To be so upset about hot tub not working

[LookWhosInsideAgain]

I booked, fairly last minute, away for half term with DC as we’ve all had a bit of a rough time lately. Staying in a lodge with a hot tub and it was £1,500 for Mon-Fri in a 2 bedroom lodge 😱. It’s really expensive but there’s loads of free, outside stuff to do around here and loads of cycling/ walking routes which dc actually love plus whenever we’re back at the lodge I knew they’d be in the hot tub as they have been when we’ve previously stayed at places with hot tubs. There were loads of AirBnBs around that were around £800-£1000 for a full week rather than Mon-fri but none had a hot tub so, after discussing with dc, we decided to stay at the hot tub lodge.

Arrive on Monday (having paid an extra £30 for hour earlier check in) to be told hot tub is cold at the moment but will be warming up throughout today so will be ready to use Tuesday morning. Really disappointed as so looking forward to getting in it but suck it up as everyone in the ale boat apparently. Stick my hand in it Tuesday morning and it’s tepid, clearly been warming up but not warm enough to sit on. DC too excited so get in it anyway and get out after 10 minutes shivering and needing hot showers. I ask at reception and they claim it takes until midday on Tuesday to reach full temperature but it will now take longer as we’ve taken the cover off. We go out for the day, back in the evening. Hot tub then feels fairly warm and we manage 15 minutes before shivering, dc2’s lips turned blue 🥶. Reception is closed by this point so I can’t do anything.

This morning I go up as soon as reception is open as tell them hot tub is still not hot. She says she’ll send someone round. We go out for the morning. Come back at lunchtime and it’s still not hot. Go to reception again. She says that someone has been round and confirmed that it’s been checked, there’s nothing wrong with it, that it’s at the maximum temperature of 38.9. I don’t know what hot tub temperatures normally are but it simply isn’t warm enough to sit in. Reception has just sent another person round who has looked at it and said that it’s set to 38.9, can’t do it any higher, it probably just feels cold because of the outside temperature (it’s overcast but not cold here today). No one has an external thermometer to check it’s the temperature that the hot tub claims it is. Last hot tub person put their hand in and said that it definitely wasn’t cold but it didn’t feel like it was as hot as it should be, probably because I kept lifting the lid to feel it and letting the heat out 🤔

There’s nothing they can do, as far as they are concerned the hot tub is working fine. I had envisioned evenings sitting reading in the tub once dc were in bed with a glass of wine and instead I’m having to sit in the tiny bath doing it, which would be more comfortable at home. I’m so upset that I’ve spent this money on this holiday and that I’m being told that there’s nothing wrong with it. I know the hot tub is only a small part of most people’s holidays but it’s the sole reason I spent this amount of money on a shorter holiday.

AIBU? Should I continue to complain or will I seem like I’m overreacting?

Apparently the site is fully booked so no chance of changing lodges. I don’t know what the cost difference between a lodge with a hot tub and one without would be as all lodges here have hot tubs. I’ve been to reception AGAIN and told them I want to speak to a manager as if still isn’t hot. They said manager could speak to me in an hour but I’m going out for the day now. I’ve made sure they’ve noted every time that I’ve complained, there’s no way it’ll be sorted now as we’re kicked out at 10 tomorrow. I’m so angry and disappointed with it all.

I hadn’t considered a meat thermometer 🤦‍♀️. I’ll see what they’ve got in Lidl. I’ll also ask neighbours if I can compare when I get back. I felt a bit cheeky about going to knock before 9am.

Seems pointless now but I would definitely try to get hold of a thermometer to check and take a picture of the reading which might go some way as proof to get some of your money back.

Ask a member of staff to sit in it for an hour and see if they think it's hot enough.
I'd be interested also if they expect you to sit in it with the lid on if they keep saying that's the reason it's not hot enough
Hot tubs are the reason I stay places with hot tubs (I don't do it very often but when I do, I do). It's as important as there being enough beds for the whole party.
I always fancied Forest of Dean for a Forest Holiday, not so much now.

@LookWhosInsideAgain

We stayed at Forest of Dean Forest Holidays site and the hot tub temperature should be roasting! Our DC frequently had to get out and cool off as so hot. And that was in November!!

Don't let them fob you off.

Am I wrong in thinking that if the ambient air temperature is lower than what the water is, you should see the steam coming off the water? So if it's 12 degrees out in the air, and the water is supposed to be 38 degrees, you should see steam coming off the water?

Also, taking the lid off shouldn't impact the temperature of a large volume of water in any way significant. It's heating the whole tub of water, not just the top layer of it. (Do they even know any science???). I mean you're lifting the lid to test the temperature of the water and then you're replacing the lid again. Any heat should easily be replenished if the heating element was working properly.

If I spent as much as you did @LookWhosInsideAgain, for a 5 day stay in a given location because that given location had a hot tub, I'd expect to be able to use it. Have you actually been able to use it at all during your stay? Use it significantly when you've been back at your lodge? If not, when you get kicked out tomorrow, I'd not leave reception until I spoke with the manager and said that they were and will continue to be selling a lodge under false pretences as they are selling it with a hot tub and it's not. It doesn't have a functioning hot tub.

