Hot tub rentals in the DC area?

May 9, 2006 4:45 PM

I'm looking for someplace in the DC area (bonus points: Montgomery County, Maryland) that has (jetted) hot tubs that can be rented by the hour. Google searches just turn up dealers who sell hot tubs; the yellow pages (DC, Maryland) also show nothing. Suggestions?

I'd really like to have a nice soak and let some water jets work on the sore muscles in my back, but I'm starting to think that the DC area may not offer this sort of experience. Is it just a West Coast thing that there are places like the Berkeley Sauna and Piedmont Springs?

posted by WestCoaster to health & fitness (7 comments total)

This may sound like a stupid question, but have you tried doing searches for spas and day spas and seeing what services they offer? I ask only because when I read your question, my first thought was that you wanted to rent an actual hot tub which would be delivered to your house etc. (Here is a list of day spas in the DC area with services offered; no idea about accuracy.) Another thing to check might be some of the nicer hotels. The Four Seasons in Georgetown, for example, according to their website, offers a whirlpool as part of their spa package. Even if the hotels don't have anything, hot tub access seems like the sort of thing a business traveler or diplomat might occasionally request, so you could check with the concierges to see if there's any places they recommend when a guest asks them where to find a hot tub.
posted by posadnitsa at 5:24 PM on May 9, 2006

Thanks for the about.com page. Unfortunately, only two of the listings even mention something approximating a hot tub ("whirlpool"). One is a 60 minute, $110 package: Anatomically designed tubs containing dozens of massaging jets greatly assist in reducing stress, combating cellulite, eliminating toxins, replenishing needed minerals, reducing water retention, improving metabolism, firming and toning muscles and smoothing and conditioning skin. Treatment also includes hands on body massage. The other is for the Four Seasons, for which you also provided a link, but there appears to be no standard package which includes the "whirlpool" (which apparently is located in a "private spa room").

I was sort of hoping to pay less than $20 for an hour in a hot tub. (That's the way it works on the West Coast.)

My sense is that "day spas" don't, as a rule, include hot tubs (or even whirlpools), based on looking at the pages for day spas in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, at this website, and reading (somewhere) that many places that offer facials and work on nails are relabeling themselves as "day spas". I did try your suggested searches (no luck). What I'm really hoping for is that someone who lives in the area can offer a pointer (or an experienced "you're out of luck").
posted by WestCoaster at 7:05 PM on May 9, 2006

Hmm, this doesn't really answer your question, but Seattle has one of those places, too: Tubs Seattle. I checked their site but it doesn't appear to be part of a chain.

You don't have a gym membership? Do any of your friends? Because if they do, and their gym allows them to, say, pay $10 to bring a guest, you could use the hot tub there. It's not going to be private though.
posted by GaelFC at 9:18 PM on May 9, 2006

A bit of a drive, but the Reston Community Center has a hot tub (and a pool) and it's only a few bucks to get in.
posted by callmejay at 6:50 AM on May 10, 2006

Yeah, us east coaster don't engage in those sort of west coast perversions. Sorry, I think you're out of luck.
posted by electroboy at 8:11 AM on May 10, 2006

The Super 8 in Prince Frederick, Calvert County has two rooms with hot tubs, is very cheap and for all I know, rents by the hour.

I don't recommend it though. The hot tubs smell funny /bad memories.
posted by crabintheocean at 8:34 AM on May 10, 2006

More seriously: Day pass for a gym that has one? My Sport and Health in Alexandria has a pretty nice hot tub, and I think a pass is about $12.
posted by crabintheocean at 8:38 AM on May 10, 2006