Brock

Sold our home and they wanted to keep our surround sound system, outdoor entertainment system and our hot tub to close the deal....so after 18 months on market we sold the house and got what we had into it. Moved into new home July 2008 but no hot tub so starting all over.... Need to get a pad poured...electrical hookup run and then decide on a new tub. Looking at Hot Springs but any others would be great....as want reliability and comfort. Theraputic massage jets a must for at least two positions....a lounger would be nice....the others can be jump seats or basic jetted seats. 4-6 adult capacity fine but most of time will just be two of us like last time. Enjoyed the lighting kit, water features and music on last one...also liked the continuous circulation and scheduled auto water cleaning. Recommendations?

i have the Coleman 480 Entertainer and love it....great seats...different levels of seating...and after nearly 6 months I have no complaints. Electricity gone up about 30-40 dollars per month here in Southeast. I put it on economy mode and made morning cycle mid morning after sun has warmed up some...and evening cleaning cycle is same as our soaking time to save and do both at same time. Enjoy

I am 6'3" and had same problem with spa sizes especially if they had a seat for full massage action and neck jets. I ended up buying the Coleman 480 Entertainer......in addition to waterfalls, AM/FM/MP3/CD/Sirius stereo system.....it has seating for 6 and two deep well massage seats. One is normal size and works great for wife but is a bit too short for me to get my shoulders under neck roll jets comfortably. The other massage chair is almost identical but also has jets for your hips....and it is actually perfect...my brother in law is 6'4" and sits in this seat just fine as well. the other seats are open seats so no such restrictions occur with one being a cooling chair at higher level if needed. This spa also allows me to stretch out and use foot massage and relax without constantly bumping others in spa with me. I would highly recommend. http://www.colemanspas.com/storeitems/show/22/

I would not personally lump spas or anything else sold by COSTCO as poor quality......but rather as an economy model which may have fewer bells and whistles or things like Insulation, pumps, etc being fewer or lower capabilities. The COSTCO buyer should be someone that is a do it yourselfer....install themselves...wire themselves...with decent electrical and plumbing background as you will need to do it all yourself unless you got a buddy or source for work at fair price. Someone like me with no electrical or plumbing background is not a good choice for that spa...I can do the insulation and all but not what I wanted. Some things I will work with and fiddle with...a spa with large amp pull and full of water is not one I want to make an ooopsie on and either toast myself or my home. That being said I have bought many other well made and fairly priced items from COSTCO. As for electrical usage....my spa is a COLEMAN by MAX...not a HS or D1 but not bottom rung either. I knew what I was getting...reputation...quality....warranty...local shop reputation...etc. So far no issues and they have addressed all my concerns promptly and at no charge. The way I look at it though is I use the spa 3x as much in winter as summer....so what i would normally spend on AC is now being spent on SPA...actually I still spend less on spa as wife likes it cool in summer. So you get what you pay for in some regards or what you are willing to do on your own....I got great price on my spa as it was floor model and had some slight cosmetic damage on back edge of insert lip where it overlaps sides. Everyone has to buy what they are comfortable with buying....as not all of us can afford a 15-20,000 spa just as some of us would never buy a spa from a lesser known manufacture that was $2000. It is all what you want....not anyone else.

only take it out when I am soaking as it wants to congregate by me...

I wont even go there

what is hair? :D

yeah since 8 October I have only missed 5 days... nothing like having the lights changing....cold air on head...101*F water on body...and a very close or intimate friend to share it with. :D

