It’s usually not hard to get bookings in popular vacation spots during the height of travel season. But as Christine Karpinski, author of “How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner” says, adding a hot tub ensures “gravy income,” even during the off season.
One great example of this is an extraordinary treehouse vacation rental not too far from Best Hot Tubs’ Windham, NY showroom. Close to Woodstock, it is a Catskills’ treasure.
Catskills Treehouse — Airbnb Photo
It’s been reported that this vacation home was designed to appear organic in its natural woodland surroundings — and it does. Its facade, for example, is cedar, taken from the local area.
Its interior is lined in reclaimed pine. Its angles and plethora of windows allow vacationers to feel they are the romantic characters in an adventure book — like the Swiss Family Robinson.
But even with all the treehouse offers, we couldn’t help but note that listed at the top of the property’s amenity list on Airbnb is its “hot tub.”
So we asked the property hosts if their hot tub is truly a popular amenity for getting bookings.
Treehouse Winter Photo — Airbnb Photo
“Yes,” replied Avner and Maskit. “And the spa is popular all year round. It is something that people love and often check with us to make sure that it will be usable during their stay, even during winter.”
Treehouse Hot Tub – Airbnb Photo
“Their hot tub model is a Snorkel,” says Best Hot Tubs’ Bill Renter. “The Snorkel spa is a wooden barrel, fitted with a wood-burning stove with its own smokestack. You put in logs and light a fire, which is what heats the water. It doesn’t have any massage jets, of course. But it’s a fine outside warm water experience.”
Catskills Treehouse – Airbnb
Upshot? After you wake up in the treehouse to views of a surrounding forest, mountains and a natural lake; after you’ve cooked up breakfast in the property’s kitchen; after you’ve finished chirping back to the birds perched outside floor-to-ceiling windows; after a brisk walk in the quiet of nature, and after a refreshing swim in a natural lake, you can sip coffee on one of the property’s two balconies — while the hot tub below is firing up.
Sound like heaven? Pretty much.
Maintaining Rental Property Hot Tubs
Well-Maintained Bullfrog Spas
As helpful as hot tubs can be for increasing bookings, rental owners need to ensure the hot tubs are kept clean, of course. This can be tricky when owners live at a distance or if they work full time.
There are lots of people living in the New York City area, for example, who have properties they like to rent out in the Catskills. Indeed, Long Island itself has had a banner year in tourism, and many of its vacation property owners live at a distance.
Because of this, our teams at Best Hot Tubs Windham, and at our showrooms in Westbury and Farmingdale, recommend that rental property owners with hot tubs get on a regular maintenance plan such as we offer, so that their spas can be properly monitored, and the chemicals kept in balance.
“Also, should anything go wrong, being on contract makes it easier to get quick service,” says Eric Tiscornia from our Windham store. “Contract clients find that our professionals are only a phone call away. We view regular care for the hot tub similar to that of a car. Take good care of it, and your spa will last and serve you well — even when it comes to sanitary concerns.”
