nacra55uni

We purchased a Hotsprings Grandee Classic last year. We have been very happy with the tub. Our goal was also an open design with enough room for the kids and their friends and the tub does this very well. The deep seats are a bit too deep for my wife at 5'2" if she is trying to keep her hair dry. She uses a spa cushion and this works well. I'm 6'3" and some of the massage jets don't hit in the right place for me, but there are enough that do, so no big deal. I was very impressed with the power consumption this winter (in Michigan). Any increase almost got lost in the normal month to month noise. The winter was relatively cold and the increase in gas consumption was much more significant than electric and part of the electric increase had to be for the heater blower. Overall the Hotsprings is considered a higher quality tub and it shows.

We bought a 07 Grandee (Floormodel) in March of this year. So far, very happy with the tub. Paid $7K including upgraded cover lifter, steps, disconnect box, delivery, etc. Based on this, $5K seems a little high to me.

I have a bluetooth headset and a transmitter that connects to the Ipod. It has a 30 ft. range and I can have some basic Ipod controls (fwd, rew, play, stop) on the headphones. This way I can leave my Ipod at a safe distance from the tub and don't have to worry about any wires. The headset will also pair with Bluetooth enabeled cell phones simultaneously with the Ipod, so receiving cell calls while in the tub could also be an option (I prefer just to relax...). There are various models of headsets and transmitters available, mine happens to be Motorola.

The classic is a slightly cost-reduced version. Shell color is white with the tile accents (This was the standard for Hotspring in the past), jets don't have chrome bezels, the moto-massage is not the DX version, no waterfall and no ozonator (I got them to throw that one in). Everything else is the same.

Here's some pics

Can someone tell me how to delete a post. I just tripple posted because I kept getting an error message and now can't figure out how to delete the post. Thanks.

We're in SE lower Michigan (about 1 hour from Detroit). We looked at HS Vanguard and Grandee, Tiger River, Sundance and Caldrea. For us the main goal was a tub to hang out in with the family or friends. Also, my wife is 5'2" and I'm 6'3", so getting jets in the right position to fit both of us was very difficult. Sundance has nice tubs but was not considered from the start because the local dealer "just started working with hot tubs" and I did not feel comfortable buying from a "newbie". Also, they had no 07 closeouts. The caldera tubs are also very nice, but we found them to be too "compartementalized" and the fit of some of the seats was just impossible for my size. The HS dealer here has been around for a long time, they have many locations all around Michigan and I found their customer service, follow-up on calls, verification of proposed location, etc. to be excellent. One of the main reasons for me to buy a new tub vs. a slightly used one is the support a dealer is willing to give before and after the sale, so it really just came down to Grandee or Vanguard. We did not wet-test (again, jet location was somewhat secondary), but after dry-testing it was clear that in our case bigger would be better. We ended up getting the Grandee Classic 07 floormodel with cover, coverlift system, steps, ozonator, GFI power panel, delivery, start-up chemicals for $7999.00. The "non-classic" Vanguard with the same parameters would have been the same price. The "non-classic" Grandee would have been $1000.00 more. So far we love the tub. I especially like the Motomassage feature. Its probably not real relevant when comparing the better tubs, but HS does give a $30.00 per month maximum power consuption guarantee. It just gives me a feeling of comfort that the tub is as well insulated as it can be. Hope this helps.

How do I insert images?

Just got our new Hotspring Grandee last weekend. Had to fill with softened water but bropught hardenss up and in general, the chemistry seems fine. Ph is at 7.6, hardness about 300, alkalinity about 130. Been adding Baqua Oxidizer, Waterline and Sanitizer as directed. Only issue: A light brown goo forms around the sides of the tub. I have been removing it with a pool skimmer which is easy enough. I'm curious if this "goo" is normal or if I have some combination of the Baqua system out of whack. There is no info in any literature on the effects of too much of one of the chemicals or what is normal as far as forma tion of solids in the tub. My daughters do have a tenancy to submerge completely inb the tub which probebly puts all their hair products right in the tub. Thanks for any input.

Got our new Grandee Classis deliverd yesterday. Delivery was right on time at 10:30 am and took about 30 min to get it on the deck, coverlft installed and in place. I had already re-inforced the deck and installed most of the electrical wiring. Also got a water analysis from the filling faucett so I was prepared with the correct chemicals. While the tub was filling I finished up the electrical and had it turned on by noon. It got to 80F by about 6:00pm amd I started on the chemical cocktail. Since I used softened water (our well water has too much metal in it) I had to add 28oz. of calcium. Once it hit 90F I added the Baquaspa maintenance chemicals. At 10:00pm and 92F we could not wait any longer and the family went for the first soak. Second soak was at 9:00am this morning at 100F. Had the water analyzed once again at the dealer and got some suggestions to improve the clarity. Next soak - in 30 min....

Per my Hotspring pre-delivery manual: Main panle to sub panel #8 up to 100ft with 50Amp fuse. Sub panel to spa #10 for 30Amp cicuit, #12 for 20Amp circuit. Min length 5ft. I went with #6 since I used Romex from the main panel to the sub panel for 100ft distance.

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a new tub. Fron runner is a 07 HS Grandee Classic. The quoted floor model price with hydrolic cover lift and all the ususal basics (electrical panel, delivery, set-up, start-up chemiclas) is $7999. My plan is to request inclusion of the ozonator and steps in this price. We'll see if he bites.

I'm a potencial first time purchaser of a hot tub and would like some feedback: The tub we like most is a Hotspring Grandee Classic. Price quoted for 2007 floor model is $7999.00 which includes the cover lift, electriacl panel, dlivery & set-up, start-up chemicals. I would appreciate any feedback on the tub and pricing. Thanks.