hotsprings

[metalmann]

ahy comments on the hotsprings grandee and pricing

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

great spa

[planetary]

I considered it.

- I'm getting an 91 x 91 inch tub, not small, but even the Grandee felt a bit too big to me.   It's big.  That may be exactly what you want!  It competes with the Jacuzzi J-495 on size.
- The water feature is ok, but not my favorite.
- Hotspring jets now allow you to selectively turn them off, which is good.
- Jets were very good.  But not my favorite.
- Seating was very good.  But not my favorite.  Didn't like the cool-down seat.

Some pretty subjective stuff in there.

I hear good things about Hotspring as a brand.  Not sure about pricing for the Grandee; never got that far.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

Its a big impressive spa, and despite it being the most expensive in the Hot Spring line we sell a bunch of them, our #3 seller overall the last 2 years if I remember correctly.  Lots of jet selection, dual moto-massage, 24hr silent circulation, and just like all Hot Springs very efficient.  As far as bells and whistles are concerned (lighting, waterfalls, etc)...well those are of course subjective

[metalmann]

I considered it.

- I'm getting an 91 x 91 inch tub, not small, but even the Grandee felt a bit too big to me.   It's big.  That may be exactly what you want!  It competes with the Jacuzzi J-495 on size.
- The water feature is ok, but not my favorite.
- Hotspring jets now allow you to selectively turn them off, which is good.
- Jets were very good.  But not my favorite.
- Seating was very good.  But not my favorite.  Didn't like the cool-down seat.

Some pretty subjective stuff in there.

I hear good things about Hotspring as a brand.  Not sure about pricing for the Grandee; never got that far.

what brand are yiou considering?

[Hot Spring Ace]

Its a big impressive spa, and despite it being the most expensive in the Hot Spring line we sell a bunch of them, our #3 seller overall the last 2 years if I remember correctly.  Lots of jet selection, dual moto-massage, 24hr silent circulation, and just like all Hot Springs very efficient.  As far as bells and whistles are concerned (lighting, waterfalls, etc)...well those are of course subjective

Thats the amazing thing about the Grandee, it has always been a very big seller even though its the most expensive one in the line.

[Spatech_tuo]

ahy comments on the hotsprings grandee and pricing

Very good spa with a good history behind it. Pricing depends on what else is in the package and where you live (i'd expect a difference between buying it in Chicago vs a small town in South Dakota) but I'm sure there are some owners/dealers here that can tell you what it goes for wher they are.

[planetary]

what brand are yiou considering?

I went with a Jacuzzi 470.  Started a thread about it... link here.  In addition to the Grandee, I also considered the Sundance Optima and D1 Lotus Bay.

My intent was to buy a great tub from a reputable brand, at a store with good post-sales support, that my wife and I both loved.  In my opinion, all of these are fantastic spas, and apart from identifying a good store, it's quite subjective how you choose among them.

[wmccall]

what brand are yiou considering?

I went with a Jacuzzi 470.  Started a thread about it... link here.  In addition to the Grandee, I also considered the Sundance Optima and D1 Lotus Bay.

My intent was to buy a great tub from a reputable brand, at a store with good post-sales support, that my wife and I both loved. In my opinion, all of these are fantastic spas, and apart from identifying a good store, it's quite subjective how you choose among them.

That was probably the biggest point in my decision.

[Chas]

When the economy was humming, my wife and I would get a new spa every year. One of the perqs of owning spa stores.

Owners Report:

We used to have a Grandee. In fact, we've had about ten of them. Love them!! I have had the Vista, but we didn't end up using the recliner and we hated the "Copper" color. Had some Classics: the famous "Dog Dish" spa - they didn't have a cover opener way back then, but they were the only model without wood siding and we lived closer to the beach then. In 2000 they discontinued the model. But even the Classic was open seating with two Moto Massage jets, similar to the Grandee. Tried the Vanguard once - it is actually a cross between the Classic and the Grandee on a smaller scale, and we loved it but I wanted to get back to the larger tub. If I had a space limitation in the yard I would gladly have stayed with the Vanguard. Not that we entertain in our tub often, but I like to have lots of seating options and bigger variety of jets.

The fountain is cool, in my opinion. Gentle water falling, not splashy, the color travels all the way to the end of the arc, which I think is tres cool! You can put your hand out and let the water caress your palm, and see the colored light in your hand. I also like the fact that the fountain self adjusts when you go from low speed to high speed on that pump. And that is uses "Laminar Flow" to keep the water streams together and so they hit the surface of the water more gently. HotSpring engineers everything.

Little side story - we sold one of our houses and took the Grandee out. The buyer was a single mom who had two young girls and didn't 'think it would be safe.' No problem, we sold it as a demo spa, pressure washed the slab and cleaned up the electrical for her. Several years later, she came in and bought a new Grandee to put back into the spot - her daughters had grown a bit and THEY were bugging her for a spa! She loves it - she just came in for a new cover not long ago - she's remarried and her hubby can't imagine life without their tub.

Another side story: I had a Classic offered as a trade in from one of my sub contractors. It was a good 20 or 22 years old at the time, and he said it was having some issues. I didn't have a tub in my back yard at the time - we had needed the exact color combination in a hurry so my Grandee went off to a new customer as a demo and we stared at an empty spot for a while - so I had the delivery guys bring me the Classic so we could do an extended wet test. I dropped a new filter in, scrubbed it and filled it. It ended up working fine except for one Moto Massage jet. Installed that, and we began enjoying it. It was 'Way Back' technology: no digital control, no cover lift, five jets, a 110v spotlight on a manual dimmer, and the control panel was 'way over there.' But it stayed around for over two years, which is basically a record for us! It's in my warehouse right now, awaiting a deliver up to Nipomo to begin serving a family we know. It's close to 25 years old now - I put in a new oring in the jet pump, a new circ pump (we do that on all our used tubs) and will send along a new filter and new cover. As far as I can tell, it's the original heater: I would have put in a new one as we usually do so on used tubs we sell, but it's the very old style, and I pulled it and looked it over, and it's just like new.

Trying not to do sales pitch - these are just my experiences.

HTH

 

[wmccall]

Trying not to do sales pitch - these are just my experiences.

HTH

 

Great story.  Had to laugh at the Dog dish spa thing. I can see it based on appearance.  I do have two customers who still have their's from the 80s.

[Chas]

Our competition used to called them the "Dog Bowls" and we would tell people about the low maintenance, easy-care exterior. The seating worked, they had two Moto Massage jets, and they cost very little to operate. And they last forever! Looking back now, with every manufacturer offering some sort of all-plastic exterior, the idea obviously had merit. But they were, without a doubt, the ugliest thing since home-made sin.

We sold a boatload of the things, especially to our customers who lived right on the beach, but every sale was a real investment in hard work - overcoming the looks took real skill and lots of effort.