Whether it’s for a holiday home cottage, Airbnb or a holiday park lodge, it won’t have escaped your attention that hot tubs can bring a real boost to your business. If you haven’t quite made the leap yet, this article is going to be a great starting point for why you should and what needs to be considered. For those who may have already experienced the benefits they can bring and are looking to upgrade your offering, we will explain how the latest equipment can reduce running costs and speed up turnaround times.
Benefit from increased demand for your property by installing a hot tub
- According to Sykes Cottages who represents over 20,000 holiday homes, bookings in 2022 for properties with a hot tub were up 36% compared to 2021 figures. This trend shows no sign of slowing, with 2023 bookings for properties with hot tubs up 104% compared to 2022.
- Their data also showed that properties with hot tubs, on average, can earn 54% more than those without. This is due not only to being able to charge more for the stay but also to increased occupancy rates throughout the year.
Hot tubs can boost bookings in the low season
- Search volume data for the UK shows an average of 66,000 searches a month for “lodges with hot tubs”, with a peak of over 95,000 in January 2023. Its clear from this that a hot tub is a very sought after feature, paticularly in the colder months. This helps to explain how a hot tub can boost occupancy rates even in the off-peak season and make your holiday let more profitable.
Getting the most from your invesment
To make your hot tub really stand out, consider placing it where bathers will enjoy the best views possible, what is the most Instagramable area you have? If you are not blessed with amazing views, you can still dress up the area with plants, low-voltage LED lighting and maybe even a pergola, making the hot tub not just a feature but a focal point for your space.
Most hot tub users really value privacy, so if you are able to offer a changing area or some simple screens to make people feel comfortable and able to fully relax, they will thank you for it. Even something as simple as towel hooks and a small table next to the spa for drinks and personal items can make a difference. An outdoor mat on which to kick off shoes or flip flops can also help to stop dirt from getting tracked into the hot tub and make cleanup between changeovers that little bit easier.
Guest really notice the extra effort you go to in these areas and it absolutely shows up in your reviews, bringing even more bookings. A particular point that is always picked up on by your customers is how clean your hot tub is, which leads us nicely on to…
Keeping guests safe
To ensure a pleasant experience for you and your guests, it’s crucial to be aware that hot tubs, if not adequately maintained and managed, can pose a notable risk of infection. This is particularly pertinent if you intend to make your hot tub available to the public.
To safeguard both your guests and yourself, it’s essential to adhere to a set of guidelines outlined in a document often referred to as HSG 282. This comprehensive guide was published in 2017 by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and is aimed at controlling the presence of Legionella and other infectious agents in hot tubs. If you would like to read it, you can download it HERE.
While it may initially sound daunting, these guidelines primarily serve to protect the well-being of your guests and your own. Before making a hot tub purchase for your holiday rental property, it’s advisable to become acquainted with HSG 282, as it contains recommendations that should significantly influence your choice of hot tub.
Choosing the right HSG 282-compliant hot tub
Within the HSG document, there are not only recommendations on how to look after a hot tub but also on the features it should and should not have. Don’t worry, in most cases, these recommendations will actually save you money, and time and keep your guests happy in a clean healthy hot tub.
Does it meet the HSG basics?
- The hot tub should ideally have a minimum of 250 litres per bather. (1500 litres for a 6 person hot tub).
- In-line sanitiser tablet dispenser to maintain chlorine/bromine level. Floating dispensers are not acceptable.
- No potential dead legs such as a waterfall, which could be turned off, creating stagnant water.
- 24-hour filtration to ensure sufficient removal of suspended particles in the water
Does it go beyond the basics?
- Is the topside control panel lockable or is there only the basics on offer, with a main control locked away? This can reduce the number of calls you receive due to someone changing a setting they shouldn’t and causing the tub to lose temperature for example.
- Is there any secondary sanitisation, such as an ozone generator, which is a unit that helps to break down contaminants in the water.
How much does it cost to run a holiday let hot tub
There are lots of variables at play here, so it would be unwise for us to promise you a £ figure, especially as energy rates can fluctuate. However, what we can tell you is that a highly insulated 4-seater hot tub like the Ocho Rios will use around 3.5 kWh per day on standby when heated to 38ºC and the ambient temperature is 15ºC. This would equate to around £1.05 a day if you pay 30p per kWh. This figure obviously will rise with use and is something we can’t account for in our maths here!
There are howerver things you can do to minimise running costs, such as:
- Buy an energy efficent spa to start with, at Hyperion that is all we will ever sell.
- Consider fitting an air source heat pump to the hot tub, they can reduce costs by 50% or more. Heat pumps will also heat up the water much faster on changeovers, meaning the spa is up to temperature and ready for your new guests to use, upon their arrival. Otherwise, they may have to wait till the next day! Learn more about heat pumps.
- Have a control panel that is lockable, so the temperature cannot be needlessly increased by guests.
- Consider buying chemicals and filters in bulk, saving money on maintenance.
Whilst a hot tub does require an initial outlay and some ongoing expenditure, they more than make up for this by increasing the value and volume of bookings your property receives, turning them into valuable investments in your business’s success.
HSG 282 compliant hot tubs
Here is a small selection of HSG 282-compliant hot tubs available to us. Dont see quite what you would like, message us below and we will be happy to advise you.
