Does anyone have an inflatable hot tub?

[DrSeuss]

If so,please can you answer the following questions?
Is it difficult to put up/take down/maintain?

Does it require a lot of effort and chemicals to maintain it? Does it take a lot of time to put it up/take it down?
Do you get the use out of it or does it mostly live in the garage?
How do you empty it and how often must this be done?
Having emptied it, how do you ensure that it is dry before packing it away?
How robust are they? Would they take a lot of use by kids, even careful kids, or do they need to be treated very gently?

I can afford one from ebay now that prices are gradually coming down from what they once were but don't want to spend three hundred quid on an expensive white elephant that will not take kids jumping in and out and really don't need another thing to take care of!

Thanks.

Used to have one:

Is it difficult to put up/take down/maintain? - Not really - use a pump to put it up / take down.

Does it require a lot of effort and chemicals to maintain it? Does it take a lot of time to put it up/take it down? Not really, you have to change the filter every few days and wash it out as well as using chemicals but you can use a floater thing that makes it easier.

Do you get the use out of it or does it mostly live in the garage? We used ours every day for an entire summer - so much so that we then bought a proper hot tub! Be aware it can't be used in colder temps though.

How do you empty it and how often must this be done? You just empty it a little like a paddling pool - you then need to clean it etc so taking down can be a few hour job.

Having emptied it, how do you ensure that it is dry before packing it away? Wipe it lots and lots with kitchen roll or other rags...

How robust are they? Would they take a lot of use by kids, even careful kids, or do they need to be treated very gently? Reasonably robust and if something is damaged you can patch it up. Friends had problems with cats though...

We loved ours and used it all the time to take away "screen time" and have some time as a family. So much so that we then bought a permanent hot tub and still use it every day.

My in laws have one

Is it difficult to put up/take down/maintain?

Not seen it be inflated but once it was it just stayed inflated

Does it require a lot of effort and chemicals to maintain it?

Theres a little chlorine thing that floats about in the water and a filter attached to the pump which both need cleaning/changing regularly. Not hugely expensive for the chlorine tablets but I'm not sure about replacement filters

Does it take a lot of time to put it up/take it down?

Can't answer this one - sorry

Do you get the use out of it or does it mostly live in the garage?

We were in it all the time! FIL was in it most days after he got home from work.

How do you empty it and how often must this be done?

Think there's a plug in the bottom, not too sure though. Not often but you will need to change the water if soap/shower gel or detergent from clothes gets into it. Best thing to do is have a quick rinse in your swimmers before getting in

Having emptied it, how do you ensure that it is dry before packing it away?

Leave it out in the sun for a few hours

How robust are they? Would they take a lot of use by kids, even careful kids, or do they need to be treated very gently?

Depends what surface you have it on. They come with a little pad to sit on but we've had 2 deflate. One due to a defect that was replaced by the company we bought it from and one due to a puncture from stones in grass. FIL built a decked area to put the third one on.

HTH! I'm sure someone else will be along shortly with other experiences too

Thank you both very much for your help. Just saw a really good deal on ebay, just need to persuade DH now!

Get one OP, I was really skeptical about buying one, so glad we did, we use ours loads, really simple to do, we change the water 4 weekly, which is fine with good chemical control. We brought ours as we couldn’t afford a summer hols this year, money well spent. We have the lazy spa Miami. It one of the smaller models. The performance is just as good as a proper hot tub IMHO.

We had one, a lay z spa Vegas - now have a proper one.

Is it difficult to put up/take down/maintain?

No, easy enough.

Does it require a lot of effort and chemicals to maintain it?

You have to stay on top of the chemicals and get the levels right.

Does it take a lot of time to put it up/take it down?

Takes longer to take down as it's a pain to clean and dry

Do you get the use out of it or does it mostly live in the garage?

We left ours out until it got really cold, then packed it away in the shed. If it's a lay z spa you are looking at, they now do versions that can be left out year long.

How do you empty it and how often must this be done?

If you keep on top of the chemicals the water can last a month or longer. Otherwise it needs emptying every couple of weeks

Having emptied it, how do you ensure that it is dry before packing it away?

The reason we got rid of ours was that we could never get it totally dry. The holes in the walls meant the water never totally came out no matter what we tried so when we got it out of storage, it was often mouldy. Lots of people seemed to have this issue.

How robust are they? Would they take a lot of use by kids, even careful kids, or do they need to be treated very gently?

Ours lasted three seasons before we chucked it as it was looking grubby and tired. It got a couple of punctures during this time from general use. It's fairly tough but if anything pokes it, it seems quite easy to puncture.

Ordered it! It arrives tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice.

I cant answer any of those questions except to say NDN has one, the thing vibrates like an electric fridge, constantly, and the children are in it every night, belly flopping from a great height. It has been emptied because they 've moved it from one end of the garden to the other. So they must enjoy it.