Jacuzzi Tubs In Hotels: Are They No Longer Relevant?
Feb 24, 2020, 10:36 am
#1
formerly Will Stonehocker
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 589
Jacuzzi Tubs In Hotels: Are They No Longer Relevant?
I hear a lot of newer hotels don't include jacuzzi tubs in the rooms anymore. When did they stop being a thing? What were their reasons, apart from being expensive? What was the very first hotel ever to have a jacuzzi in the room? Is it true that the younger crowd prefers a glass shower design instead?
Feb 24, 2020, 11:34 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
Jacuzzi is a brand name. I've never seen a Jacuzzi-branded hot tub in a hotel.
The generic term is hot tub.
And while some hotels have "dedicated" hot tubs in a central area, what's in a hotel room is typically only a combo tub / hot tub, which you fill with water each time you use it. (A conventional hot tub has a heater in it and you only change the water after weeks or even months, and use chemistry -- much as in a pool -- to keep the water clean enough in between water changes.)
The ones in hotel rooms, because they have to double as normal tubs, tend to be pesky to use for someone not very familiar with them. You have to fill them just right (both in water level and in temperature) for them to work correctly, and they can take a long time to fill, and so to many people they're more trouble than it's worth.
So I'm not surprised that the ones inside hotel rooms are on the way out. The ones in common areas (which tend to be more like traditional "permanent" hot tubs) are more popular. The younger crowd likes places to socialize, and a common-area "true" hot tub works better for that than an in-room part-time hot tub.
I doubt it's possible to figure out the first use of combo tub / hot tub in a hotel. It was quite likely a retrofit by the individual hotel itself, and not widely publicized. The things you need to retrofit a hotel tub to have hot tub functions are not that different from what you need to retrofit a big home tub to have hot tub functions.
I'm not aware of hot tubs in rooms ever having been a brand staple for any hotel brand. Those hotels that are part of brands, only fraction of the hotels in that brand tend to have hot tubs in rooms, as if it were always an individual hotel decision.
The generic term is hot tub.
And while some hotels have "dedicated" hot tubs in a central area, what's in a hotel room is typically only a combo tub / hot tub, which you fill with water each time you use it. (A conventional hot tub has a heater in it and you only change the water after weeks or even months, and use chemistry -- much as in a pool -- to keep the water clean enough in between water changes.)
The ones in hotel rooms, because they have to double as normal tubs, tend to be pesky to use for someone not very familiar with them. You have to fill them just right (both in water level and in temperature) for them to work correctly, and they can take a long time to fill, and so to many people they're more trouble than it's worth.
So I'm not surprised that the ones inside hotel rooms are on the way out. The ones in common areas (which tend to be more like traditional "permanent" hot tubs) are more popular. The younger crowd likes places to socialize, and a common-area "true" hot tub works better for that than an in-room part-time hot tub.
I doubt it's possible to figure out the first use of combo tub / hot tub in a hotel. It was quite likely a retrofit by the individual hotel itself, and not widely publicized. The things you need to retrofit a hotel tub to have hot tub functions are not that different from what you need to retrofit a big home tub to have hot tub functions.
I'm not aware of hot tubs in rooms ever having been a brand staple for any hotel brand. Those hotels that are part of brands, only fraction of the hotels in that brand tend to have hot tubs in rooms, as if it were always an individual hotel decision.
Mar 1, 2020, 4:46 pm
#3
formerly Will Stonehocker
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 589
Jacuzzi is a brand name. I've never seen a Jacuzzi-branded hot tub in a hotel.
The generic term is hot tub.
And while some hotels have "dedicated" hot tubs in a central area, what's in a hotel room is typically only a combo tub / hot tub, which you fill with water each time you use it. (A conventional hot tub has a heater in it and you only change the water after weeks or even months, and use chemistry -- much as in a pool -- to keep the water clean enough in between water changes.)
The ones in hotel rooms, because they have to double as normal tubs, tend to be pesky to use for someone not very familiar with them. You have to fill them just right (both in water level and in temperature) for them to work correctly, and they can take a long time to fill, and so to many people they're more trouble than it's worth.
So I'm not surprised that the ones inside hotel rooms are on the way out. The ones in common areas (which tend to be more like traditional "permanent" hot tubs) are more popular. The younger crowd likes places to socialize, and a common-area "true" hot tub works better for that than an in-room part-time hot tub.
I doubt it's possible to figure out the first use of combo tub / hot tub in a hotel. It was quite likely a retrofit by the individual hotel itself, and not widely publicized. The things you need to retrofit a hotel tub to have hot tub functions are not that different from what you need to retrofit a big home tub to have hot tub functions.
