Inflatable or portable hot tub for garden: worth it for holidays?

[HotTubHopeful]

Does anyone have any experience of home hot tubs? We are thinking of buying one for our garden, and are wondering whether inflatable ones are any good - or should be avoided? We would probably only have it set up during school holidays, so ease of putting up / down and storing would be key.

Does anyone have experience of inflatable ones, or easily dismountable solid ones (that maybe dismantle into panels)? Or are permanent, solid ones (with angled seats, bells and whistles) the only way to go. Or should they be avoided at all costs?!

We have teen / young adult children, and one of the best family times we seem to have is in the hot tub when we are on holiday somewhere. So was wondering if it is possible to recreate that at home!

ps - sorry if I have posted in wrong section - there wasn’t an obvious ‘hot-tub’ type chat!

We started with an inflatable one and then got the normal one.

key is keeping the levels correct, easier to do as part of general household chores. The blow up one is a pain to put away and store without mould setting in.

we actually use it most in winter. Rarely bother in summer.

We got and inflatable last summer, was brilliant we used it all thr time

We bought an inflatable one from friends not expecting to use it much but our primary aged kids love it, basically a hot paddling pool they play in it with inflatables and always ready to use once it's up. We only put it up if we have at least one week of good weather ahead as it needs putting up 24 hours before you plan to use it to fill it and balance the chemicals. Then it needs to be deflated and dried out completely before storing to prevent mould. Had it up all summer hols last year and used almost daily. It's expensive to run due to the electricity as the filter needs to be on all the time it has water in it so we wouldn't keep it up all the time. My and DH go in occasionally once the kids are in bed but without the bubbles on as it's noisy so you cant speak over them easily when you're in it. Still quite large once deflated so you need a shed or garage.

Thanks all, that’s really helpful. Is it an issue drying out completely when putting it down? Where do you lay it out to dry? I imagine if it gets mouldy then that’s a major problem? We have foxes regularly in our garden, that tend to jump onto the roof of our extension, I’m wondering if we may get foxes sleeping on the lid of it, for warmth…!

The foxes ate the straps of our inflatable one-but no sleeping foxes as far as I’m aware. We use it when the weather is nice for 3 days or more but we were given it-not sure wed buy one.

@Thelondonone Thanks for this! Do you take it down regularly, or do you keep it up and on year round?

We've got a rigid hot tub from Canadian Spa, it's made of heavy duty polystyrene and was considerably cheaper than a permanent, plumbed in one, but much more robust than in inflatable one. It's easy to maintain and can be moved easily if you decide to resite it.

@365RubyRed Thanks - which one is it? does it come in one piece (and have to be craned in to the garden), or does it come in panels, that you assemble? I like the look of the rigid foam ones that you assemble, but I suspect it takes much longer to put up and down, and none of those seem to have inbuilt seats (I think inbuilt seats, or seats as an accessory that you can add in are a deal breaker (as I have slight joint / mobility problems and can’t sit flat on the floor due to hip problems).. I have seen a lay Z spa one that has inflatable built in seats, but not sure how good these would be..

It comes in two parts, no crane required, but doesn't have built in seats. It comes with a rather nice furniture surround though.