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Which hot tub to choose? Any advice/recommendations


TrishS

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We have recently moved into a new build with a garden that is a blank canvas and finally gives us the space and opportunity to buy my long wished for hot tub.

However, I don’t want to make an expensive mistake and wondered if you had any suggestions as to brands and or models in order that I can begin to research further.

Thank you in advance for any support.  Trish 

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Personally, I wanted a spa which came from a larger brand name so there were plenty of resources online for support if I ever encountered an issue with my large investment.  So I used various tools on the internet to review brand popularity based on web traffic.

These are the top brands according to website traffic (Alexa verified) 

  • Jacuzzi (naturally)
  • Hotspring Spa
  • Bullfrog Spa
  • Caldera
  • Sundance
  • Marquis
  • Dimension One
  • Artesian

Note this is simply based on volume of traffic to the website, this is not based on reviews or customer satisfaction. 

Yes, I'm missing a few brands from the list, but these are the top spa brands based on website traffic (especially Jacuzzi, Hotspring Spa, and Bullfrog in that order - all three of these sites received far more traffic than any other spa brand I have found).      Also keep in mind there are several conglomerates which own multiple brands (Hotspring and Caldera are owned by Watkins,  Jacuzzi and Sundance are another corporation, and another terrible brand LPI inc bought up almost a dozen different brand names to obfuscate the customer so they can sell terrible spas at a high price).  Each of these brands makes a good spa, and you should be wary of any sales rep who bashes other brands to upsell their brand. 

One thing I know I didn't consider initially is that the dealer you're buying from is just as important as the brand you buy. This dealer will be your point of contact for warranty service (can't get warranty service from a different dealer because you don't like yours).   Also note that because labor costs and operating costs vary from dealer to dealer, you won't really find official prices listed for name brand tubs because every dealer runs on different margins.  Not all dealers are created equal - some are inexperienced and overpriced while others might be competitively priced and experts in one brand exclusively.   Even if you like the brand but have a bad feeling about the dealer, walk away.    The last thing you want is a new $10,000 tub with a broken heater on a frigid night and a dealer who says "we'll be there next week to take a look".  I saved thousands on my desired tub simply by visiting multiple different dealers in my region, no real haggling necessary (although I did negotiate the cost down a few hundred since I didn't need the free set of steps or electrical subpanel)

Personally I felt the Jacuzzi lineup a was a bit too dated and overpriced (I was expecting more for the money to be honest).  Then in my research I discovered the new the newly updated Hotspring Highlife spas which have a very sleek and sexy modern design inside and out.  Maybe not the style for everyone but I really liked the design and had a hard time finding anything comparable in styling (The Vector lineup from Marquis came close, but the Hotspring spa had better features for my needs). 

Naturally the regulars on these discussion boards will know I'm going to be a fanboy and suggest you consider looking into a Hotspring Highlife spa which has an awesome motomassager feature but spas are a very personal choice.  Wet-testing a spa (or a similar one from the same product line) is necessary to determine if you like the jet's power and the seats are comfortable (loungers especially look awesome but many people float out of them, so you need to wet test loungers before buying a spa with one).

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