Few things rival the quiet luxury of slipping into warm, swirling water at the close of a long day. A hot tub turns your own backyard into a private wellness retreat, where tension melts away and time slows down. But choosing the right one takes a little know-how. This guide walks you through the types, features, brands, and costs worth considering, along with what to look for and what to avoid. By the end, you’ll feel confident finding the spa that fits your home, your budget, and your vision of relaxation. At The Hot Tub Store in Hermantown, MN, we’ve spent 25 years helping people make exactly this choice.
Before you commit, it helps to understand how a hot tub compares to its close cousins in home hydrotherapy and aquatic recreation.
A hot tub is designed for warm-water relaxation and hydrotherapy. It seats a small group comfortably, heats quickly, and delivers targeted jet massage to ease sore muscles, relieve joint pain, and quiet the mind. It’s the most intimate, energy-efficient, and space-friendly option of the three.
A pool is built for swimming, play, and cooling off. It requires significant yard space, a larger investment budget, and more involved year-round maintenance, and it serves primarily as a seasonal warm-weather feature.
A swim spa blends both worlds. It offers an adjustable water current to swim against for exercise, plus a heated seating area for relaxation. Larger and pricier than a hot tub, it suits those who want fitness, aquatic exercise, and hydrotherapy in one integrated installation.
Hot tubs come in several forms, each suited to a different lifestyle, space layout, and budget.
Inflatable hot tubs are an affordable, highly portable way to enjoy warm water. They set up quickly, store away when not in use, and suit casual, occasional soaking.
That said, they have distinct limits. Inflatable models offer gentler bubble jets rather than targeted hydrotherapy, minimal foam insulation, and a significantly shorter lifespan. For genuine wellness benefits, pain relief, and winter usability, a quality acrylic spa delivers far more structural integrity, comfort, durability, and therapeutic value. Think of an inflatable as a brief trial, and an acrylic spa as a lasting investment in your home and health.
The perfect spa balances four essential considerations, each shaped by how you plan to use it daily.
The finest hot tubs share a handful of high-performance qualities worth seeking out:
A few common missteps can dampen your long-term enjoyment. Steer clear of these:
Not all spas are created equal, and the engineering brand behind your hot tub matters as much as the model itself.
The best brands earn their reputation through decades of research, innovative technology, and dependable performance. Among them, Sundance® Spas stands out as an industry leader. With over 30 years of manufacturing innovation, Sundance® combines beautiful craftsmanship, advanced water management, powerful patented jet systems, and reliable, energy-efficient construction. Each spa is backed by a comprehensive warranty your assurance of lasting quality.
When you choose a respected brand through an established local dealer, you gain more than a spa. You gain peace of mind, expert guidance, and complete local service support for years to come.
Your ideal spa is the one that fits your space, your body, and your lifestyle. Start by picturing how you’ll use it most. Are you seeking a quiet nightly ritual for stress relief, a lively gathering place for family and friends, or deep muscle recovery after demanding workouts?
From there, weigh your seating needs, your must-have features, and your budget for both purchase and ongoing upkeep. Then lean on the experience of a knowledgeable dealer to match those priorities to the right model. A little expert guidance transforms a big decision into an easy, reassuring one.
Our showroom features the celebrated Sundance® Spas lineup, with a model tailored to every home, family, and space requirement.
The 880™ Series defines the luxury spa category with its refined style and advanced performance. Beautiful, feature-rich, and built with smart control technology, each 880™ luxury spa makes it possible to experience the absolute finest in home hydrotherapy. If your vision is a dream backyard elevated to its ultimate potential, this is where it begins.
The 780™ Series shifts effortlessly from a lively family entertainment center to a serene zen retreat. Designed with ten natural shell colors and clean, elegant styling, it blends beautifully into any outdoor setting while remaining simple to maintain. Host a gathering, share laughter with loved ones, or let the jets soothe sore muscles and joints with no-hassle care.
The 680™ Series offers more shapes, sizes, and custom options than almost any other spa line. Drawing on over 30 years of Sundance® engineering and backed by a comprehensive factory warranty, it’s the ideal choice for homeowners who want a high-quality spa tailored precisely to their patio space and style.
The Sundance Splash® pairs a full-body lounge with contoured seats for total body stress relief. It delivers versatile comfort, contoured support, and dependable hydrotherapy at an approachable value, welcoming you to stretch out and let every muscle unwind.
Why stop at a hot tub? Pairing your spa with a sauna creates a complete wellness sanctuary at home, where you can alternate warm-water hydrotherapy with the enveloping dry heat of a sauna for deeper detoxification, cardiovascular support, and relaxation.
Our infrared saunas use gentle, radiant warmth for a comfortable, energy-efficient experience:
The Bear Naked Saunas collection embraces traditional craftsmanship blended with modern design. Handcrafted from cedar, these saunas are prized for their durability, natural resistance to rot and insects, and rich aromatic scent—an eco-luxury retreat built for year-round comfort. [View More]
Bringing wellness home should feel accessible and effortless. We offer flexible financing options, including in-house and third-party plans, featuring affordable monthly payments and a simple, hassle-free application process welcoming a variety of credit profiles.
Our experienced local team handles professional, safe delivery and installation from start to finish. We manage placement, water filling, and electrical connections, then guide you through operation, routine maintenance, and water chemistry so you feel completely confident from your very first soak.
Our ongoing support continues long after installation, featuring:
A new hot tub is one of the most rewarding investments you can make for your health, home, and daily routine. With premium marine-grade materials, a precise layout, and local professional support, your spa remains warm, clean, and ready whenever you need it.
Visit our local showroom at 4881 Miller Trunk Hwy, Hermantown, MN 55811, to explore our full collection of hot tubs, traditional and infrared saunas, water care products, cover lifters, and spa accessories. Our friendly, experienced team is ready to help you find the perfect model for your home. Discover relaxation in your own backyard today.