Well got tub first of October...that week. Since then been in tub nearly every night we are home......filter-2 kicks in at 7pm....I check the water again......and go back inside. 8pm I put on suit, grab towel and robe.....and we get in 101*F of churning, bubbling, massaging liquid ectasy. 15 minutes later when both pumps turn from HIGH to LOW I reset pump-2 again for another 15 minutes of massage and strong jets on my chair and two empty chairs. Next cycle over....I put both on low and move to side chair for few and then corner for a cycle.....wife is floating by now on purpose with head on me and feet across spa.....for another cycle.....then last cycle is just soaking. So spend usually 60-75 minutes per night in tub..... Here is the delimna... I dont watch the news, any of my favorite shows, football or read......I dont clean my office as the papers pile higher...my 200 gallon reef tank needs cleaning, my 50 gallon Rift Lake Cichlid tank needs cleaning...I have gifts to wrap before wife finds the hiding place...I dont go meet friends for Monday night Trivia at DOG AND DUCK bar....and my body stays warm, relaxed, and clean. After a good soak and massage session we get some much desired fluids to cool and refresh...head upstairs....get in bed....and the rest is for a different forum and time. :D We were talking the other night...in the spa of course....as the local Classic Rock station was playing back to back Boston, Jethro Tull, Alan Parsons, and AC/DC......and we were sipping cold adult beverage that had been on ice in our spas built in ice cooler....that maybe we need to restrict ourselves to only 2-3 nights per week. So we could get some things done in evening instead of piling them up for weekend...our skin would replenish its oils.....and maybe have easier time keeping water clean and crystal clear. Kids are grown with youngest a freshman in college.....dog and cat are happy, fat and well fed....so nobody is being neglected...not like grandma is in other room laying in her own mess all night. SO WHAT SAY YOU? Problem or not? :D Do I have any others that want to start a support group or run an INTERVENTION on me....LOL

we got our polyester/fleece plush terry Nautica robes from Kohls or Costco's....cant remember but definately a huge difference with cotton. tinybubbles,...that is cool. I almost got a propane one myself when I bought it but wanted the real pit fire since I already have a big Ducane gas grill..... So far down to 31 degrees I have been fine and not even using fire pit lately....just drying off quickly, dropping suit on patio...slipping into robe that was folded on chair....and then I add shock, turn off stereo, depress speakers into cabinet, close lid and turn off lights of spa.....then inside to fireplace or hot shower. LOL

same here....confirmed both our robes are 100% polyester....I guess that will upset environmentalist but it does make for a non-absorbant, warm and plush robe for chilly soaks in the tub. I also lay it across the chair by fire pit and then put drying towl over it.......quick dry with towel...drop suit on patio....sling on robe and warm and toasty in seconds. one of those propane gas patio heaters that look nice would be my choice if the fire pit or temps became more of a problem.

actually think my robe is thick terry fleece type material....not regular cotton feel. I will check but it is a Nautica robe.

Not sure what your soaking parameters are but here is my experience: 1. plush terry robe at 34 degrees with wet bathing suit does nothing....freeze my ass off. 2. if i dry off quickly with towel....wrap it around my waist....remove wet suit....pull on plush terry robe....then I am warm and toasty...the heat from my body after being in 101*F water for an hour quickly warms the towel and allows me to walk to back door without freezing...and once inside is TOO WARM to keep on.... I found the whole secret is drying off with a towel and removing any wet clothing before putting on robe.....I can dry, wrap towel, drop suit on patio, put on robe in about 30 seconds...with good incentive like cold air.

yeah they are hit and miss and dont last forever...only lasted about a month for her and is now worn off...but allowed her to function and heal without too much discomfort...took the edge off.

I never understood the permit thing for a spa...i can understand MAYBE for running electricity....but nobody gets permit for building a small deck or pouring a small slab of concrete.....nobody is building a hot spa permanently in the ground. ...well almost nobody as majority is what is called portable spas. I usually think of permits for things that you cant take with you or move around...and our spas can definitely be moved without a lot of effort with four friends and a trailer or big wheeled dolly. Just think about it...we are taking something that was already built to government standards and certified by someone. Then we are placing it in a location of our yard and filling with water....like placing a prebuilt storage building or container in your back yard.....or building a picnic table for 10 people and having it delivered and placed in yard....or a trampoline. Now running electricity I can understand the call for a permit if they are running long distance and it is requiring installation of GFCI in main panel and such. The other things I dont understand other than letting your HOA know you are building a huge deck or pouring 50 yards of concrete... Anyone else see it like I do...not saying I did not pull a permit for electricity but just saying it does not make sense to me.