Hello fellow forum members!
My wife and I have begun spa shopping in the past week or so, and we're narrowing things down. I've been reading nearly every thread on here learning as much as possible, and here is where we are at.
We want a spa for a couple of reasons. #1.. hydrotherapy Having a good soak with the right jets after a long day doing yard work or walking around Busch Gardens is just the best thing ever. We sleep better, and just generally feel better. #2. Entertaining. We have a good group of friends that are quite comfortable with each other, and I want a spa with room for 6 to 8 of us to enjoy some close company, typically with very mild jet useage, or at least a way to really mellow out the water action.
We don't want a lounger...we'd rather have the max space available for company. We also will only be buying from a local dealer that has a long reputation with our community. The 3 companies locally that fit the bill carry Dimension One, Jacuzzi Premium, and Hot Springs. Another very important factor for me is ease of care, and being able to enjoy as few chemicals as possible. I'm reasonably chemically sensitive, and having spent time in some friends very low end hot tubs, have found that bromine is easier on me, but still makes me itch terribly for 3 or 4 days. (but that's after a 3-4 hour exposure) Another friends chemical composition was clearly messed up, as I felt terribly dry skin within 10 minutes of being in the tub, and then had to deal with dry throat and a nasty chlorine taste in my mouth for a few hours. Needless to say I'm not going to be going for a dip at his place anytime soon.
The models that seem to fit our interests as far as layout and size are the D1 Nautilus, the Jacuzzi J-365, and the Hot Springs Grandee.
Here are my thoughts on each model so far. I have only done a wet test on the Grandee, and will do wet testing on the other 2 models this afternoon.
The Grandee is definitely a large tub, but when we sat in it, it just didn't FEEL as big as the others, which I find strange actually. Three of the seats sat very upright... which I actually didn't care for at all. The corner seats were much more comfortable. The Grandee has dual moto massagers... in the end I found them to be pretty gimmicky. When wet testing I kept floating out of the seat, and it was a struggle to stay planted to enjoy the jets properly. The foot jets were powerful and felt great, but they weren't very accessible for everyone in the tub. While I was impressed with the total level of filtration on the unit, (325 Sq. ft. I believe) and understanding the concept of not having a bypass, apparently filtering all the water it's actually circulating at the pumps (according to the sales guy, so taken with a grain of salt there), I just don't know if I like the idea of swapping out 5 filters for $50 a pop every couple of years. That will definitely add to the expense of the tub. Does anyone know if that much filtration is actually overkill? In comparison, the Jacuzzi has only 60 sq. feet of filtration, but also bypasses the filter in the system in part. The cost of the Grandee is approx. 10k... 11k once you add in chemicals,cover, lift and delivery + setup.
I will edit my post with my final thoughts on the Jacuzzi and D-1 as soon as I wet test.. but I welcome any and all comments in the meantime.