I'm not aware of hot tubs in rooms ever having been a brand staple for any hotel brand. Those hotels that are part of brands, only fraction of the hotels in that brand tend to have hot tubs in rooms, as if it were always an individual hotel decision.
The generic term is hot tub.
And while some hotels have "dedicated" hot tubs in a central area, what's in a hotel room is typically only a combo tub / hot tub, which you fill with water each time you use it. (A conventional hot tub has a heater in it and you only change the water after weeks or even months, and use chemistry -- much as in a pool -- to keep the water clean enough in between water changes.)
The ones in hotel rooms, because they have to double as normal tubs, tend to be pesky to use for someone not very familiar with them. You have to fill them just right (both in water level and in temperature) for them to work correctly, and they can take a long time to fill, and so to many people they're more trouble than it's worth.
So I'm not surprised that the ones inside hotel rooms are on the way out. The ones in common areas (which tend to be more like traditional "permanent" hot tubs) are more popular. The younger crowd likes places to socialize, and a common-area "true" hot tub works better for that than an in-room part-time hot tub.
I doubt it's possible to figure out the first use of combo tub / hot tub in a hotel. It was quite likely a retrofit by the individual hotel itself, and not widely publicized. The things you need to retrofit a hotel tub to have hot tub functions are not that different from what you need to retrofit a big home tub to have hot tub functions.
I'm not aware of hot tubs in rooms ever having been a brand staple for any hotel brand. Those hotels that are part of brands, only fraction of the hotels in that brand tend to have hot tubs in rooms, as if it were always an individual hotel decision.
Mar 5, 2020, 12:51 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Northport, NY
Posts: 1,732
I have noticed a decline in both in room jetted tubs and hot tubs in common/pool areas. At the Marriott St. Kitts last year the Marriott was no longer heating the "hot" tubs :-( and the Hyatt didn't have any at all. Both disappointing to me. At least the ski lodges I have stayed at still have hot tubs, like the Hyatt Centric Park City.
Mar 8, 2020, 3:07 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 3,360
There are only a tiny number of people who work at hotels among FlyerTalk's members. Even if those people can answer this question, they are unlikely to share it because that's getting into proprietary information.
Decisions about in-room amenities and potential room renovations aren't going to be shared on an online open forum.
No hotel group is ever going to share this type of information. They spend money to produce the data and it is considered to be proprietary information.
You might be able to gather some information and statistics through hospitality trade publications. Although, those statistics will be fairly generic. You also might find information by researching the various manufacturers of bathroom fixtures made specifically for hotels. But, that's also going to be fairly generic.
Mar 8, 2020, 3:24 pm
#6
formerly Will Stonehocker
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 589
Where are you "hearing" this information? Perhaps you should be asking your questions to the people telling you this information.
There are only a tiny number of people who work at hotels among FlyerTalk's members. Even if those people can answer this question, they are unlikely to share it because that's getting into proprietary information.
Decisions about in-room amenities and potential room renovations aren't going to be shared on an online open forum.
Outside of contacting the various manufacturers of jetted tubs and asking, I can't imagine you'll get a definitive answer to this question.
Every hotel group would have data about the preferred types of in-room amenities because they provide that information to franchises that have signed contracts. (The reason why so many limited and select-service hotels are identical is because hotel groups provide floor plans so that franchisees do not have to find an architect. Those floor plans are periodically updated to match what the guest expects to find in a hotel room.)
No hotel group is ever going to share this type of information. They spend money to produce the data and it is considered to be proprietary information.
You might be able to gather some information and statistics through hospitality trade publications. Although, those statistics will be fairly generic. You also might find information by researching the various manufacturers of bathroom fixtures made specifically for hotels. But, that's also going to be fairly generic.
There are only a tiny number of people who work at hotels among FlyerTalk's members. Even if those people can answer this question, they are unlikely to share it because that's getting into proprietary information.
Decisions about in-room amenities and potential room renovations aren't going to be shared on an online open forum.
Outside of contacting the various manufacturers of jetted tubs and asking, I can't imagine you'll get a definitive answer to this question.
Every hotel group would have data about the preferred types of in-room amenities because they provide that information to franchises that have signed contracts. (The reason why so many limited and select-service hotels are identical is because hotel groups provide floor plans so that franchisees do not have to find an architect. Those floor plans are periodically updated to match what the guest expects to find in a hotel room.)
No hotel group is ever going to share this type of information. They spend money to produce the data and it is considered to be proprietary information.
You might be able to gather some information and statistics through hospitality trade publications. Although, those statistics will be fairly generic. You also might find information by researching the various manufacturers of bathroom fixtures made specifically for hotels. But, that's also going to be fairly generic.