Hot tub temperature for holiday lets: the rules, and how to stay on top of it

A hot tub is the single biggest reason many guests book a glamping stay — and a cold or cloudy one is the fastest way to a refund request. Here is what temperature to run it at, the safety basics you cannot skip, and how to stop arriving to a lukewarm tub.

What temperature should a holiday-let hot tub be?

The widely used guidance is a maximum of 40°C, with 38°C a comfortable, safe default for most guests. Above 40°C gets risky, especially for children, pregnant guests and anyone with health conditions — put that guidance in your guest guide.

The operational problem is not the setting, it is the timing. A tub that has been drained and refilled for a changeover can take hours to come back up to temperature. Guests who arrive to a 28°C tub are not impressed by "it'll warm up by tonight".

The safety basics (do not skip these)

• Water chemistry: keep chlorine/bromine and pH in range and test between guests. Cloudy water is both a complaint and a health issue.
• Legionella: stagnant, warm water is the risk. Follow a proper dump-and-refill and disinfection routine between lets, and keep records.
• Filtration: clean the filter every changeover; a clogged filter is why water goes cloudy mid-stay.
• Clear guest guidance: max temperature, no glass, shower first, supervise children, time limits.

The thing that quietly costs you reviews

You cannot see the tub's temperature from your kitchen — and definitely not from another property or another county. So the failure mode is invisible until a guest messages you. By then it is too late to fix before check-in.

The operators who never get caught out monitor the temperature remotely and get alerted the moment it drops out of range — hours before the guest arrives, while there is still time to act.

How Beacon helps

Beacon reads your hot-tub temperature live and emails you the moment it falls below the threshold you set — so a cold tub reaches you before it reaches your guest. The same works for leaks, room temperature and more, across every property from one screen.

Keep an eye on every hot tub →