Hot Tub Journal

A Large Wood Fired on the deck of an off-grid island cottage in Minaki, Ontario: filled from the lake, used most summer days, and closed up for a minus 40 winter with a routine worth copying.

A mid-century retreat by the river, minutes from the Beaver Valley Ski Club. Why the tub sits on the deck rather than at ground level, and what that solves in an Ontario winter.

A glamping camp outside Golden, BC, where the tub sits beside a sauna and a wood fired pizza oven. Why fire-heated suits a winter property, and what a December opening weekend asks of the insulation.

Five years of guest cabins on a Rocky Mountain ranch. Leo Downey on cleaning between guests, leaving the tub empty through winter without damage, and the booklet he leaves in the house.

A wood fired AlumiTub on the Ten Mile River in the western Catskills: four years at a busy guest cabin, refilled from the river every week, with a cold plunge down the bank. Owner and photographer Jennifer MacFarlane in her own words, with her photographs.

Joanne McSporran installed her tub beside the ocean on a remote island in BC, a year into a cabin build. Her siting advice, and an argument for putting the hot tub in before the house.

A northern Ontario cabin with western exposure, a private dock and towering white pines. Kyle and Kelsey on why the tub became the thing guests talk about most, and how they return the water to the woods it sits in.

Four things to settle before buying: permits and bylaws, whether the property suits the heating system, what the site has to provide, and how a tub reaches a cabin. Most people find none are obstacles. Finding out first is what makes the purchase easy.