Linda,
Congrats on the decision to purchase a hot tub. It was one of the best uses of my money in a long time.
The first decision you have to make is how much money can you realistically afford to spend on a tub. A good, big tub from a reputable manufacturer can cost upwards of $9-10k. A tub from costco can cost about $2k. Many people on these boards seemed to have spent between $6500 and $8800 on their tubs and my guess is that in NY things are a little pricier than in, say, the midwest.
Next, you have to figure out what is important for you when buying a hot tub. Here is a (by no means exhaustive) list of things to consider:
- Dealer availability and support
- Manufacturer warranty (you'd be surprised what is in some fine print)
- Operating costs and ease of maintenance
- To get a lounger seat or not?
- Seating comfort (open seating versus bucket seating, shallow seats versus deep seats, foot domes or not)
- Number of pumps (NOT power of pumps or number of jets, that's covered later). 2 jet pumps lets you turn off (instead of turn down) half the tub. Some like it, some don't.
- Sanitation and filtration (ozonator or not, 24 hour circulation pump or not)
I left out obvious things like "quality construction".
There is a BUNCH of information on these boards on the above topics and I would read a little bit about all of them befor emaking the decision. It's worth the hours to do so.
Then, armed with all of this academic information you *must* wet test your tub. That's the only way to see if the jets are powerful enough for you and if they hit you in the right spots and accomodate your body type. Take more than 1 person with you for the wet test. When I went I wet tested several tubs, 10-20 minutes each wet test, some 3-4 times. I brought 2 other people with me. Let the dealer know you are a serious buyer and they will accomodate you.
Someone posted something about reflection spas before. It didn't sound positive, but I can't remember. All I remember was that some web site selling their stuff was full of major typos and grammar mistakes which bodes ill for their marketing department.
Hot Springs, Sundance, D1, Marquis, Beachcomber and Jacuzzi are all seen as decent brands on this board. Not all see them as equal in "betterness" but they are all "top tier" manufacturers that would never rip you off.
I own a Hot Springs Grandee. What follows is my personal commercial and should be given as much weight. Hot Springs is the largest Hot Tub manufacturer in the US. Part of it is quality, and part of it is marketing. Their moto-massage is unique and I love it and have not seen anything like it on any other tub. They are probably about $1k more expensive but have a terrific warranty, a strong history of standing by their warranty (and even fixing things out of warranty) from past issues in the 80s and 90s, and have pretty low operating costs. I think I'm averaging $10-$15 a month for the past 4 months (but remember, it has been summer).
Many people say that Marquis offers similar quality for about $1k less. I don't see it, but you should look and judge for yourself.
Best of luck, and there is a ton of info on these boards!
-Ed
