Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My wife and I recently moved into a new place with a covered patio space. As soon as we saw it, we eyeballed one side of it and said to each other, “that’s where the jacuzzi will go.” We couldn’t afford getting into it right then, but that didn’t stop my wife from “window shopping.” A fixed installation spa was out of the question, due to cost and installation hassles, so one of these inflatables was a perfect solution. She narrowed down her search to a few different models, and we ended up buying this one. SETUP: Setup of this spa is very simple. Many reviewers have griped about the instructions, and they’re right. The only part of the instructions that are “written” are all the warnings about what NOT to do. The actual set up instructions are all in pictures; the drawings are tiny (unless you pull up a copy online that you can blow up on your computer screen), and Bestway uses the same manual for a number of different spa models with slightly different features, so the illustrations you’re looking at don’t always match up exactly with your particular spa. The good news is, however, that there are only a few loose parts you actually have to deal with, and they’re pretty simple to figure out once you’ve got everything out of the boxes they come in. The one part I had the most trouble with was the plastic air hose. It’s only used for one thing: inflating the spa. Once the spa is inflated, hose removed, and the separate cap screwed down on the air inlet valve fitting, you just put the hose away. The hose fitting that screws onto the pump unit has holes in it, and when you start inflating the spa, air rushes out of these holes very noisily, making you think you’re missing a gasket/seal, or screwed something up. Fear not ... that’s the way it’s supposed to work. The air blower in the control unit is designed to blow a very high volume of air into the spa jet tubing, with only limited resistance, so this “relief” vent feature on the air hose ensures that the blower doesn’t get damaged as the spa reaches max inflation pressure. When you’ve selected and prepared the area you plan to put the spa on, I HIGHLY recommend putting down some interlocking exercise mat or similar foam material to cover the entire area the spa will rest on. I found a perfect product for this at Home Depot: dark grey foamcore material coated with black rubber/vinyl, “diamond plate” pattern on one side, smooth on the other. They come in packages of six 24x24 inch squares, at a cost of about $25/pkg. Two packages gave me the 9 squares I needed to create a 72-inch square mat for the spa, plus 3 extra squares for use elsewhere, or to keep as spares to replace any that get damaged. Once you’ve pumped up the spa, you literally just line up the pump unit with the corresponding fittings on the “business” side of the spa, and insert/tighten the fittings by hand. No tools required. There are only three fittings: one large one for air, and two smaller ones for water intake/discharge. I cut one of my spare mat squares to put underneath the pump, because our spa rests on concrete, and the foam layer under the pump reduces transmission of vibration/noise from the pump into the concrete ... makes the pump a little quieter. FILLING UP: If you’re like us, by the time you get to the point of filling the spa with water, you’ll be dying to get in it, but first you’ve got to heat up the water. Turn on the power (you have to hold your finger on the power switch for a few seconds before it goes on). One button activates the water pump, a second button activates the heater, and a third button activates the air. The only ones you’re using at this point are the pump and heater. You don’t turn on the air blower until the water’s fully heated, and you’re ready to soak. As many reviewers have noted, heating the water takes a pretty long time, because the heating element in the main pump just doesn’t have the power to rapidly heat hundreds of gallons of water from cold to the spa’s maximum temp of 104-degrees F. Here’s a couple of handy “hacks” that will help speed that process up. Run a garden hose from your water heater drain valve into the spa, and empty the heated water into the spa one or two times as it’s filling up with cold water from another source. Another trick: when you buy your spa, also get a submersible, small pool heating rod. The one we got cost about $35, and draws around 1500W. Put the heating rod into the filled spa, and run it at the same time you’re running the spa’s pump/heater system ... just make sure the heater is plugged into an electrical circuit entirely separate from the one you’re using to run the spa pump. We did both of these hacks, and had the spa fully heated and ready for use less than 24 hours after we filled it with water ... and that was at a time when the overnight air temps at our house were at, or below freezing. RUNNING THE SPA. When all the preps were done, the spa was filled and heated to 104, and we got into it for the first time, all I can say is ... WOW. 104 may not sound very hot, but it is. The temp does slip a few degrees once the air’s turned on, but so far for us, water temp has held very steady at 99-100 even after we’ve been in the bubbles for a half-hour, and ambient air temp has been pretty cold (e.g., 40's). The volume and massaging action of the air/bubbles put out by the pump and jets that run around the bottom corners of the spa is truly impressive ... FAR better than most