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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not be the appeal of hot tubs!

147 replies

BegoniaBampot · 23/02/2013 23:00

They seem to be everywhere, are expensive and popular. Why do people have them, how often do they use them. AIBU to just not get it, especially living in the UK - not exactly Beverly Hills or the Gold Coast. Most gardens are surrounded by neighbours who can see your every move. Really what is the appeal and which Mnetters have them?

OP posts:
BadgersRetreat · 24/02/2013 02:04

Very popular here in Canada

Too hot in summer for me a lot of the time but DH still goes in. Water is changed every couple of months and weekly chemical administrations keep it nice and clean. Bromine bobber in there all the time so nothing ewww about it.

Quite often when we have friends over for dinner the girls stay indoors with the little ones and the boys have a post dinner soak and shoot the shit over a beer or two in the tub

sashh · 24/02/2013 02:55

I'm not a snob honestly but these along with those huge widescreen tvs crammed into spaces often simply not suitable scream chav and no taste!

May I introduce you to 'the whit trash index', this is a measure of how chavy you are.

It is determined by the size of your TV (with the usual caveat for SN) in proportion to the size of the room the TV is in.

Once the TV is actually bigger than one wall of the room and has to be placed diagonally in the room you are 100% chav.

IneedAsockamnesty · 24/02/2013 03:10

I have a normal sized portable tv in the corner of the ballroom

Gingerodgers · 24/02/2013 05:39

I had a friend who worked at the hotel pool. You should hear the shit that gets cleaned out of them yukkkk. They are very popular here in nz, but I'd never get into anyone else's. don't want my own, so I guess I might be missing out... Maybe if you had a bad back? ....clutching at straws.......

Iteotwawki · 24/02/2013 05:55

I'd like a hot tub outside on the lower deck / lawn. My cousins had one and it was great - warm on a cooler evening but lovely to cool off in on a hot day. The water was absolutely crystal clear. Our garden looks out over the bay and has a reserve below it so it's fairly private.

I loved lying out in the tub after sunset watching the stars, glass of wine, chatting, putting the world to rights, venting about work crap - they're a great place to relax and talk without distraction.

Tee2072 · 24/02/2013 07:19

Hardly a passing phase, they've been around forever.

I loved my mom's when I was a kid. It was in our basement by a sliding glass wall so you could use it year round.

My mother didn't like it the time my step dad was cleaning it, put the hose in to fill it and forgot! She heard running water, he went flying down the stairs and the entire basement was flooded to about an inch deep.

Grin
MidnightMasquerader · 24/02/2013 07:49

We've just moved into a new place and DH is keen to get one. I'm not adverse. We just have to decide where to put it, but none of our place is overlooked so the world's our oyster, hot tub-wise. Way up the section to it's a bit of a trek, but has lovely views... or closer to the house so that you can nip betwixt naked. We have a nice area with huge punga ferns, sort of reminiscent of the hot pools at DeBretts in Taupo. Or so we'd like to think, natch. Wink

The odd time we've stayed somewhere that's had one, we've hardly been out of it. But we do promise not to strong-arm everyone who comes through our door into it.

TheAccidentalExhibitionist · 24/02/2013 08:01

We love ours. We've had it for 4 years too and go in it regularly, particularly in the winter. We get to be outside without getting cold.
We rarely use the jets or the lights so its not noisy, we like the peace and watching the sunset or star spotting. We've found it to be a really good stress reliver and great for back pain.

The three of us (DH and DS) climb into it and enjoy having family time.

Some people have very outdated views on hot tubs Hmm

TheAccidentalExhibitionist · 24/02/2013 08:27

It's snowing! I'm jumping in right now Grin

ISeeSmallPeople · 24/02/2013 08:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PessaryPam · 24/02/2013 08:41

Hot tubs are very Milton Keynes I think.

TheAccidentalExhibitionist · 24/02/2013 08:51

I think hot tubs have a different perception in other parts of the world. They, along with many other things are judged in the UK. Other places, people don't care so much. We are about 1000 miles away from Milton Keynes.

