This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Do you have a hot tub at your listing? Did you add it specifically for your Airbnb business or have it before you started hosting?
If you don’t have one, have you considered adding one?
Do you believe they are worth the trouble for a small change in listing price?
I just got a hot tub and love it - I have not had any quests use it yet. I got it for personal use and airbnb guests. I do not believe it is worth it for just a small change in the listing price. It will be a lot of work.
I have considered it but think as Rod stated it would be more time and expense than it would be worth for the additional charge in my listing. Generally, there are the energy costs and since we have geothermal energy it probably would not be a great increase. The maintenace cost of draining and refilling the tub after each set of guests might be time consuming or adding chemicals to the tub so it is sanitary might also add additional cost. We have stayed at Airbnb homes with hot tubs and they generally have a cleaning service that cares for the home and hot tub as well. I would only consider it if I wanted one for my personal use and then allowed guests to use it as well.
I have a hot tub, but drained it a year ago when I was going to be gone for a month … it needed cleaning and also I didn’t see any point to heating it while I was gone. Unfortunately, we in Southern California are in the middle of a drought with water use restrictions, so the hot tub has not been refilled.
Before I drained it, I did not include the hot tub in my listing amenities because I was worried about insurance liability. Has anyone looked at this aspect. Also, the cleaning and sanitizing is more time consuming and critical when more than just you and your family are using the tub.
However, there has now been an increase in competition in my area with at least 50% more hosts than when I started two years ago. And more of these are in lux apartments rather than room rentals. I rent rooms in my home where I live and try to offer a lot of benefits – breakfast and sweet treats. But I have been wondering, like felixcat, if a hot tub would give me an edge over the competition. I don’t know if I could change my room price… although my partner and I are doing a short get-away trip next month, and I did search for places with hot tubs! … all thoughts welcome.
Happy Hosting – Lia
That growth in the number of listings is quite scary to contemplate. When I started browsing some time ago, there were maybe 50 listings in the whole area. The majority of them were casually hosting and sometimes answered inquiries and sometimes didn’t. Since December, that number has exploded in all of the listing categories. Private and Shared rooms are all showing 300+ and full houses/apartments are over 100.
The liability bit is concerning in that I was talking to one of the county offices and there are specific fence heights and latching requirements, as well as the additional insurance considerations.
Guys I am in Miami, and we have TONS of guests that flock to Miami beach, I stand out for my unique close to the everglades and keys jumping point. Even though I have a pool I am not ready to offer it yet and just work really hard what my area offers. I KNOW I can’t compete with the downtown and Miami beach condo views but then again I am not charging as much as they are.
In fact I advertise as the south beach retreat if you want calm, I have thought about a hot tub but that is more trouble then worth and I don’t think I will offer my pool at all. So far my guests are out all day long, why would I want them to even be here if I could avoid it.
Where are you located? I’m in Pasadena, CA. – Lia
We have a hot tub by a creek in Montana, close to a ski resort. Our guests love it but honestly, a lot, don´t even use it. They come thinking they will and then don´t. But a couple things: they are costly and a pain to maintain the chemical balance. I wouldn´t get one if you won´t use it a ton also. But secondly, you don´t change the water all the time like bath water. We do our every could of months.
We bought one specifically for our wine country listing. It was a giant pain until I hired a weekly pool guy to come take care of it. If you can do the upkeep yourself then it’s just a bit time consuming. I tried and failed, so we made the choice to hire someone.
We absolutely get a ton of bookings BC of the hot tub. It guests number one maybe two reason for booking. Most places in our area l, close to downtown, don’t have pools, hot tubs, so it’s a big draw.
Also, people are stupid. I regularly get questions about the hot tub, even though my directions are explicit. Be prepared for negative comments in your reviews if for sime reason the guests can’t figure out how to turn it on or they think it’s too hot, too small, too cold, etc.
I understand. My hubby will not let me put a pool in - he says the guests will never go out, and it will attract more family types with kids.
I don’t think every couple of months for a water change is healthy.
The official specification on our tub, which is an 8-person tub is ¨no more than two months¨. We have very little use other than my husband. We should do it every month and probably will as use increases. Hubby is a health department retiree and monitors i closely.
@georgygirlofairbnb Our maintenance company does it quarterly, unless there is an issue. They maintain it weekly, to make sure the chemicals are adequate and there’s not debris ,etc
Yuck. Can you imagine climbing into a hot tub that has had other strangers in it, and the water is changed quarterly?
Not me! Double Yuck.
I don’t use it 
Not Funny. Your guests use it and there is an obligation of cleanliness and sanitary conditions.
Way to take a joke.
I pay someone an obscene amount of money to take care of the hot tub weekly and drain it as needed, their recommendation is once a quarter, unless something causes the water to become unsanitary. I’m sorry I will defer to their professional opinion, unless you are offering a spa maintenance service in Northern California, if so PM with your info and you can bid for our business. 
I didn’t think I had a use for this thread until this past week when my family and I stayed in a small cottage with a hot tub for a few days. Man, we loved it. And the kids chatted so much when we were all there together. I was dreamy steaming away watching the sunset, listening to the frogs peep, etc. So my husband and I discussed the possibility of adding one at some point. I think after a long day of walking walking walking like most of my guests do they would love having a soak.
The tub did have a mechanical problem and we couldn’t use it the last day. The man showed up to repair it and he told me that most hot tubs only change the water one a year!!! I thought they drained it after every guest.
@felixcat, do you think you’ll add one? Would love to hear what you find. Truth be told in our life we have very little time for sitting even on the couch much less in a hot tub. And I know we’ll have a lot of restrictions as to fencing, etc.
I would never in a million years offer a hot tub. Way too many liability issues. Children drowning danger, for one. But also you can clean it as hard as you can and still sometimes get bit by some hardy germ. A couple of my friends have gotten bad skin infections from vacation rental hot tubs.
excuse me? what the heck are you saying? I am guessing this is some kind of spam and needs to be taken down.