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Original poster

Hot tub in new holiday let or not?

125 replies

Loafbeginsat60 · 26/07/2023 21:30

We are building two three-bed holiday lets on our farm - they are quite private and have nice views over the countryside.

We will accept dogs and offer activities such as fishing and clay pigeon shooting and possibly options to get involved on the farm but not sure about that yet.

Anyway my question.... do we put in hot tubs or not - two small ones, one large one or none at all? I hear people think they are grim sex ponds and yet others love them.

What's does the collective wisdom of MN think - would you rent a rural properly without a hot tub or would you like to see one provided?

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
Loafbeginsat60 · 28/07/2023 12:04

We are actually travelling to a rural holiday let as we speak and my husbands one criteria was hot tub! We like sitting in the evening with a beer and enjoying the bubbles.

One holiday left with a hot tub - costs a bit more

One without - if it doesn't attract as many bookings we could put it in afterwards?

Something to think about!

OP posts:
Original poster
Loafbeginsat60 · 28/07/2023 12:10

We are building a games room too for both to use - pool table, darts etc

Think that would be nice for rainy evenings

OP posts:
YesWeHaveAHotTub · 28/07/2023 12:14

Hot tubs are incredibly relaxing, that heat is just lovely. My children get in it with us, never had sex in it, never seen the appeal of having sex in it. However, for a holiday let it will not be straight forward and I would seek advice from pool maintenance companies.

We have a lazy spa and I have just emptied it, so I run a product called hot tub flush which cleans out all the tubes of both the pump and the jet system, only 30 minutes. Then drain it using a pump but that takes hours because my pump is attached to a normal hose pipe. There are probably commercial larger ones available. My tub holds 900 litres of water and because it is just us I don't change the water often as long as all the chemicals are used and the water tests fine. I look after it.

It takes under 2 hours to refill it with a garden hose, the biggest issue you are going to have is heating it ready for the next occupants. For us, cold water going in is around 15 degrees, it takes approximately 1 hour to heat the water 1 degree, so to get it to 37 degrees it will take 22 hours, but more like 20 for us. The better option is to fill it from a hot water tap and some people have these installed as outside taps, one cold, one hot. For the hot you would want something that produces hot water on demand. Once the water is in you have to shock it chemically to kill anything in it then wait for the chlorine level to come back down and it can take up to 24 hours. Then you have to balance the Total alkalinity and the Ph levels too.

Obviously for your holiday let you are probably considering a hard shell which will hold a lot more water. There are companies that look after outdoor swimming pools/hot tubs. The pumps are loud, especially if on decking so even just running the pump with no bubble jets going it is going to hum. You need to look into putting mats underneath etc.

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Holidays
angelopal · 28/07/2023 12:16

We just had a holiday with a hot tub and kids loved it. It was cleaned and refilled every week.

If people don't like it then they don't have to use it.

However would not use it if it was salt water and would not book as kids would be upset at having one but not able to use it.

reluctantbrit · 28/07/2023 12:19

We loved the one we had one year. Just great to unwind after a day hiking.

We went to a second place with a shared one but sole occupancy, you had to book your slot. It also meant running around in your bathrobe to get to it. Not so nice.

If you build one, I would go all the way and add a walls and a roof, more privacy and you can use it in bad weather as well.

AHugeTinyMistake · 28/07/2023 12:19

I vote outdoor bath.

I stayed in a cottage at the tawny with an outdoor bath and a view of the lake and sunset. It was gorgeous!

Mindymomo · 28/07/2023 12:25

We go away 3 times a year to uk holiday cottages, hot tubs is not something we want, but understand the appeal. We had one in our last cottage, but didn’t use it. We were there for 10 nights over the Coronation so a guy came and cleaned it on changeover day, he took over an hour, so would imagine that costs quite a lot over the year. We take our dog, but would never let him in the hot tub, but wonder how many do.

sashh · 28/07/2023 12:28

I know they are hugely more expensive but I would love a holiday let wiht a swim spa.

TheDogsMother · 28/07/2023 12:29

It's a no from me. It would probably put me off booking as I definitely wouldn't use it and I'd probably be paying a premium for it being there.

Houseoftulip · 28/07/2023 12:30

There was a thread last week about how hot tubs attract a certain sort of person.

It was very interesting and we'll be looking for holiday homes without hot tubs from now on 😂 🤢

Also, there was an article recently about how hot tubs lowers the value of your neighbours property.

