Newbie trying to decide...

[NWHotTubber]

Okay we are newbies...

The Hot Tub / Spa selection is a bit overwhelming.  
We have looked at many brands (Marquis, Hot Springs, Coleman, Master, plus a few others)
There are SO many...

We really think we have narrowed it down to Hot Springs (Vista or Grandee) But the Epic seems to still be in the running... to lounge or to not lounge.  

The one thing that concerns me on the Epic is that you don't seem able to run all jets at full capacity at the same time... I think it was due to the lounger jets?

It's been a few months since we were in the stores, decided to wait until after all the summer running.  Now it is time to get back to deciding which tub.

There are so many and I (we) want to make sure we are making the 'right' choice.  It really does get confusing after a while... not to mention I am blonde  :-/

What is truly the best spa/hot tub?  

[NWHotTubber]

Oh and we did look at Caldera.

One more thing that is confusing is Caldera and Hot Springs... made by same company?

[JUST ME]

Hi Nwhottubber,

Both are by Watkins, HotSprings is the only manufacturer that have a no by-pass filtration system, just ask Tex he has a good diagram but you might have seen it already.  Think about this would you like only part of the air in you car to be filtered and some not filtered going into your carburetor/injectors, so the no by-pass is great in my opinion but I don't like the layout of the jets as much.  ( look into opinion.com for reviews on all spas)

As you will learn all manufacturer have there better qualities and it would be nice too get this from them and that form them but we cant. So You will have to just bite the bullet and make the final decision by a hole lot of searching on this site and others.

Good luck to you.

And keep asking questions.

just me

[patty]

Hi NYHotTubber,

We shopped for months so I can totally empathize!!!  We began looking in early May and just decided/purchased on Labor Day.  What a stressful, frustrating, sometimes fun process!  We looked at Hot Spring, Jacuzzi, Hyrdospa, Caldera, Coast Spa, Golf Coast, Artesian, Arctic and Sundance (no Marquis dealers in our area).  For us it was between Caldera Niagara and Sundance Optima.  

Things to consider:

How many people will you generally have in it? (We have a 13yo and an 8 yo and wanted room for 4 without being croweded. We began looking at medium sized but realized early on that (for us) it's not  relaxing to be jammed in.  Plus the kids are going to get bigger.  And we'd like to have room for occasional family/friends etc).    We ended up purchasing a 500 gal tub.

Lounger/no lounger - thought we wanted one, but decided we didn't want to give up the space.  Plus the one we went with has deep seats and a foot jets so your basically in a lounge position from all the corner seats.

Re. "right" choice... the 'right' tub is very subjective.  My best advice is -if you hadn't already done so - WET test WET test WET test - as many different tubs as you can.  We tested the tub we eventually purchased 3 different times.   For us I tended to float around in Hot Springs and the seat heights did not vary enough for my kids.  Caldera no problem at all.  Loved the foot ridges, 1/2 lounger (great compromise), lights, captain seat with wrist jets.  (Caldera made by same company as Hot Spring - Watkins Manuf).

Lastly we tried to be systematic with our wet tests.  Ensure all jets were full open, diverter valves set in mid position, jets on low.  Then we'd switch seats until we'd tried all the seats.  Once we'd tried all the seats we'd play around with the diverter, jets, pump settings and bells and whistles such as air blower, lights, waterfall, radio etc.

So you're on the right track looking at a variety of tubs.  If you wet test them you're bound to find one or two that fit your needs/budget.  The fun really begins when you narrow it down to 2 then have to decide. Good luck.  

[hottub.pool_boy]

Well, you can guess at what I think's the best.

But really, the dealer you purchase from will make any spa the best.

Choose the dealer wisely.

[anne]

I dont have a lot to add to what Patty said- that was great advice. Remember that there is no "best" hot tub. There are a lot of really good ones out there, and it sounds like you have done your research to weed out a few brands. Asking "what is the best tub" is like asking "what is the best wine/car/college".... it depends on what you want and need.

Good luck!

[PVM]

Hi Nwhottubber,

Both are by Watkins, HotSprings is the only manufacturer that have a no by-pass filtration system,

Although Hot Springs states they are the only ones, my Emerald has no by-pass filtration.

[MarKee]

I would definitely wet test if it's between the Marquis and the Hotspring.  Both are reputable brands.  If you compare the warranties side by side you will see longer coverages and less exclusions in the Marquis warranty.  The Epic is not designed to have all the jets on at the same time, if you want that, the Marquis Everyday line offers that.  The Marquis tri-zone system is designed for focused therapy and what's neat is you can put a whole pump in to one seat and focus the power on YOU, because 98% of the time you're only going to have 1 or 2 people in the spa.  As far as filtration, Marquis doesn't bypass when it goes through it's filtration cycles throughout the day, but really "no-bypass" is a sales term, both will provide clean water.  

