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First time posting on this forum, thank you all for the wealth of knowledge shared here!!
We are in year 2 of hosting a guest house “spa house” on our property. The spa house has an indoor hot tub and sauna. In addition we have an outdoor hot tub closer to our home uphill.
We decided after a few months of hosting that we needed to LOCK the settings on the hot tubs. We found the filter cycles were getting changed and the temperature was being left either super high or super low. With one guest, the motherboard fried when the hot tub was left at 104 for several days. (A very expensive repair!) Maybe it was just time for it to break, maybe not.
We lock them most importantly because of the extensive use the hot tubs get. We need filters cycling at the highest setting in order to keep the sanitation integrity. Between guests it can be a challenge to rebalance if the filters have not been working properly.
Questions:
Does anyone else LOCK the settings on their hot tubs?
What temperature do you set for your hot tub? (Jacuzzi says 100-102 is most preferred)
Do you “disclose” the hot tub is preset and locked on your House Rules or elsewhere? (Yep we had a disgruntled guest who never mentioned he wanted a temp change and demanded a discount)
Your house your rules, Make sure you mention the fact that the settings are locked in your listing and confirm it in the welcome message, then the guest cant say didn’t know!
If the spa is your main attraction, you probably should be looking at getting a spa controller that has a control panel for guests that allows them to change the temperature, turn on the jets, etc. and a separate control panel for filtration/sanitation cycles, etc. that guest can’t access. Ideally, it’ll have a timer so that guests can’t accidentally leave it running for days, too. I remember seeing setups like that at resorts and apartment complexes well over 20 years ago.
Welcome! YOU make the rules. Disclose locked settings? Nah. Hide the setting panel with a screwed on or otherwise locked cover plate – heck yes!
At 104 I suspect that it was just time for that motherboard to fry… I’ve had two hot tubs for 4-5 years each. The tubs stays at 104F (manufacturers top set limit usually) for at least sic months of the year (I live in Florida where a hot tub isn’t very refreshing when it’s water temp is near the air temp. Summer time I turn the temp down to 80 or 90 (manufacturer’s lowest) and use a long term chemical dispenser.
That said, we do not give our guests hot tub access. They only have access to the 85F pool. If we did give guest access, I would certainly lock away the setting panel – my tub, my rules.
KenH you gave me a well needed laugh! Thanks for keeping it real. In Oregon a hot tub is delightful even in the summer. We have a pool next to the outdoor hot tub just for those cooler days, which is May, June, September & October. It’s a short pool season and a LONG hot tub season here.
Thank you for the link KKC, I had searched more narrow “hot tub” specifically and wasn’t finding many results. I’ve read the hot tub posting and have found a few things to think about for our listing. I appreciate your help.
