What is a good balance between high quality, durability and cost for swim spa?

[brownnugen]

Hello, this is my first post here so thank you in advance for your time and help.

I live in the Charleston, SC area and we want to purchase a swim spa soon. We don't have room for a separate swim enclosure and a separate hot tub, but do have the room for a dual zone swim spa. 

I reached out to some of the bigger names (Master Spa and Endless) and neither have any local dealers here to look at or test out their products.  I found a local dealer for Four Winds spas, but he only had hot tubs in stock for me to look at; I also couldn't find much reviews for their swim spas, which probably isn't a good sign.  The Four Winds swim spas seem to be about 50% less than a comparable Master Spa or Endless product; I am not sure if that is because of lower quality or because of less overhead/dealer markup.  Their website and local dealer tells me all the components are  manufactured/made in the U.S., which I am assuming is preferable than manufactured/made overseas.

So, I continued researching and found the Grand Cayman dual zone swim spa from Integrity Spa, which is even cheaper than Four Winds, but I saw negative feedback  about 5 or 6 years old, so I am not sure if they've improved or not.  But the prices seem decent, but I am not going to be penny wise but dollar foolish.  There is also not a dealer or showroom for me to look at or test anything.  I don't know

Then I found Spa Manufacturers;  I think they are pretty affordable but are they any good?  http://www.spamanufacturers.com/

[CanadianSpaTech]

If you buy a dual zone IMO there needs to be a divider between the swim end and the spa end otherwise you either have to swim in 104 degree water so you can enjoy the spa end or have the temp lower so you can swim/exercise in a reasonable temp and not pass out from the heat. Hard to have it both ways.

I'll let others chime in about what they think about Master Spas and Endless pools...and Go

[brownnugen]

Thanks, I was reading about the dual zone; it seems like those are around 19 feet and I am lucky to have the space.  Those dual zone ones with the physical barrier between the 2 sections are definitely in another price category.

I am having an electrician come over next week to verify and let me know how much it will cost to potentially run the 2 240v 60 amp electrical connections

[brownnugen]

If you buy a dual zone IMO there needs to be a divider between the swim end and the spa end otherwise you either have to swim in 104 degree water so you can enjoy the spa end or have the temp lower so you can swim/exercise in a reasonable temp and not pass out from the heat. Hard to have it both ways.

I'll let others chime in about what they think about Master Spas and Endless pools...and Go

So, what are the brands that I should be looking at? 

[cedar1]

Love Charleston! Hope to retire there someday. I was in the same boat a few weeks ago. We were looking for a swim spa that will be used primarily for swimming, but it's quite difficult during this time to be able to see the real product in the showroom. One thing we learned quickly was the availability, it could take up to a year to have it delivered.

We saw 16' Four Winds swim spa at the local dealer here in Charlotte, NC. I was not quite drawn to it because of pretty basic swim jets and the lack of online reviews. Spa seats also too deep for my 4'11' wife, the water level would have been at her eye level. The only good thing is the swim spa was available immediately. The shop could have had it installed in a week.

Then I moved on to Hydropool. Seems nice and I like their swim jet design. The local dealer didn't have a floor model to show. 10 months lead time. Also, require 100% payment upfront to start the order. There's no way I'll put down 100% and just wait that long for the day it shows up. A few days later, spoke to Marquis ATV-17 Kona dealership. Seems like a nice product with great reviews on Yout*be. Marquis has 8 months lead time and only requires 25% down which I don't mind but didn't proceed because the dealer being out of town -Lexington, SC. Don't want the hassle if I ever need them for warranty work.

In the end, we went with Endless pool E550 at the same dealer that has Four Winds here locally. Endless has 52 weeks lead time. We figured if we were going to wait that long, might as well just go with what we think we'll be happy with it the most. From what I've read, Endless has the widest swim current out there -and no bubbles. Our dealer also let us put 10% down to start the process.

Here are price quotes (after 7% taxed) I received when I was shopping a few weeks ago.
Four Winds 16' $28k
Hydropool Executive trainer 16' $42k
Marquis ATV-17 $30k
Endless pool E550 $41k

May I suggest you look at Marquis dealership in your area, I searched and there is one in Charleston. I like their ATV-17 Kona, nice options, the price is very reasonable too.

Hope this helps.

[The Wizard of Spas]

To take a different approach to the question - have you considered two separate purchases - a singular hot tub and a singular swim spa?  If you do not have the space for it, then disregard this.  However, in most cases you get better ROI when you do a separate swim spa (less cost, more swim area) and hot tub (typically better performance and more spacious), you get way more value and end up spending less money overall and in many cases pull less electric.

Just tossing that out there.  Not trying to sway you but rather get you some insight that you might not have considered.  Just a thought.  I hope this helps.  Good luck moving forward.