other favorite brands of spas as well. I will point out that Artesian is not one of them. In our 2 markets that the dealer I work for (Cal Spas) we have dominated and remained strong for the past 18 yrs in Colorado and 15 yrs in Minnesota. I dont think we have been consistant in our successes by selling bad products or delivering poor service. Bottom line is combine a quality product with great service, and you will find thats the dealer that will remain the most succesfull. We sincerely believe that word of mouth is the best advertising and our annual sales reflect said success.

[Vinny]

Pretty much stay away from Home Depot spas and the like and from some people have wrote, Cal Spas.

There's a lot of quality brands and they have secondary lines ... you can spend $7,000 or you can spend $12000. Their both good but will have different features and possibly longer warranties with the more expensive units.

What you should get depends on you and your budget. I bought an Artesian Island series and it was much less expensive than an Artesian Platinum series. They both are great tubs but do use different size jets, have different electronics and the Platinum's have more pumps and longer warranty.

OK you said it "some people have wrote, Cal Spas"  of course I have heard the same about other brands , however I find this to be an ignorant statement. TO point that out is simply rediculous as I could go on and on about the trials and tribulations that every manufacturer has gone thru in order to become the best there is. I do believe pointing these out does not help anyone. To blatenly compare Home Depot Spas to Cal Spas is so far off base it becomes rediculous. I have found Cal Spas to be in the Top 5 manufacturers when it comes to Quality and service. I am not bias as I have other favorite brands of spas as well. I will point out that Artesian is not one of them. In our 2 markets that the dealer I work for (Cal Spas) we have dominated and remained strong for the past 18 yrs in Colorado and 15 yrs in Minnesota. I dont think we have been consistant in our successes by selling bad products or delivering poor service. Bottom line is combine a quality product with great service, and you will find thats the dealer that will remain the most succesfull. We sincerely believe that word of mouth is the best advertising and our annual sales reflect said success.

Spaman,

I will say that I know you are a Cal Spa dealer and based  on what you write, I believe that your customers are getting treated great. I don't know you personally nor do I own a Cal but I will stand behind what I've written since I have read a lot of negative about Cal, some from end users and some from competing dealers. I've read reviews of people that say they suck and I have read reviews of people that say they're great. It seems that the people who do write about Artesian have good things to say about them (OK, one person had a bad experience - could that be a sucky dealer? Probably) and maybe they don't make YOUR list of "top 5" but based on my experience with them and what I've seen on this board when another poster's tub needed an OUT OF WARRANTY part - Artesian came through.

It is YOUR opinion that Cal is great as is every other dealer's opinion that their brand is great. I was not comparing a Home Depot spa to Cal but it seems to me that some people believe that Cal is not the highest quality in spas being sold by a dealer. As has always been said here that a good or great dealer can make the difference in what the owning experience is.

Take a look at what's being sold and Artesian is picking up market share it seems - maybe they do have the quality that you seem to think they lack! I've seen Cal and they do look impressive for the buck but sales are driven by $$$ and if your price points are below the competition, you will do good. It's been said many times here - people want that $15,000 spa for $3,000 and Cal has spas from what I've seen that are priced below the major manufacturers.

I'm not into "my brand is better than your brand" BS.  Based on what I've read it did lead to Artesian and away from Cal!

[spaman--]

Um no we are actually only priced below one brand in our market, so the idea of us whoring our product is definately not the key to our success. I say again, its a combination of quality and service. Good luck to you and your Artesian and I wish you many happy soaks.

[D.P. Roberts]

---- it's fall in Ohio and the best time to have a hot tub. My back is in spasms w/ anticipation. uskiwi

Where in Ohio are you?

[Vinny]

Um no we are actually only priced below one brand in our market, so the idea of us whoring our product is definately not the key to our success. I say again, its a combination of quality and service. Good luck to you and your Artesian and I wish you many happy soaks.

Now don't go adding words into my posts! The only Cals I saw were priced in the $5500 to $7000 catagory (2004 prices) - Which was below the market prices for other premium brands in my area. Whoring wasn't my word that was yours. My ONLY price knowledge from Cal is what I came across at this dealer and considering that a secondary line of Sundance, Master or a 500 series Beachcomber was priced at a Cal price, I believed they were sold at a cheaper price. I couldn't tell you what they had in it but they were at the dealer that was selling Beachcomber and remembering that I thought they seemed like they had a lot of features for the money.

And thank you for your wishes!!

[Lakedaisy]

If you have been shopping for years then you should be fairly knowledgeable concerning the spas you have shopped. You should be familiar with what components they use and what the pros/cons are for each company.  I made up a sheet for each spa that we have looked at and wet tested listing anything unique/Pros/Cons. This kept us from losing track of what we liked.  I have contacted the factory on some to get more info.  As far as the salespeople are concerned, listen to what they say makes their spa the best, make a note of it and move on.

My wife had originally wanted a lounge seat in the spa, but after wet tested spas from Hotsprings, Vita, Arctic, Master Spa, Jacuzzi, with lounges, we have decided not to buy a spa with a lounge.  The Jacuzzi was the only spa that she could stay in the lounge in.

We never found the absolute 'perfect' model for us. Each manufacturer has something that we like.  We wet tested our final 4 spas this week.  We are not testing any more spas and have finally made a decision of which will work for us.  We had started off thinking we would pay $7-10K. The Artesian Piper Glen decided to purchase will be ~$11k (final price hasn’t been agreed upon.) One thing we found during our search is that if you have a physical problem and can get a doctors prescription (I have arthritis), then you don’t have to pay sales tax. A least that’s how it is in FL.  Good luck.

[barshnik]

If you are ever in Las vegas, stop by the factory and request a tour.  It is large, pristine, well organized, and the folks are friendly.  It really gave me a warm fuzzy about their quality (I bought a Falcon at the factory store, and love it.)  We wanted a smaller 3 seater, high quality, and chose it over the Sundance Capri, HS Jetsetter, and a couple of D1's.  They all seemed excellent spas, but liked the concept of direct flow, and the fact that they support the local economy.

John F
LV, NV