Lake Union Hot Tub Boats — Attraction in Seattle

Absolutely Would Not Recommend – Dirty, Unprofessional, and Unsafe

Our experience with this floating hot tub company was incredibly disappointing and, frankly, gross. We had a reservation for Saturday July 5th evening to celebrate a bachelorette party.

The bathroom facilities were gross and rundown, our personal belongings were left in an unlocked bin and removed from the changing room - no sense of security at all. There is nowhere on the boat to keep any belongings dry. The staff member who helped us was gruff and condescending, not welcoming. When I politely asked at the end if we should grab our empty water bottles off the boat (not seeing a garbage can anywhere), his response was, “What do I look like, a garbage man?” Not exactly the customer service you hope for.

The boat itself looked old, run-down, and dirty. The water inside the hot tub was murky with floating debris. It was warm, but far from hot or relaxing.

But the worst part is 2 days later I developed an itchy red rash all over my back and arms. I saw my doctor and was diagnosed with Hot Tub Folliculitis, a bacterial skin infection caused by poorly maintained water. Gross! When we called to inform them, they dismissed our concerns, saying the waiver we signed released them from responsibility. No apology, no concern, just legal deflection.

No showers available for after. They do provide bottled water and a speaker for your float, and towels for after… and a rash if you’re an unlucky one.

This experience was unsanitary, unsafe, and unprofessional. If you value your health, hygiene, and peace of mind, I’d strongly urge you to...

Overall, our group had a pretty good time, but we would not choose this company again or recommend it to others. While the staff’s kindness and customer focus were commendable, there are several areas for improvement.

First, please be aware that you are literally just in a floating hot tub and everything gets wet. There is no deck space at all - the "storage" for our beverages and snacks was filled with water to the point we were concerned about things floating out into the lake.

Next, it can be very challenging managing the waves of the lake since you are so low. Our hot tub was quite filled with incoming water, to the point that our hull was weighed down and our fire went out twice. We had to return to the dock for the staff to relight the flame, where possibly too many fire starters were used because we had significant smoke, which led to a police visit to check on us, which was an unnecessary complication. The excessive smoke also caused us to close the vents, which reduced oxygen to the fire, making it smaller and preventing the water from heating effectively. It's possible that our "boat" may have had specific issues and that others might not experience the same problems; however, I do not see how that is possible given how they are engineered.

These issues impacted our experience and addressing them could greatly improve future...

Wow so fun! I live in Seattle and had never done this before, thought of it as somewhat touristy. Turns out, it's great! For locals and tourists alike. Veronica gave us the rundown of how to work the boat. It's actually heated by a wood fire that is going at the front of the boat. Unfortunately while we were out in the water, a big wake from a big boat splashed a lot of water in ours and out out the fire. We returned to the dock and called Veronica, who came out, restarted our fire, and pumped a bunch of pleasantly hot water back into our boat. We were able to go out for the last 20-or-so minutes of our reservation and enjoy the heat again!

We went in August, and I loved being able to jump into the refreshingly cool lake water and swim around a bit before getting back in the hot tub. I plan on going again in the fall/winter, but think the lake water might be too cold for me to try that...

They provide waterproof pouches for your phones, which is awesome, and there's a bluetooth speaker onboard. They also provide towels and a changing room.

There's little slots in the boat for you to bring your own drinks (yes you can bring alcohol!) and snacks, but this would fill with water and some of our snacks got quite damp... next time I'll come prepared with sealed containers and single serve snacks (chips...