Old hot tub guy, new here looking for tub

[A.O.]

So, I'm new here but I've had hot tubs for 30 years. Recently I had a lightning strike cook my Baja hot tub, luckily insurance is covering it, unluckily covid has wiped the planet of tubs for sale!!! So I'm out shopping for a new tub. I found an Artesian Island Spas Captiva on the floor for sale so I snapped it up. They delivered it and we had nothing but problems with it, the main big foot jet wont stay in and the tub will not maintain set temperature! Kudos to the store where we got it as they are coming Friday to pick it up and refund our money!
That means I'm out shopping again. Man have these things gotten expensive! I've looked at Hot Springs and Jacuzzi and was way less than impressed for the money. Going to go look at a couple Cal Spas today..
I was impressed with a Catalina Luxury spa yesterday but I cannot find out a whole lot about them, reviews and such.. they say they've been around since 1978 but still cannot find a bunch about them... Anyone here know anything about the Catalina spas? The Berkshire is the model I'm most interested in but I don't want to take a $9000 gamble!  Thanks in advance for any info and opinions..

Scott

[Sam]

That's an anomaly with Artesian.  They are generally very reliable and well made spas.  Catalina on the other hand is not a company that I would recommend spending $9k on personally.  They are owned by LPI who doesn't have a reputation for quality or good customer service.  Neither does Cal spas.  Both brands that I am not a fan of, though your mileage may vary.

[A.O.]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

[Hottubguy]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

Make sure you report back on the Cal Spa. Not a lot of owners of them on here, think you maybe the only one I’ve seen. Curious to see your impressions after owning it for a Bit. I have a dealer nearby who brought them on. Don’t really know much about them because they haven’t been in my area in 20 years or so.

[Spatech_tuo]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

I'm not saying you made a bad choice, time will tell but I'm not a believer in the analogy.

A bottle of tequila lasts a short time so if you regret the decision it won't have lasting ramifications. A hot tub decision is meant to last a decade plus so quality of build, quality of components and how well the dealer/manufacturer back their product is of paramount importance.

[A.O.]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

Make sure you report back on the Cal Spa. Not a lot of owners of them on here, think you maybe the only one I’ve seen. Curious to see your impressions after owning it for a Bit. I have a dealer nearby who brought them on. Don’t really know much about them because they haven’t been in my area in 20 years or so.

I will do that for sure... if I don't, remind me. Unfortunately it wont be here till just before Christmas! Went with Cal Spas due to reviews I've seen on line and there is a local servicing dealer in case of problems, and I was able to order it the way I wanted it, with out a bunch of un wanted extras like speakers, Bluetooth, exterior lighting , and things like that.

Now we are debating getting an inflatable hot tub to hold us over... we are in our hot tub almost every day and we miss it!

[A.O.]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

I'm not saying you made a bad choice, time will tell but I'm not a believer in the analogy.

A bottle of tequila lasts a short time so if you regret the decision it won't have lasting ramifications. A hot tub decision is meant to last a decade plus so quality of build, quality of components and how well the dealer/manufacturer back their product is of paramount importance.

My analogy is just the fact Patron Tequila is not really very good tequila, they just have lots of good advertising so they are well known.. like a lot of the hot tubs out there!

[Spatech_tuo]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

I'm not saying you made a bad choice, time will tell but I'm not a believer in the analogy.

A bottle of tequila lasts a short time so if you regret the decision it won't have lasting ramifications. A hot tub decision is meant to last a decade plus so quality of build, quality of components and how well the dealer/manufacturer back their product is of paramount importance.

My analogy is just the fact Patron Tequila is not really very good tequila, they just have lots of good advertising so they are well known.. like a lot of the hot tubs out there!

I understood your analogy but in that case you have a straight forward taste test to help with your decision.

This situation is about deciding if the "good advertising" is backed up by good quality and if the alternative with "lesser advertising" is backed up by equally good quality. I'm making no judgement, your choice may turn out to be great/good/ok/not-so-good ... time will tell but I just don't think the analogy holds up!

[A.O.]

Yeah, I heard nothing but good stuff on Artesian tubs and what a nightmare that turned out to be. They ALL seem to be a crap shoot these days, with all the MFGRS special this and wonderful that, half the reviews love em, and the other half hates em.. Time will tell on this Cal Spas I guess.
We have moved around a lot which gave me the chance to own a bunch (6 I think) of different tubs. never really had a bad one till the Artesian, little things here and there but that's to be expected. Off the top of my head we've had , Morgan (or was it Morton?), LA Spas, Baja, Artesian, dont remember the others right now, but all in all not too bad.

OH, and 1921 Red Top would be my tequila of choice! :-)

[w0by]

My brother and I have Dream Maker hot tubs and have been very happy with them.  They are 120v ones though.

[A.O.]

My brother and I have Dream Maker hot tubs and have been very happy with them.  They are 120v ones though.

Yeah mine is already wired with 240 and ready to go...

But , we just ordered a 120v Coleman inflatable hot tub to hold us over.. should be here next week!!

When we first bought this place 5 years ago we did the same and used an inflatable for almost 8 months.. wish we hadn't sold it!! ;-)

[Sam]

Well after much research I just ordered a Cal Spa, not one of your favorites ... I guess I'll find out

Definitely didn't want to go Jacuzzi or Hot springs or one of those ,that would be like buying a bottle of Petron tequila! :-)

Make sure you report back on the Cal Spa. Not a lot of owners of them on here, think you maybe the only one I’ve seen. Curious to see your impressions after owning it for a Bit. I have a dealer nearby who brought them on. Don’t really know much about them because they haven’t been in my area in 20 years or so.

I will do that for sure... if I don't, remind me. Unfortunately it wont be here till just before Christmas! Went with Cal Spas due to reviews I've seen on line and there is a local servicing dealer in case of problems, and I was able to order it the way I wanted it, with out a bunch of un wanted extras like speakers, Bluetooth, exterior lighting , and things like that.

Now we are debating getting an inflatable hot tub to hold us over... we are in our hot tub almost every day and we miss it!

You say you bought a Cal spa because of the reviews.  Interestingly enough, most of the only good reviews you will see on them are at Consumer Affairs.  Consumer Affairs is a paid for review site.

https://www.truthinadvertising.org/consumer-affairs-com/
https://www.hitecpet.com/consumer-affairs-dot-com.html
https://www.courthousenews.com/product-review-site-called-a-rico-scam/

[A.O.]

[/quote]

You say you bought a Cal spa because of the reviews.  Interestingly enough, most of the only good reviews you will see on them are at Consumer Affairs.  Consumer Affairs is a paid for review site.

https://www.truthinadvertising.org/consumer-affairs-com/
https://www.hitecpet.com/consumer-affairs-dot-com.html
https://www.courthousenews.com/product-review-site-called-a-rico-scam/
[/quote]

Dont think I ever looked at any of those..