D1 Nautilus or Sarena Bay v Hot Spring Envoy

[Renji]

I am comparing Hot Spring to D1.  I liked the Hot Spring Envoy (17k with music) and found the captain’s chair in the Envoy relaxing.  We loved not feeling like I had to shower right after because of the freshwater salt, as well as the music and tv options.  But we have to wait months.  

I can get a D1 Sarena Bay (for 20k) or Nautilus (15k) right now.  I tried the Nautilus and I found the Jets to be more deeply therapeutic than the Envoy, and better target at the glutei, legs and neck, but in D1 there is no captain’s chair to give the “sit back and relax” feeling and no salt option like the Envoy.  

It was hard to get to my neck and other spots in the Envoy, I found the Jets to be very nice but not as deeply therapeutic as I expected, and the MOTO massage didn’t do much for me.  But the music was nice,  I would have been satisfied with the overall experience if I hadn’t tried the D1 Jets.  Also, able to get one now would be amazing,  I can wet test the Sarena Bay and really like the sequencer and music aspect as well as the curved design, but it does seem very big for one or two people (harder or more expensive to maintain?) and deep (40 vs 36), and I am worried the cover lifter will be hard to deal with when I am alone. But it would be great for bigger groups when company comes. Worth wet testing?  Also not sure I need to spend so much more for what will be a 20-30 min use if the Nautilus gets the job done.

I plan to have twice a month maintenance service, maybe weekly when my kids are home and there is a lot of use.  

Any advice?  Am I imagining that the D1 Jets got in deeper?  Worth having that in exchange for having to give up the salt?  Will one give me more service problems, expensive parts etc?

jacuzzi, Sundance and Marquis would not wet test so I didn’t try them.  

thanks in advance!

[ratchett]

I vote for the Envoy.   I've heard some negative feedback about Dimension-One tubs recently from technicians. Seems their electronics or control systems can be a PITA to work on if something goes bad. Hotspring is also a much larger brand overall than D1.

One thing to note about the Motomassager is that pressure and oscillation speed changes when you close other jets around the tub. Every larger and medium jet in the Envoy can be closed to increase water pressure to the motomassager.  In my Hotspring Jetsetter with all the jets open the Motomassager is rather lackluster in experience.  But if I close every other jet in the tub and send full pressure to the lounger seat my experience is completely different.  Almost too much pressure for my wife (leaves red marks from the lashings on her skin haha), but I love it.  The lounger seat with all other jets shut off to the other two seats is my favorite place to sit for 20 minutes while I get a deep tissue massage on my back.

 

 

Honestly after having my Jetsetter for the past year, I'm totally planning to trade in my tub for a Hotspring Enovy in another year or two when I rebuild my backyard with space for a larger tub.  I am totally sold on the brand and not afraid to call myself a fanboy - Hotspring Highlife tubs are worth the money in my book (although personally I prefer my ozonated setup over saltwater because I am effectively bathing in chlorine-free water every time - DM me if you want to see my dealer's suggested care routine for Hotspring Highlife tubs with an Ozonator setup - I like it better than the saltwater tubs i tried when wet-testing for my tub.  It's also more cost effective as well - I spend less than $120/year in chemicals to treat my hottub)

 

 

[Renji]

Thank you!  I did close all other jets but still didn’t get the same deep tissue massage as the D1 provided. But it is a beautiful tub  

  Is the Envoy accessible for repair from all sides?  I know D1 is insulated so the repairs require going through foam. 

[ratchett]

12 hours ago, Renji said:

Is the Envoy accessible for repair from all sides

Yep, all four side panels can be easily removed by popping off several metal clips on the bottom of the panel.  They slide out (nice thing I like is that you can buy other panels if you break one or want to change up the color/style of your tub in a few years). 

 

12 hours ago, Renji said:

 I know D1 is insulated so the repairs require going through foam. 

The Hotspring Highlife tubs also use a multi-density spray foam.   Weekend-warrior DIY repairs on both can be a PITA for this reason.  However professional repair techs utilize a tool called a hot-knife to carefully slice through spray foam like butter to cut away and access any part of the tub they need.

One thing many new buyers fail to consider when buying a hottub is the fact that the dealer you buy from is responsible for warranty labor costs, not the manufacturer.  You can't have your tub service by another dealer under warranty two years later if you decide your original dealer's repair tech is an idiot.    A good dealer can improve your ownership experience with a bad brand of hottubs, and a bad dealer can ruin one's experience with even a great top-tier product. Many would argue the dealer you buy from is equally as important as the tub you buy.

Be sure to start asking the dealers questions about warranty coverage, call-out fees, and if the dealer have repair techs on-payroll or do they outsource labor, etc.  Research online how long the dealer has been in business and read up on customer reviews - do you believe the dealer will still exist five years from now? How do they treat customers with service issues - any major complaints about service techs in the reviews? 

I might be a Hotspring Highlife fanboy, but not all dealers are created equal.  The first dealer I visited for Hotspring was terrible.  I had such a bad vibe about them I had to find another dealer, and I'm glad I did because my new dealer is an awesome family run business, selling/servicing HS spas for decades and to top it off their price was 20% LESS than the other dealer for the same make/model/color tub!