hotel/other spas my wife and I have been in over the years, and this one is right outside our back door, anytime we feel like getting into it. The spa cover comes with an inflatable insert that fits snugly into the void between the top of the spa walls and water level. The insulating properties of this design (combined with the walls of the spa and layer of insulating material beneath) are just amazing. Using nothing but our submersible heater (I turn the pump off overnight, because while it is fairly quiet, it does make some noise, like those annoying fish tank pumps you may recall from your childhood), and even with ambient air temps dropping into the teens some nights, I’ve been able to maintain the water temp at 104 degrees, or higher, throughout the night, without having to run the pump at all. ELECTRICAL. With respect to the spa’s electrical requirements, when the air, water pump and heater are all running, this thing draws 12 amps, which is a lot of power. That’s why it has to be plugged into a dedicated electrical outlet, with nothing else plugged into it. The plug end of the OE electrical cord is very bulky, with its own built-in safety/circuit breaker, and generally requires an entirely flat outlet surface to seat right. The outlet we’re using for ours is an exterior one in a metal box with a cover. I couldn’t plug the OE cord into it without using an adapter (15A rated) to move the female outlet surface from the back of its box to the front. While the manufacturer warns that you can’t use an extension cord with their spa pump, you can, if you have to ... you just have to make sure the cord you’re using is rated to carry at least 15 amps, and is no longer than necessary to connect the end of the OE cord to your power source. IF you need to use an extension cord, you should also regularly check both ends of the cord while the spa’s running, to make sure no part of the cord is getting hot ... if it is, you need a heavier-duty cord. CONSTRUCTION/WARRANTY. I’ve seen a few reviewers complain of leaks in the units they’ve received, and that concerned me a little when we bought ours. However, I’m happy to report that what I’ve seen in ours so far is a very well-designed and well-constructed product. The main spa material and fittings seem very durable/solid, and have worked perfectly for us so far. If you promptly register your spa purchase with Bestway (they require that be done within a few weeks of the purchase), they’ll double their normal warranty periods on the spa components. SANITIZING. The filter and chemical dispenser that come with the spa are very simple to use. The filter screws onto the water intake port/fitting, and the chemical dispenser screws onto the discharge port/fitting just above the other. I use one-inch brominating tablets, but you should note that the 1-inch tablets don’t fit in the dispenser supplied with the spa. They have to be cut in half to fit, or you can just buy your own “floater” type dispenser. I prefer the OE dispenser though, just because it’s fully submerged in the spa, and doesn’t bump into the spa cover liner. CONCLUSION. In sum, my wife and I couldn’t be happier with what we got for our money on this product, which has literally changed our lives. There is nothing like being able to jump into a hot, soothing spa after a long day at work, especially when you can do that in the privacy of your own home, any time you want. We’re both more relaxed when we go to bed, sleeping more soundly through the night, and generally feeling less stressed out, all the time. My thanks to Bestway and Amazon for making all that possible for us, at an affordable price. [Update: now going on two months of daily use: everything's still working great; no air or water leaks; no problems with pump unit or connection seals. I'm now using the submersible heater mentioned in the main review, in conjunction with an "Inkbird" temperature-controlled power switch, and separate, submersible water pump (to circulate spa water when the heater is on) to keep the spa water at constant temp between 104 (heater/pump goes on) and 107F (heater/pump goes off), without having to run the OE spa pump/heater all the time. Now, I only run the OE spa pump/heater/blower while we're in the spa, and for a few hours after each use to clean/filter the water. Result: less wear/tear/unnecessary running of the OE spa pump/heater; and water is ALWAYS at perfect temp for immediate use, anytime we want ... just pull off the cover, turn off the accessory heater/pump, turn on the OE pump/heater/blower ... great use-efficiency upgrade to an already-great product!] [Second update (5/7/2022)] After months of daily use, everything is still working great, but I will add that you need to test/pay attention to your water chemistry, if you don't want to have to keep emptying/refilling the tub. Up until about a week ago, I had only treated the water with bromine, but we started having trouble with the water foaming up while the jets were on, so I studied up a bit and found out this can be caused by chemical imbalance. I got a kit which included pH up/down, alkaline up/down and calcium (hardness) up additives, and used all of them as directed to get all these key measurements into "ideal" balance. Foam issue went away almost immediately, the water looks cleaner, and my secondary heater core isn't accumulating rust anymore (low "hardness" will accelerate rusting of any metal the water comes into contact with). STILL a "five-star" purchase from Amazon.]