I got my first jetted tub, a Sanijet, which I bought on faith as there are no showrooms, but I chose it because there is no piping involved, thus no mucky water, and no access door needed for the motor. It is quiet and the water stays warm enough. The jets are strong enough for me. - probably stronger that bubble jet, but never experienced one of those..I really love this tub. Here is one link, if you search sanijet at the bottom of the listing of posts, you might see more. I know others here have different brands that they love.

Here is a link that might be useful: sanijet

Most "jet" type units seem to be more maintenance-dependent as they require periodic flushing of the lines to prevent stagnant water and such. (although, as above, that doesn't seem to be the case with the Sanijet)

I like the "bubble jet" tubs a lot. My spouse works for a plumbing supply Co. that sells them and has working displays to view. The bubbles can be quite vigorous and the maintenance is nil as no water goes thru the lines.

Check 'em out......

I had a Sanijet in my old house and I liked it, however I bought one that was longer thinking I could really lay down and what happened was the bubbling water pushed me around like a bobber, and I'm not a little girl, either. I found I had to either sit up with my knees bent or try to push my toes against the end of the tub. In our current house, I bought an Aromatherapy Spa tub by Vitabath. I really like the bubbles and it has an automatic purge cycle that turns on and keeps the air vents cleared out. I probably like bathing in that one better than the more expensive Sanijet overall. I do find the quality of the Vitabath a little lacking, the front tub skirt doesn't fit tightly and one of the jets had to be plugged by my husband as it wasn't working properly and leaked, if I remember correctly. Overall I'm happy with it.
I'm now looking at my third and final bathroom remodel in our new (old) house and have been considering one of the tubs from Signature hardware, if anyone has any experience with those tubs, I'd love to know. Anyway, good luck in your search.. I think you'll really enjoy whatever you get... and yes, the piped tubs are (IMO) bacteria bowls no matter what you do... that's why I've gone with airtubs. I never want to go back to a regular soaking tub, though. I love the bubbling and find it so relaxing and soothing.

Thanks for all your comments, really appreciate it.

I'm going to pass on jets since I really don't want maintenance issues of any kind and I'm not sure where I'd want the jets to be anyway. I don't absolutely love jets in hot tubs either.

I'll check out the bubble jets and thanks for your brand/model names, and Deedles, thanks for telling me what tub doesn't work so well.

Still shopping, the tubs I like all seem to be at least $5,000, I'd like to get that number down.

Hollie

We got a Bain Ultra air jetted tub a couple of years ago for about $2500. (www.bainultra.com) It is their lowest priced version and has 30 air jets, armrests, grab bars and a heated backrest. Does a great job and really does give you a nice massage. After it is emptied, it automatically comes back on for a few minutes and blows out the air ducts so you don't get any bacteria going there. Would really recommend it.

Look at the MTI tubs. They were way cheaper than Kohler and you can completely customize everything from the bubbles to features like radiant heat and chromatherapy and aromatherapy. I got the MTI caribe infinity tub for about 1/2 the cost of the Kohler Sok.

I have had nothing but problems with my Bain Ultra jet tub. My tub would turn on randomly throughout the night, so I would be in bed and hear air rushing from the tub in the middle of the night. Within a year of installation the lights on the keypad stopped functioning. Called their customer service department and they will not honor their warranty. Apparently their electronics and keypads are poorly constructed. The Bain employee I spoke to suggested I replace the tub altogether.

After much research based on our wants, we went with the Kohler Purist. You can get it as a soaking tub, a bubble massage (Kohler's name for air tub), with the effervescence jets (think sitting in a glass of champagne--tiny gentle bubbles), with traditional whirlpool jets, or just about any combination. It's a deep tub with the overflow feature so you can fill it right up to your neck if you want. I love the effervescence jets, myself--they create just enough water movement and gentle, relaxing bubbles. Pricing depends on which bells & whistles you get, but the tubs start at around $1085 and go up from there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler Purist Tubs on EFaucets.com

rtwill, sorry you've had such a bad experience with your BU tub. You're the only person I've ever read of in these forums (since 2007) that had a problem/complaints. Hummm, I see you just registered this month and have posted to at least 3 threads the exact same reply. Interesting.

hollie, in 2007, my BU Thalasa with (42?) air holes, handles and chromatherapy was just under $2000. Good luck choosing :)