After shopping competitors at the local stores and expos, we just couldn't justify paying $10-15k for a hot tub. If you're like me you will agonize over all the features in a showroom and upsale yourself on things that you really won't remember or notice once you're out of the showroom. We saw this and it fit our pad dimensions and had decent reviews so we ordered it. Delivery estimates were good, for a purchase late January we were told delivery by March 31. It was delivered on March 17, so almost two weeks early.
The hot tub and cover arrived on a single narrow rectangular pallet with the hot tub on its side. I had to rent a pallet jack to move it from the front to back of our house. The pallet was difficult to get the jack into the pallet sufficiently to lift it, and it was a few inches too wide to fit through a 36" wide, 8' tall door that leads to the patio. We didn't have piano dollies, so we cut about (10) 3' pieces of pvc pipe to use as rollers and slid the hot tub on those to its final resting place. If you do that, keep a narrow piece of plywood or foam between the hot tub and the rollers. Some of the screws in the side panels stick out at angles and we had a few scrapes on the patio where they hit.
The included instructions cover a few models, for this one you'll follow the 240v non-plug-and-play instructions. Wiring directions were simple and easy to follow, the hardest part was installing the breaker and wiring the week before (240v, 50a GFCI breaker). For our run it was 6/3 wire with ground, which is very expensive right now ($700 for 110 ft). The hardest part was drilling a hole in one side for the wiring and getting the access panel back on.
Make sure to check all connections inside for tightness while the panel is off, we had a few small leaks. Once connected the hot tub took less than an hour to fill and hit temp of 105 within 12 hours. Overall we are very happy with the hot tub and included cover. The jets aren't the strongest out there, but definitely good enough. Four adults will easily fit, fitting 5 would be tight but possible.
The built in drink ice reservoir and tray is a nice touch, the in-pool light has several modes that change colors with different patterns (strobe, slow transition, etc). We loved our first soak in it and look forward to many more.
The espresso is a nice dark brown and does not look cheap. The pearlescent inside is nice and subdued, not gaudy. Inside there isn't a lot of insulation, with about 1/2" white styrofoam sheets lining the insides of the panels. The internal lumber supports appear to be untreated. The bottom has a thick plastic sheath that keeps it contained and should keep small animals out. It also makes it easier to slide to the exact position you want.
Our maor complaint is the cheap screws used to attach the panels on the side. They easily bend or break, so I plan to replace them all with stainless. The overflow could have a nicer cover on it, but all in all this is a definite winner in terms of bang for the buck. If you're on the fence but don't want to spend $10k, I think you'll be very happy with it.
Customer reviews for Everlast Spas Affluence 6-Person 40-Jet Acrylic Spa for
