This post used to be a price list for Christmas week and New Year hires, so it needs rewriting before anything else: hot tub hire at DB Entertainment is currently paused, and we're sorry for the inconvenience. We can't put a tub in your garden this Christmas, and there's no point pretending otherwise. What we can do is explain why December was always the busy spell for tubs, what our hire fleet was built around, what has changed, and what the options are now - including buying one of our ex-hire tubs if that suits you better than a hire ever did.
Why winter was the tub season
When we were hiring tubs, the demand curve was simple: summer birthdays carried the season, and then the fortnight between the schools breaking up and the second of January was the busiest stretch of the year. A solid-sided tub in the garden over Christmas week gave a houseful of relatives something to do on the flat afternoon between the roast and the games, and New Year week worked the same way. The tubs ran on all-season heating, so cold weather was never a barrier - it took around 16 hours to bring a tub up to temperature on a cold day and about 12 on a mild one, and once there it held its heat for 6 to 8 hours depending on what the sky was doing. The first day of heating was the expensive one, roughly £10 to £15, and after that running costs started from about £1.50 a day.
What our hire tubs were built around
The fleet was built around the Rio 6/8-seater: an American-made, solid-sided spa with moulded built-in seating for six to eight people, hydro jets, LED lighting and all-season heating, all running off a standard 13-amp outdoor socket. There was a deluxe version too, with steps and large captain seats, a bigger water capacity and more lighting effects, which suited a family party better than a couples' soak. Every hire came with the full chemical kit and filters so the water was safe from the first evening, a full insulation lid to hold the heat overnight, and steps to make getting in and out manageable for older guests. Weekend hires started at £225 for the Thursday-to-Monday four days. We used to say this in the old version of this post and it's still true: if you want an inflatable tub that seats one or two, buy one from B&Q and save yourself the delivery. The solid-sided tubs were a different animal, and a reviewer called Laura put it plainly after hiring one for New Year week: "Very professional, set up quickly and no issues!"
Why hire is paused
We took the decision to pause hot tub hire for the foreseeable future, and the hot tub hire category page carries the same notice. It wasn't a seasonal decision or a December staffing thing - the fleet is changing, and until that settles there's no hire fleet to book, which is why the old price list has gone from this page as well. What it does mean is that some of the ex-hire Rio tubs may be for sale. For anyone who hired the same tub every December and knows exactly what they're missing, buying one of those outright may now work out better than a decade of further hire ever did, and the office knows which tubs are still here and what condition each is in.
If you want a tub this Christmas anyway
If you're buying elsewhere this year, take the same checklist we used to apply to our own stock. Look for a solid-sided tub with an insulated lid, because an uncovered tub loses its heat overnight and the next morning's heating bill shows it. Check it genuinely runs off a standard 13-amp socket before you plan anything else around it, and ask what chemical kit comes with it, because water treatment from day one is the difference between a soak and a science project. Whatever you buy, measure the route from the gate to the patch of level ground before the delivery van arrives - it's the one thing people always forget.
If the tub was really about the gathering
Half of the December tub enquiries were really about keeping a garden full of guests happy, and that part we can still help with. A marquee hire gazebo over the patio turns a cold garden into a room, garden games keep the competitive streaks fed, and a disco dome sorts the younger end of the party. For workplace dos, the Christmas party hire range covers the seasonal end of the catalogue - the Rodeo Reindeer, the selfie mirror, mulled wine kit and the rest.
We're based between Sheffield and Rotherham and out on deliveries in Doncaster, Barnsley, Worksop and Chesterfield every week, with nationwide coverage for the bigger jobs. Ring 0114 345 0135 if you want to talk about the ex-hire tubs or book something for the party instead, and we'll sort you out.
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