Johnny Thunders,
Good question. I've noticed alot of people, myself included, who's bought this model recently. I'll give you the main reasons I liked this tub more - in comparison.
1) We considered loungers when we were narrowing down our search and had trouble finding one that fit us both very well. I can't remember what the J-355 in particular was like, but some of the ones we tried out either sat too low/deep for my wife, or didn't have enough length for my legs to lay flat before my feet hit the wall.
2) As you mentioned we liked the idea of not being cramped when we do have guests over. Although most of the time it's just two of us, the extra space is nice.
3) The four footwell jets feel great. They're in a great location from any seat.
We also considered the J-385 (lounger model - actually largest Jacuzzi model), but simply didn't like the tub any better than the J-365. With that said, the considerable price increase made our final decision for the J-365 even easier.
Buckeye