Which was also quite interesting! I think they're a bit dated tbh

PuttingDownRoots · 28/07/2023 12:36

I would do research into...
Installation costs
Maintenance costs
Running costs
Extra income generated

And see if the numbers add up.

Put a roof on so it can be used in rain!

deplorabelle · 28/07/2023 12:38

reluctantbrit · 28/07/2023 12:19

We loved the one we had one year. Just great to unwind after a day hiking.

We went to a second place with a shared one but sole occupancy, you had to book your slot. It also meant running around in your bathrobe to get to it. Not so nice.

If you build one, I would go all the way and add a walls and a roof, more privacy and you can use it in bad weather as well.

Disagree on roof! Being open to the air is part of the appeal surely. Even better when rain is falling on you isn't it? (Not that I get the chance to find out since my chlorine allergic, water hating family never want to get in one)

RegentCafe · 28/07/2023 12:41

Underfloor heated william holland square bath

that is what the most luxurious hotels have

Ginola2345 · 28/07/2023 12:49

I think they are a bit grim and dated now,
probably not cleaned as often as they should be, too many chemicals in them and goodness only knows whether previous guests have had sex it, got in it dirty and or had pets in it. So I might hire the holiday let but I wouldn’t choose it because it had a hot tub.

ASkarsMissus · 28/07/2023 12:58

We had one for our holiday let but got rid of it last year. The maintenance is very time consuming, checking chemical balance x2 every day, then emptying and refilling between guests takes ages. Not to mention the running costs although you can of course build that into your rental price. After reading the Health and Safety Guidelines for it I had sleepless nights worrying about people getting rashes or legionella. I won’t even go into a hot tub now, the whole experience of having one has scarred me for life. Nobody ever sticks to the usage guidelines and it just becomes human soup full of hair, fake nails, body fluids, fake tan… 🤮

JayAlfredPrufrock · 28/07/2023 13:58

Couldn’t think of anything worse.

Never been in one and intend to keep it that way.

2bazookas · 28/07/2023 14:02

Think of the cost for heating the water, and the time pressure to empty, clean and refill them on changeover days.

Shoesonthefloor · 28/07/2023 14:09

JayAlfredPrufrock · 28/07/2023 13:58

Couldn’t think of anything worse.

Never been in one and intend to keep it that way.

Me neither,just cannot understand the appeal

Timeisallwehave · 28/07/2023 14:10

Mumsnet is hot tub bias. However I often filter properties that have hot tubs and log burner/fire.

SchoolShenanigans · 28/07/2023 14:12

I'd vote to put them in. It MAY attract lots of people and those that don't want to use it don't have to.

Why don't you put one in ONE of the properties first and see if it consistently gets booked over the over. Then you'll know if it's worth it or not.

Maddy70 · 28/07/2023 14:13

If it is cleaned out before each set of guests I would think it's a good selling point especially if it has a nice view from it . Along with being dog friendly makes it a very attractive proposition

Tubbyinthehottub · 28/07/2023 14:17

We stayed at a cottage recently that had a wood fired one. I think the manufacturer was called Luvtub. It took a while to fill up and then heat up, but that was kind of fun. They need emptying very regularly. Sure enough, the following day, it stunk and completely put me off ever getting in a chemical one.

Just realised my username makes it sound like I'm a hottub enthusiast - not really.

jannier · 28/07/2023 14:22

Seasideanticscanleadtosandybuckets · 26/07/2023 21:58

We found the perfect place. Actually asked for a discount as we would never use a hot tub.
Isn't it just sharing a bath with other people? Yuck.

Your supposed to shower first just like when you go swimming the tub needs checking daily by maintenance

Mercibuckets · 28/07/2023 14:22

I do like one a hot tub as long as it’s high quality, feels luxurious with nice secluded scenery and goes without saying that it’s clean and well managed. Make sure it manages the feel you’re after.

I hope the suggestion isn’t that the dog would use the hot tub as that would be a bit off putting (for me!) but if it is more rough and ready product you’ll find the market for it.

ThrappleApple · 28/07/2023 14:26

I'm in a group where people are looking for dog friendly recommendations and it's surprising how often hot tubs are a requirement. I put them in the nice to have category but not a deal breaker and actually truthfully I'm not sure I'd trust the maintenance of them in private holiday lets.