MrsJollyPostman · 24/02/2013 09:01

Does not appeal to e at all. My husbands aunt has one and at family gatherings at hers she tries to get everyone to go in. There's something about seeing them all in it that makes me cringe and boak a bit at the same time. I dread going over because of the bloody thing. They post pictures on Facebook of them all in it. Very, very tacky.

MrsKeithRichards · 24/02/2013 09:18

They gross me out!

Backtobedlam · 24/02/2013 09:22

Remarks like hot tubs are 'chavvy' or 'tacky' are a bit mean-why can't someone have something just because they like it. It sounds like friends are being generous, inviting you round, providing dinner and drinks and then suggesting a dip in the hot tub in the same way others might suggest cards, charades, tv quiz. Only on mn would this kind of hospitality be seen as a negative thing and something to complain about.

MrsJollyPostman · 24/02/2013 09:28

Backto - come on let's face it, an activity where you have to be nearly naked and close enough to be effectively taking a bath together is a bit of a weird dinner party suggestion.

MrsMelons · 24/02/2013 09:31

The kids are in ours a couple of times a week - even when it is snowing. Chemicals are checked every day, filter cleaned every week and regularly changed. Also emptied every few month.

I couldn't really give a shit what other people think, loads of friends happily bring their bathers round for a dip (and champagne in the tub!) so really can't see the issue, I would never force people in at all. A friend of mine has had hers for over 10 years and they still use it regularly.

In the same way I would never have a loud party indoors till 2am as it is inconsiderate to the neighbours, we would never have loud outdoor parties late either. Kids aren't allowed in after 7pm as they are too loud as they are quite young still. Because of the heat you are not supposed to be in too long anyway so I know we never disturb people.

I find it rude that people suggest its tacky - why is it on MN that anything people don't like themselves has to be tacky or chavvy.Other than on MN I have never heard a negative comment about hot tubs TBH - but then again that goes for big tvs, vanity plates and many many other things.

MrsMelons · 24/02/2013 09:32

Jolly you aren't necessarily that close together - we can fit 7 adults in all on separate seats so no touching involved (unless you wanted to of course - but I would prefer not to have that sort of shenanigans in a group party in my hot tub)

PessaryPam · 24/02/2013 09:33

MrsMelons, ah you are not a Milton Keynes type hot tubber then Grin

MrsMelons · 24/02/2013 09:37

I am not sure what a milton keynes hot tubber is sorry Grin I am positive I am not though, we are nice neighbours honest (and not chavvy or tacky people).

We are overlooked both sides as have no fences (no idea why really - there have just never been any) but are close to our neighbours one side anyway and they come over often and the other side I have known all my life and the elderly lady said she will sell pics of us in bikinis to the neighbours Grin

Sparklingbrook · 24/02/2013 09:41

How much are they and how much to they cost to run?

MrsJollyPostman · 24/02/2013 09:42

It's not hot tubs themselves I said were tacky, it's more posting pictures of yourselves and 5 other couples in late forties All crammed in a hot tub with the caption "having fun with friends" which is undoubtedly tacky Smile I don't like them but each to their own as long as you don't expect everyone to want to get in it.

ajandjjmum · 24/02/2013 09:42

The people I au-paired for had a Californian redwood hot tub, and I loved it. I was a bit wary when DH and the DC wanted one, as I thought it wouldn't be used. For the first four years it was used 4/5 times a week, and really replaced the 'family chat' times that we used to have in the car, before the DC were driving themselves.

We changed the water and cleaned it thorough every three months, and then the water was checked and chemicals added every couple of days. We are far enough away from our neighbours for it not to have an impact, and very few of our friends have ever been asked to use it. The DC have always used it at their parties though.

To sit there quietly, in the snow, looking at the stars, and watching planes/satellites/the odd shooting star is fab.

Each to their own.

Branleuse · 24/02/2013 09:47

isnt it just like having a hot bath in the garden?

LayMizzRarb · 24/02/2013 09:53

How much are they? How long is a piece of string? Start at £400 and you could spend £100,000....