Also if you're looking for a thermometer, check out a chemist for a bath thermometer in their baby section.

Results for "bath thermometer" (boots.com)

I don't think they have to be as expensive as this but you might find something locally to where you are.

Order a thermometer of Amazon Prime, get it delivered to a local pick up point - bound to be one near by. I always do this on holidays for emergencies.
Even if it gets up to temp eventually I would expect a discount for not been able to use it the first few days

Why are you, and why are people suggesting you should be, wasting your time trying to buy a thermometer rather than making the best of it for now?

38C could never be described as cool or tepid, it'll be blood-temperature obvious whether it's hot or not.

The staff don't have a working thermometer so cannot prove it's up to temperature. Whatever the water temperature is set at is not relevant. You're saying it's cold, and the staff can't disprove that. It's not an episode of CSI, you don't need a thermometer to determine how quickly a body would cool in the pool.

Make the most of the rest of your holiday. Don't chase around looking for a thermometer. Register your complaint with the staff now and follow up with a written complaint once you get home.

Absolutely demand a partial refund.

The most recent post on their Facebook page is of a hot tub. I'd add a comment saying "Would love to have been able to use our hot tub this week, but it's more of a "luke warm tub". Reception staff are pleasant people but cannot see the issue with a tub that my kids can't sit in for more than 10 mins before they start shivering. What a waste of £1,500!"

Such a shame OP, it's such a nice part of a getaway. I'm so annoyed on your behalf that they aren't listening to you! Our hot tub is always set to 38/39 and it's piping hot, you need to lower yourself in gently as it's super hot. Sounds like there's not much they can do now to resolve it, but they have to accept they have a faulty tub and reimburse you some of your payment.

Hope the rest of your holiday has been enjoyable 😁

The problem is that if she doesn't prove it's not actually 38C, then they're likely to continue claiming it is/was totally fine. If she wants it fixed and/or a partial refund she's going to have to prove it's not the temp the reading says it is.

We came back this evening and it was slightly warmer. The temperature on it said 39.5 so they were obviously spouting crap about 38 degrees being the highest possible temperature and that it was all controlled centrally. It was still too cold to sit and relax in although the dc did splash around in it for 10 minutes or so again before coming out shivering. We didn’t get back until 8ish and there was no steam coming off it when we opened it up. I tried Coop but no thermometer there either and wasn’t going to drive somewhere else hunting down thermometers al holiday.

All in all deeply disappointing. I’ve filled in a feedback form both via the tv (which you order food, contact reception etc through) and have emailed with photos of my youngest with blue lips in the tub. I don’t know how else I can prove it wasn’t hot other than the fact that I’ve complained about it everyday that I’ve been here. I certainly won’t be staying with them again. If they’d admitted there was a fault and were apologetic it would be one thing but they’ve point blank denied there’s an issue and just keep going on about the fact that it’s set to the maximum temperature, despite the fact it isn’t actually at that temperature.

I’m hoping I’ll at least get some kind of compensation. There is no way at all I’d have booked this place if it didn’t have a hot tub, that’s their whole USP.

I live really near to where you are staying. If you can make it there and back before check out tomorrow morning, try Light Fantastic in Coleford for a thermometer.

Thanks @SelkieSeal. Check out is 10am, I’ll try and poop over there first thing. It’s such a beautiful part of the country that you live in, we had a woman wonderful time exploring even if the holiday itself wasn’t quite what we’d hoped. We went to Scoffs in Coleford for lunch yesterday and it was gorgeous.

I hope you get some recompense OP, we are all rooting for you.

Good luck 🤞 I did actually have a rummage to see if we had a suitable one but no joy. It is beautiful here, but a cold hot tub would drive me over the edge no matter how beautiful the surroundings were!

I would complain and ask for a partial refund.

The blue lip picture is pointless.

You can pick up a water thermometer at boots for not much money at all, I'd do that.

It sounds like they've turned the thermostats down to save on electricity. 38 is not hot enough anyway. I've sat in a hot tub in a ski resort and been toasty warm.

Check the temperature yourself, then ask for a refund. It should have been ready to use from the moment you arrived.

We've done two forest holidays and the hot tubs have always been ready on arrival and so warm the kids can't spend more than 20 mins in them without getting too hot. While nice holidays in lovely settings my feeling about the company is that they will try their hardest to get every penny they can from you. I expect what you will get is a sorry we didn't live up to your expectations email and a discount for next time. You need to work out what you feel is adequate compensation for not being able to use the tub and then raise merry hell online.

I was offered either a 15% discount off my next booking, a £50 refund there and then or the option to pursue it with head office. I’ve done the latter and also took photos of the hot tub showing the temperature having been changed to 39.5 degrees despite the fact they’d previously told me 38 was the absolute maximum they could go and that there was no way to override it.

I think they give everyone a 15% discount if you rebook within 28 days of a stay anyway - cheeky sods!

For health and safety they should be recording the temperature each day manually with a thermometer so they are already at fault for not doing this. And no hot tub is controlled centrally. Please push further for this with higher management. Has anyone been out each day to dip test the chemical balance?