Seeking quality hardtop spa hopefully with lower profile. HELP please! TUffspa?

[Tube Guy]

Hi folks

I'm needing to buy a spa that fits these parameters:


High quality.  Not looking to throw away money, but not looking for a cheap product. 
One lounger
Low profile...if possible keep it at 36" high, but that's negotialble
Size maybe 80 x 80 or less, but not critical
Ability to override control to get to 106 degrees.  This IS important. 

I was thinking the Tuffspa 650 Platinum.  It fits all my needs.  Saw the comparison video done by Ecospa which was compelling, but if the cover warps it would really piss me off.  And I don't want to have to use those ugly staps to avoid it.  I want the lid to not look like a spa lid.  It's going into a hilliside setting, so that's why I want it to blend well and endure So Cal harsh sunlight. 

FYI Strong Spas won't go to 106 degrees

[The Wizard of Spas]

Just curious:  Why is hard cover how you're building your spa decision around?  Not against it, mind you, just an odd way to go about looking at spas.  I used to sell Tuff Spas and they're a neat tub, but I haven't found a brand that is in the Hard Cover market that - when assessing quality - can line up enough with a more traditional spa. 

I am sure a Strong, Tuff, Eco, etc. dealer can maybe speak more about it, but you're usually getting low-end in parts / equipment / build technique.

Thus - Hard cover and High quality spa don't seem to be possible.  Sorry if I am nay-saying and I am not knocking them in any way (again - I used to sell them) but their whole point is (paraphrasing) to not be acrylic, and not be high dollar, and to be sold at shows.

[d00nut]

I cut open a Tuff Spa Cover, there is literally almost no insulation in there... just some "blown-in" style artic insulation.  Not sure if that is still the case, but this was about 3 years ago.  Keeping a spa like that at 106 in the cold might cost an arm and a leg.  (Again... So Cal might not be so bad.)

I get wanting the cover to blend in, but buying a spa solely based on the cover is a great way to get a spa that you settle on.  It should be... the spa, dealer... then the cover.

[Tube Guy]

Thanks for responding!!!

It's going to be up against a hillside next to my home, and I hate the look of spa covers when they are new...then it's downhill from there.  Even if I treat them then there's the "In-between time" where it looks ugly but not ugly enough to replace.  Sundance has Sunbrella covers, but they look like covers too. 

I saw the Eco Spa video that they made comparing themselves to Tuffspa and it was very compelling.  But what I read about the Ecospa covers warping bothers me a LOT and I don't want to use straps to keep it from happening in the hot So Cal sun.

We don't even use the jets really.  I have a Sundance Optima at my old house now.  We like it 106 degrees for 15-20 minutes and we're out. 

I was also thinking of another Sundance.  The Lisbon, Cambria (both 34" plus cover) or Capri.  The Capri is low 30.5" profile but a bit small.  Then there's that cover. 

Or Hotsprings.  The Triumph.  Or Jetsetter LX.  Wish there was another option.  I hope the feel of the rotomold spa is not bothersome.  I think it would be OK. 

I'm all ears!!!

[The Wizard of Spas]

Think more tub first, aftermarket covers second. 

A quick Google search yielded these guys:  http://rhtubs.com/product/roll-covers/

[hottubdan]

Go for a quality hot tub and quality hard cover. https://smartopspacover.com/construction/

[Sam]

Go for a quality hot tub and quality hard cover. https://smartopspacover.com/construction/

We got burned bad on the smart top.  They may or may not have worked things out now but we sold dozens and every single one failed, most multiple times.