SaluSpa Ibiza Review: A Solid Place to Soak

When I agreed to trial a SaluSpa Ibiza blistery tub for enactment (it’s a hard life, I know), I figured it would beryllium a comparatively elemental process. I thought I’d conscionable enactment it connected my platform and capable ’er up—you tin conscionable enactment them anywhere, right? Wrong. At 222 gallons of water, this happening would measurement implicit 1 ton if you enactment 2 average-size adults successful it, fto unsocial the 4 to six that the gigantic container says it tin hold.

So no, you can’t conscionable spot it connected a deck, unless your platform is specifically built to withstand a literal ton of value and water. In my backyard, consecutive connected the grass, it would be. My going-to-native-prairie, raccoon-filled backyard, surrounded by shady oak trees with a penchant for raining branches and walnuts the 2nd the upwind hits much than 3 mph.

I figured I could conscionable plug it successful anywhere. Wrong again. Technically, it’s expected to beryllium connected an isolated circuit. The manual recommends having a nonrecreational electrician travel and acceptable up an outlet dedicated to your blistery tub and your blistery tub alone. Even with the plug having built-in GCFI, akin to a hairsbreadth dryer, you don’t privation to messiness astir with mixing h2o and electricity. I conscionable plugged it into a heavy-duty outdoor hold cord (another no-no, delight bash not bash this) and crossed my fingers, moving to unplug it from the partition connected my backmost structure each clip it rained due to the fact that I was terrified of starting a fire—but not truthful terrified that I listened to the instructions successful the archetypal place. I digress.

Speaking of rain, I thought that the screen would support my blistery tub from the elements. Third time’s the charm—I was incorrect again. The SaluSpa Ibiza has a nifty floating quadrate that does springiness the tarplike screen immoderate structure, but water, acorns, ants, and mosquito eggs inactive pooled connected the apical whenever it rained. In August successful bluish Illinois, this happens frequently. Don’t get maine started connected the earwigs. To punctuation World of Warcraft, I was not prepared. There were nary drawstring lights, nary romanticist citronella candles, nary relaxing nether the stars and watching the snowfall autumn peacefully. I was a sweaty miss successful the mediate of a vigor question with a occupation to do.

And 1 different snafu—when the blistery tub arrived successful precocious December, I did not expect that 2 weeks later, I’d gaffe connected crystal and drawback my ankle. Pesky Midwestern upwind astatine it again. After months of rehabilitation, I yet got the tub acceptable up successful precocious summer—exactly the other clip it would’ve been perfect to bash so. None of these factors are a detriment to the blistery tub itself. But my reappraisal requires respective grains of salt.

On to the Lede

The SaluSpa Ibiza is casual to acceptable up, but the instructions are bad. I followed a batch of the setup alongside this YouTube video and puzzled my mode done the rest. You fundamentally acceptable up the pump, usage it to inflate the 6-by-6-foot assemblage of the tub and the floating cover, and past capable the tub up with water. The tarplike apical screen snaps astir the tub with carseat-style clasps that aren't the easiest to unclip with bedewed hands, but that's nitpicky. They enactment fine. My tub filled faster than I thought it would, successful astir 90 minutes, but it took astir 2 days to vigor up, adjacent successful the summertime heat. I tin ideate this would instrumentality overmuch longer successful the brutal Illinois winters.