How to charge for heating jacuzzi when it's connected to a pool?

1

I have a pool with a jacuzzi. How can I let guests heat and use jacuzzi and protect myself from improper use? How much should I charge?

Thanks
John

2

I and many posters unfortunately don’t have pools and jacuzzis so wouldn’t be able to advise on costs.

I would imagine CCTV would help to monitor use, but you would need to disclose this.

3

We have an above ground pool but no hot tub. Personally, I don’t think you should charge extra for using them. Instead, raise your price to cover the extra expense. As far as improper use, detailed verbal/written instructions would go a long way.

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4

I asked a similar question about a parking space, it was suggested that guests who don’t use the pool/jacuzzi shouldn’t have to subsidise other guests that will use it :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

5

I don’t really agree with that. If you stay at a hotel that has a pool, hot tub, gym etc., they usually don’t charge extra to use those amenities. You are paying for that in a higher room rate whether you use it or not. People like “free”. Look at free shipping when you buy a product. No shipping is really free. It’s built into the price.

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6

yep, with you on that score! (But the contrary monkeys will be along soon)

I’d rather sell my listing as ‘city centre property…with PARKING’ and increase rate by a tenner.
EDIT: also, I don’t know how to add it as an amenitie and charge separately

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7

Put it in your description and create a special offer.

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8

Don’t charge extra!

Guests will have the impression that you are “nickel and dime-ing” them – trying to get every penny you can. Just like people who charge for a bottle or two of water. Plus, it seems petty to charge for something that’s just sitting there. We have both pool and hot tub and would not dream of charging for them as they are central to our Poolside Cabana With Gourmet Flair theme.

You are not “protecting yourself from improper use”. That’s a non-sequitur. You really can’t do that.

What you can do is provide instructions for proper use. Easy. Use your cell phone (or a real camera) and take a close up photo of the control panel. Transfer the picture to your computer and use your Photo Editor to make it look nice. Open MS Word or an OpenOffice Text Document, and insert the picture at the top of a page, and then referring to the picture, tell the guests which buttons to push. Run the grammar checker and spell check so the wording is correct in that respect. Print off at least a couple copies of the page.

Have one page laminated and hung out at the hot tub in a prominent place. Put another copy of the instruction in your House book where you also have instructions for the AC/Heat and TV controls.

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9

@Barns
@KenH

I agree —do not charge extra, have the cost of amenity factored into your rates. Similar but different the condo complex I live in has a pool. My hoa dues pay pol maintenance regardless of whether I use it…it the cost to have the amenity available

Your local utility companies can provide the “average cost to operate” that info maybe helpful as you look at adjusting your rates

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10

@Barns. My unit has 2 parking spaces. In my listing I state a third space can be available for an additional fee. A neighbor will rent her extra space The only way I’ve found to bill for an amenity is to “request money” from the guest after booking. In my case it is usually such a minor amount it isn’t worth going through Airbnb & my guest pays her directly.

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11

Curious - How much extra do you think it would actually cost per guest use/abuse?

I would be turned off by being asked to pay to heat the Jacuzzi and agree with previous posts suggesting you incorporate it into your nightly rate.

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12

My fear is that they leave on the heat for hours and inadvertently switch to pool mode and heat the pool. Negligence could be very expensive with gas.

13

Can you control the heating so that they can’t mess it up? Lock it somehow at the temp you want?

14

I would put a meter on it, perhaps so much free and then you pay.

15

An in-line timer should do the trick to prevent leaving the heat on for extended periods. A ‘shield’ of some sort over the control panel should limit them to on/off.

Gas water heater?!

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16

Good idea, I will check into that. Thx

17

lock it if that is a possiblity

18

In our area , Palm Springs, it is very common to charge a daily fee for heating the pool or actual consumption for longer stays. Yes, guests are not thrilled about it but to heat my pool in the winter costs $1000/month not to mention is a complete waste of gas if not in use.

We are currently dealing with a guests who asked at the last minute to have the pool heated. It takes 24 hrs to come to temp so it will not be warm until their second day of a a two night stay. This is asking for a bad review in my eyes. I either eat the first day of heat cost, or heat it for free for their two night stay. I’m not keen on either option.

We are planning to upgrade the pool heating system but as of right now manually turning the heater on/off is our only options.