I bought this tub after researching, visiting dealers with water demonstrations available and by reading forum reviews. We also considered Hot Springs Grandee and Vista models and some from Jacuzzi.
Having had the tub/spa for a little over two years, we still love it! The size and jets are great for four people and our youngest used it to learn to swim! Due to the way the pumps are set up, make sure you try it out live - in fact any spas you should try out first w/ water in them so no suprises. Some divide the water supply to more than one seat so if you're alone, you can have the full flow but if someone else is in a seat that shares a pump - you'll have to share the water supply.
We noticed no electic bill change with ours - 500gallon unit. I keep the water balanced (bromine) and change it out pretty frequently just because - it's cheap to stay clean.
Only issues to date: water fountain mechanism is fragile so kids WILL break it. My pillows lasted just over 18months then began chalking. I think that's ridiculous but it wasn't covered by warranty, they're not cheap.. but others tell me a year is good for pillow life. Hard to believe. My biggest issue has been with the supplied cover. Originally mine had a single fold cover but it was torn during delivery so they ordered me a new one. Now D1 uses Sunstar covers and they have provided a new 2 fold / 3 section cover for the Sarena. My center section started sagging soon after installation. Sunstar has been great to work with but after sending a new center piece of foam with extra reinforement, I noticed dirty water leaking out of the cover when I opened it and realized the foam / plastic barriers were compromised and had 'corroded' and mildewed inside. Warranty kicked in again and Sunstar sent 3 new pieces of foam that were a real pain for me to install into the cover but .. the center piece started sagging again. Just this month Sunstar sent me a brand new cover! Awesome folks to work with but.... I got the wrong color. :(.
I'm going to let D1 know that the cover is a problem as designed and unless they have made recent changes it will cause you probs. too.
My D1 Sarena listed for $17K. Not sure we can discuss pricing here but email me if you want to know what I got mine for.
Thanks!