Brand recommendations/quality help please. I'm totally confused

[Riggs224]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the hot tub world and am thoroughly confused by the web and all the conflicting reviews out there.  I feel like I'm just spinning in a circle....Finding a brand that has good reviews on one site, only to see it totally trashed on another.  I was hoping I could get some general recommendations on quality manufacturers and/or models.  From what I've gathered, we will purchase from a local dealer which can gives us better reliability and future maintenance.  We live in California with mild weather and want an above ground hot tub. What we are looking for:

1.  5 or more seating
2.  At least one lounge seat (I'm a paramedic firefighter and want some full body therapy and my kids are teenage athletes)
3.  A hot tub that isn't going to breakdown in 5 years.  Quality parts/manufactoring
4.  Good insulation
5.  Don't need music, waterfalls, etc.
6.  Would like to spend under $10K

The brands I've come across that seem to be ok are:
Hot springs Spa
Cal Spa
Sundance Spa
Marquis Spa
Dimension One
Caldera
Jacuzzi

Any advice in ordering of quality of these or any other brands would be greatly appreciated. 

Also, I'll take any other recommendations on features (ozone, UV, how many motors, circulating system, etc)

Thank you so much for any advice you can give and have a happy new year!
-David

[castletonia]

Take Cal Spas off your list.  Everything else you listed is quality.  I sell Hot Spring and Caldera so I have bias, but used to sell Marquis, so I know them well.

Go visit your local dealers and try out a few spas, it’s the only way you will know what works for you.  By maxing our your budget, you should be able to get into a Caldera Makena or a Marquis V94L.  You would either have to go entry level from Hot Spring and do the Tempo or increase budget to get into the Envoy or Aria (Flair won’t fit 5 people).

[Linedog]

We have had tubs for 20+ years, so far the Caldera Makena is our favorite. A few hiccups at the start but so far so good, we’re up in Seattle.

[bud16415]

We bought a Caldera Geneva for the reasons you listed. Each seat is to address a slightly different area on the body. What we do is switch between 3 of the six seating locations maybe 15 minutes for each. One of the locations is a basic cool down seat and a good entry point into the tub. The other two are mildly therapeutic and great social seating.

Ideally when you get out you should feel you had the option for a full massage.

The only way you will know is to get in them wet and try them out.   

[Spatech_tuo]

Take Cal Spas off your list.  Everything else you listed is quality.  I sell Hot Spring and Caldera so I have bias, but used to sell Marquis, so I know them well.

Go visit your local dealers and try out a few spas, it’s the only way you will know what works for you.  By maxing our your budget, you should be able to get into a Caldera Makena or a Marquis V94L.  You would either have to go entry level from Hot Spring and do the Tempo or increase budget to get into the Envoy or Aria (Flair won’t fit 5 people).

Ditto, Cal doesn't belong with the others. You're fortunate to have that many good options. Visit each and decide on your top 2 or 3 based on the spas and the dealers. Then try to wet test the couple models you like best (preferably complete all wet tests the same weekend.