[hymbaw]

Hi Nwhottubber,

Both are by Watkins, HotSprings is the only manufacturer that have a no by-pass filtration system,

Although Hot Springs states they are the only ones, my Emerald has no by-pass filtration.

Actually, in an Emerald, NO water is filtered before it goes thru the pumps.

[Bill75]

Dear NWHottubber,

I can empathize with the confusion:  we bought our Hot Springs Grandee about a month ago.  For us, the more tubs we reviewed the more they all seemed to run together.  We spent some time looking at reviews online and talking to some friends and family members who have owned tubs for several years.  This may be repeating what others have said, but sometimes there is value in repetition, so here goes:

1.  We did not find anyone who had purchased a "big box" (COSTCO, Home Depot) tub.  We heard a lot of annecdotal stories about people who had purchased them and were not satisified in the long run (repair and operating costs) but never actually talked to a person who owned one.  Maybe they didn't want to admit it or maybe very few of those tubs are sold:  I don't know.  However, I had several colleagues at work who had purchased pre owned homes with non functional hot tubs, and those were all big box type tubs.

2.  Think of hot tubs like cars:  the designers make certain tradeoffs to keep the price at a specified level, and the differing designers make different tradeoffs.  That is what makes a Ford a Ford and not a Honda.  Some manufacturers (like some cars) may have a reputation for quality, but what they may really mean is that if you buy a tub from them you have a better chance of getting one that doesn't require a lot of maintenance.  The designers also make tradeoffs to appeal to differing people:  lounger or open seating?  little jets or big rotating jets?  etc.....

3.  Assuming that you are planning on staying in your home for a few years, the dealer can be decisive. (I am not a dealer, nor do I have any connections to any dealers).  Some dealers gave us the impression that they were doing us a favor by selling us a tub.  It was quickly obvious that some of them were selling hot tubs to take up a corner in their shop.  

4.  In our case, the ultimate decisive factor was wet testing.  You can get an idea what the tub is like by getting into it dry, but it is not the same thing.  The water makes all the difference in the world.  We found that the HS Grandee was the most comfortable for us.  It was little things like the way my shoulders fit when I was using the head rest on the corner seat that made the difference.  At first, we thought we wanted a lounger, but after trying both the lounger and open seating we found the open seating much better.

We have had four people in our tub and everyone had plenty of room, but normally our two teenage sons don't go in with us.  My wife and I love the room we have to stretch out and get comfortable.  

This was not an impulse buy: we started talking about a hot tub over ten years ago, and had a spot picked out for it when we built our house nine years ago.  However, we have been seriously considering it for about two years.  Now that we are soaking in our tub, I think we overstudied a bit, but I am very comfortable with our purchase.  

Sorry this got so long winded.  I have to go and check the spa water now....  

[NWHotTubber]

Thanks for all the input!!   It is greatly appreciated.

This is not an impulse buy for us either.  We have considered it for several years.  Hubby is an engineer... we don't make huge decisions in a hurry.  Finally (early spring) started going to shops and locating spa dealers, getting a feel for "things."

We are a family of 5, kids ages are 13 (almost 14-girl), 12 (boy), and the caboose being almost 6 (boy).

While we could go smaller size, and it will usually just be the 2 of us, we (I) want a larger tub...    We have the space for it... don't want any regrets.

At first I thought I wanted a lounger, but I am short (5'2") and I don't think they will fit me right.  Yes, we will Wet Test!!   So far we have only done dry testing.  I figured I didn't want to go around doing wet test until we were ready to bring one home.  We don't have huge amounts of spare time and only want to wet test real contenders.  

We know we do not want to buy "big box" ... mainly because I want service.  Good service!  
My/our preference is go for the Mercedes of hot tubs... Yes, I consider myself spoiled...      Figuring out which is the Mercedes seems to be the hardest part.  

It does seem that the more we review the more confusing it gets.   Then I wonder if we are just making it more difficult than it needs to be  :-/

We are in the NW (Oregon/Portland-Beaverton area) so it is cooler here more than not.  

I think it is time to start the wet testing, darn have to use a suit for that don't we?  [smiley=engel017.gif]  

[tanstaafl2]

Might want to look at the Sundance Maxxus if you haevn't yet as it is a fairly big tub and gives you 3 full corner seats plus room for a full lounger. I am sure they would consider themselves the Mercedes of tubs. At least they have a price tag like one!

But Sundance does seem to make a good product, just pricey. But then aren't they all?