Intex Simple Spa 77 by 26 Inch 4 Person Outdoor Portable Inflatable Round Heated Hot Tub with 100 Bubble Jets, Carry Bag, and Cover, Gray

The media could not be loaded. TL; DR version: Great tub, we are using it every morning, would definitely would buy this tub again.Quick warning: This unit does not come with chemicals. You will need to buy chemicals to use with this hot tub, do not try to use this without. We got a hot tub chemical start-up/6 month maintenance kit from Amazon "Qualco Pool Care 14895 6 Month Spa Hot Tub Chemical Kit with Bromine + Shock Treatment."Placement: This tub is NOT meant for direct sunlight. It even says that in the manual. Know that before you buy it. Sun deteriorates vinyl. You can try to use in a sunny area but just know that it won't last beyond the warranty period. After reading many, many reviews on inflatable hot tubs, the common theme is that getting them to last 2-3-4 years or longer means you have to keep this indoors (mine is installed in our garage, maybe a bit ghetto but oh well it's working great for us so far).Setup: Easy. Go to the Intex website and watch the video (links to a youtube video) and read along in the provided instructions. It took me about 2-3 hours to set up taking my time/not in a rush, including filling with water and adding chemicals. My tap water started at 76, and it does heat at "2-3 degrees per hour," and ended up at the max 104 by the next morning. See my picture regarding the connections, I took thread tape to add some security to the water-tight connections. Probably not needed, but I do this to all water fittings for peace of mind. No leaks so far.Heating capabilities: Based on what I was able to find online about the several inflatable hot tub manufacturers, this company Intex was the only manufacturer that allowed the water to be heated while using the bubbles (jets) feature. This was the biggest selling point for me, I wanted to be able to continue to heat the water while using the hot tub. Other manufacturers deactivate the heating function while using bubbles so it doesn't overload your power/trip the circuit breaker, however with those models the water temperature falls more quickly (as far as I can tell) I can verify that Intex 28481E does continue to heat the water while using the bubbles on mode. HUGE! That being said, it is still limited by 110v power. After 30 minutes with bubbles on it goes from 104 F to approximately 99-100 F, another 30 minutes down to 97 F, another 30 minutes down to 95 F, another 30 minutes down to 91-92 F. (Yes we spent 2 hours in the hot tub, it was awesome, and definitely not recommended). From what I've been able to tell from others' reviews of other companies, this one holds its temperature much better than the competition. Your mileage may vary.Chemicals/smell: Using bromine now, smell is not bad and basically non-existent compared to past chlorine tubs I've been in. Get sprinkle-in bromine to go with the tablets and make sure the bromine level is sufficient before using the tub.Warranty: I'd like this to last beyond the original warranty, so I bought an Asurion warranty to go with this just in case. I've had to redeem Asurion warranties on the past and they are easy to work with.Accessories: We bought the Intex drink holder and two seats from another company on Amazon. Cup holder "Intex PureSpa Cup Holder, 2 Standard Size Beverage Containers" and seats "Intex Removable Slip-Resistant Seat For Inflatable Pure Spa Hot Tub (2 Pack)" Definitely worth it! The drink holder grips to the tub sides and doesn't move. The seats are weighted and height-adjustable and give you some versatility to sit out of the water a bit if you choose to.Overall very pleased with this tub and will update this review as needed.

Ok, this is a great hot tub! I've been using it for about a month. There are a couple things I think might be great if changed, but for a person owning one for the first time it's great!Although it says four person capacity, this is not 4 full grown people with with a plus size body type. I think they mean 4 slim to medium body typed people. A plus size and medium body typed person it is roomy. I think two plus size people would still be comfy, but not four. Also don't fill it to the max line you will lose a lot of water due to water displacement and when you turn the bubbles on you will lose even more water as it will overflow out of the the hot tub. Due to the water overflow It is a good idea to make sure the power plug is not laying on the ground near the hot tub via extension cord, which by the way the manual strongly says not to do.Don't plan on getting right in after you have it filled unless you are filling with water that is already heated. Mine took 16 hours to get up to the highest temp 104. Which honestly is way too hot for me...I keep mine at 98 degrees now. at 102 degrees my face was sweating!It was very easy to assemble and doesn't take very long to fill with water if you have good water pressure. Mine took about 35 minutes to fill. Also make sure you have pulled the hot tub sides out to get rid of as much wrinkles in the fabric before filling. I have one section that's just a tiny bit lower, not a huge deal i'll fix it when I replace the water in another month or so. The fabric on the outside of the tub will need to be adjusted to align the ports with the holes in the fabric.Here's a tip just because I ran into this and couldn't find a answer that I felt was adequate. You can attach the inflation hose to the unit after it has been assembled to add more air to the detachable cover. I was a little cautious because I've had stupid stuff happen to me before where you think something works one way and then find out it doesn't. I didn't want the whole thing to deflate and all that water come gushing out.Really the only thing I think could make this better is allow different bubble speeds. It is one speed the whole time you have it own which is nice but also loud. Which makes it a hard to have a conversation while its running as you'll have to speak louder and your neighbors may hear everything you say.Intex provides several things to assist in maintenance extra rings, patches, tools to replace valves. They've got you covered and intend on it lasting for years to come!I would likely purchase one that is bigger next time to allow for more people to enjoy, but for my first one it is great! Great value for the money!

Updated:After less than 5 months and MAYBE 6 uses, a gigantic hole appeared in the vinyl at the end of the ring where the air comes out when the blower is on. ZERO reason for this. Nothing sharp has ever been inside the tub and it had only been used a few times.I drained it and patched it but it only got worse.Now its completely useless. This is clearly a factory design defect. My thought is that too much air pushes thru and the holes are not sufficient so it builds up at the end of the ring creating too much pressure there. It started at the last hole and almost immediately grew to 6"+.Original Review:The reason for dropping 1 star is because of the heat. We've had full size 220v spas before and at 104 it was too hot to get in. When this shows 104 its warm.... not hot. I don't have a thermometer to check it but I'd estimate its 3 or 4 degrees off.It loses temp quickly but its not bad enough to make it unusable..... seems to lose a degree or two just by taking the cover off and then even more if you turn the bubbles on.2 degrees per hour heating is about accurate. It loses heat much faster than that. With the bubbles on I'd estimate it would lose 10 to 12 degrees or more per hour.Its small so the water loss is significant... but not because of a leak or anything wrong with the tub....getting in and out and/or some overflow with 3 people in it and bubbles on will lose a few gallons quickly. Again...its small so a few gallons is noticed. It fills quickly though but it cools the water.It will fit 4 adults but it would be tight. 2 adults and our son fit comfortably.The bottom is soft so its comfortable to sit in.