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Nordic Escape SE for $5400 - Good deal or look elsewhere?


heygreene

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Hi all, we had an inflatable HT for a while to see if the kids would use it, and they LOVED it.  Therefore we're looking to upgrade and only want to spend around $6k or less on one.

I'm trying to avoid Wayfair and Home Depot, etc as those are mostly all Lifesmart tubs.  I would at least like something that is dealer-supported locally.

That brings me to the Nordic Escape SE.  It seems like a great fit for us because it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles (more to break), but it does have LED lights, a small waterfall and enough room to seat 6.  We also like that it has the open bench seating, since ther emay be large #'s of kids in there on some occasions.  :)

My wife and I are not HT fanatics, and we likely are not going to be looking for any intense hydrotherapy, but we would like to get in and relax every once in a while.

 

My question is this:  For $5400 (HT, steps, cover, lifter, thermal wrap and chemicals), is that a good deal, or should I spend just a few more hundred dollars and consider something else?  I've seen nothing but good reviews on Nordics in general.  


Thanks,
Heygreene

South Carolina

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18 hours ago, heygreene said:

I'm trying to avoid Wayfair and Home Depot, etc as those are mostly all Lifesmart tubs.  I would at least like something that is dealer-supported locally.

Very smart decision.  A good dealer can improve one's experience with a budget brand spa and I've seen terrible dealers ruin one's experience with even a new $15k hottub.

 

18 hours ago, heygreene said:

My question is this:  For $5400 (HT, steps, cover, lifter, thermal wrap and chemicals), is that a good deal, or should I spend just a few more hundred dollars and consider something else?  I've seen nothing but good reviews on Nordics in general.  

I think that's a pretty fair price for what you're getting.  Although as I tell everyone - the dealer you buy from is responsible for warranty labor costs, not the manufacturer.  So ask yourself how you feel about the dealer, do some research on them - do they have techs in house who service Nordic spas exclusively, or do they outsource to the lowest bidding spa tech in town?

 

Nordic seems to make a quality product for the money.  The SE class tubs will provide a nice therapudic massage, but they won't have *quite* as many jets as the LS (luxury) lineup.

 

I personally am a Hotspring Highlife fanboy. I love those Motomassager jets, but they're a very different beast and those tubs retail for more than twice the price you're paying. The truth is every hottub has it's value for the right price, even an inflatable tub as you've discovered.  Just throwing in my $0.02 as a Hottub geek who has a weird fascination with the engineering of hottubs.

Good luck with whatever you decide - I wish my parents were cool enough to buy a hottub for the family when I was a kid!  Instead I had to wait twenty years for the right time/place to buy a tub of my dreams. I still have absolutely zero regrets - I truly enjoy spending thirty minutes soaking peacefully relaxing with my wife, chatting about our day and our plans for the next one.

 

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Nordic in my opinion makes probably the best quality entry level hot tub on the market.  I sold them for 5-6 years at my previous employer.  I don't know current pricing but based on what they sold for almost a decade ago $5,400 for any version of the Escape seems like a fair price.  Honestly, unless you are willing to jump up above $7,000 I don't think there are any better quality options.

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Thanks everyone.  And Castletonia, I agree that the next step up for any tub is around $7000 it seems like, maybe more.

The only other option I've found is a friend of my co-worker who sells Aspen Spas, he can get me a Monarch VS for $5800.  However, it's very hard to find much on Aspen Spas.  The guy seems great, the spa looks good and the few reviews are good, but I'm thinking I might be safer with the Nordic?

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I found a 2011 Hot Springs Vista SS today used for $1750 on FB Marketplace that I was looking at and I noticed it was a 7 person and was 500 gallons and 100x90.

The Escape SE is a 6 person (no loungers) and is only 300 gallons and 82x80.  Is this considered a tiny hot tub or something?  I have not wet tested one in person but when I saw it I did not think it looked very small.

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10 minutes ago, RDspaguy said:

Not at all. Spas come in many sizes, from 100 gallon 2 seaters to 2000 gallon swimspas the size of a truck.

Whew okay thanks... I've never heard anybody remark that Escapes are considered "small" but I just wondered.

Also what are your thoughts on this 2011 Hot Springs tub instead?  Seemed like a good deal but it's 11 years old... at least I'll know the Nordic is new (but at 3 times the cost and about 1/3 less size).

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11 minutes ago, RDspaguy said:

Does it have any leaks? Hot springs makes a well built, long lasting tub but they are the worst for leak repairs. If no leaks, it is all fixable. 

To replace controls, heater, and pumps, assuming you needed to (extremely unlikely), would be in the $2-3k range for everything. 

According to the lady selling it there's no issues at all.  She's filling it in morning and turning on the heater... just not sure how long it's been sitting without full water in it (you could see water in the picture, but it wasn't even up over the benches).

I'm pretty handy so I'm sure I could fix most any smaller issues on a hot tub, but to your point not sure about the tub leak.  Plus I've got the headache of moving it... it's 1000lb DRY!  The Nordic I've got on order is 500lb dry, but I'm sure that's due to the difference in quality and type of tub.  What to do what to do...

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I decided against the used Hot Springs and I'm sticking with the new Nordic Escape.  All in all it would have been about half the price by the time I got it moved, but 11 years old to start out as my first tub.  Also, the Nordic has the bench seating which I think will be better for the kids (they like to do whirlpools, etc).  Thanks for all the input, can't wait to get the tub installed (late Feb we hope)!

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  • 5 months later...
On 1/10/2021 at 5:42 PM, heygreene said:

Hi all, we had an inflatable HT for a while to see if the kids would use it, and they LOVED it.  Therefore we're looking to upgrade and only want to spend around $6k or less on one.

I'm trying to avoid Wayfair and Home Depot, etc as those are mostly all Lifesmart tubs.  I would at least like something that is dealer-supported locally.

That brings me to the Nordic Escape SE.  It seems like a great fit for us because it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles (more to break), but it does have LED lights, a small waterfall and enough room to seat 6.  We also like that it has the open bench seating, since ther emay be large #'s of kids in there on some occasions.  :)

My wife and I are not HT fanatics, and we likely are not going to be looking for any intense hydrotherapy, but we would like to get in and relax every once in a while.

 

My question is this:  For $5400 (HT, steps, cover, lifter, thermal wrap and chemicals), is that a good deal, or should I spend just a few more hundred dollars and consider something else?  I've seen nothing but good reviews on Nordics in general.  


Thanks,
Heygreene

South Carolina

 

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