Hot Tubs vs Saunas — And How We Decide What Actually Increases ADR

Hot tubs and saunas both photograph well. Both read as premium on a listing page. Both attract a specific type of guest. But if you're deciding where to put $8,000 to $20,000 of amenity budget on a Nashville short-term rental, the choice between them isn't obvious, and the wrong decision affects your return profile for years. I've underwritten enough Nashville STRs to have a clear view on how these amenities perform, and the answer depends on property type, guest demographic, and market positioning.

Quick Answer: Hot tubs typically outperform saunas in Nashville STR ADR and occupancy lift, particularly for bachelorette, group, and leisure travel segments, which dominate Nashville demand. Saunas perform better in wellness-positioning plays and properties targeting longer-stay or health-conscious guests. The maintenance cost differential is significant and often overlooked in the amenity ROI calculation.

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How Amenity Spending Actually Affects STR Returns

ADR (average daily rate) is the metric most STR investors focus on when they're thinking about amenities. That's partially right. But amenity spending affects returns in three ways, not one: it affects ADR, it affects occupancy, and it affects operating costs. An amenity that raises ADR by $30 but requires $6,000 in annual maintenance and drops your rating when it malfunctions is not a net positive.

The framing I use when evaluating a potential amenity spend is simple. I want to know: what is the realistic ADR lift, what is the occupancy lift if any, what is the annual maintenance cost, and what is the replacement cycle? Then I run a simple payback calculation. If a $10,000 hot tub installation produces a $25 ADR lift on 200 booked nights per year, that's $5,000 in additional annual revenue. If annual maintenance runs $1,500 and the unit needs replacement after 10 years, the payback is clear. If maintenance runs $3,000 and the first major repair hits in year two, the math looks different.

For the Nashville market specifically, demand is heavily weighted toward group travel. Bachelorette weekends, large friend groups, corporate retreats, and family reunions represent a disproportionate share of the short-term rental market, particularly in the $300-$700 ADR range. Understanding how amenities map to that demand profile matters.

Hot Tub Performance in Nashville STRs

Hot tubs are among the highest-performing amenities in the Nashville short-term rental market. The search filter data on Airbnb and VRBO consistently shows that hot tub is one of the most-selected amenity filters, particularly by bachelorette and group travel searchers. Listings with hot tubs appear in a filtered set that competes for a buyer who has already decided they want that feature, which reduces price sensitivity and supports premium pricing.

In Nashville specifically, I've seen properties add a hot tub and achieve a $35-60 ADR lift on comparable booking windows, alongside a 10-15% occupancy improvement from showing up in hot tub filter searches. On a property generating 200 nights per year, that's $7,000 to $12,000 in additional annual revenue at the higher end of that range. Those are conservative numbers at a property that's already performing well. On a property that was losing bookings to competitors with hot tubs, the lift can be larger because it removes a filter that was excluding the property from search results entirely.

Hot tubs also make strong listing photography. A hot tub on a private deck, photographed at dusk with steam rising and the property lighting visible in the background, is one of the most compelling STR listing images available. It communicates private luxury in a single shot.

For buyers looking at Nashville STR properties with strong amenity profiles, our STR advisory page explains how we evaluate these factors during the acquisition process.

Sauna Performance: Who It's For and When It Works

Saunas are a growing amenity category in STRs, driven by the mainstream health and wellness trend. But in the Nashville market, they perform better in certain contexts than others.

The guest segment that values a sauna most highly is the wellness-focused leisure traveler, the remote worker on a workation, or the couple seeking a recovery and relaxation weekend. This is a real and growing market, but it's not Nashville's dominant demand driver. Nashville's dominant demand is group entertainment, and a group of eight people on a bachelorette weekend will use a hot tub for four hours and likely never turn on a sauna.

Saunas perform best on properties that can authentically position around wellness: a lake-adjacent property, a rural retreat, a property with proximity to hiking or biking, or a property targeting the corporate or couple retreat market. If your property is in East Nashville or The Nations and your comp set is competing for bachelorette bookings, a sauna is probably not the highest-return amenity investment.

That said, saunas installed in the right property can distinguish a listing in a market that has become homogenized around the hot tub filter. If every comparable property in a given submarket has a hot tub but few have saunas, a sauna becomes a differentiator rather than a catch-up investment. The positioning matters.

Installation costs for indoor barrel saunas or infrared units run $3,000 to $8,000 at the lower end, with custom outdoor builds going higher. The operational cost is much lower than a hot tub: no chemicals, no water management, essentially just electricity and the occasional heating element replacement. That's a meaningful operational cost advantage.

The Maintenance Cost Reality

This is where hot tub enthusiasm usually needs tempering. Hot tubs are mechanically complex. They require weekly water chemistry management, filter changes, pump maintenance, and regular deep cleaning between guests. If you're self-managing, this is time you're personally spending. If you're using a cleaning and maintenance service, this is cost.

A well-maintained hot tub for an STR typically costs $1,200 to $2,500 per year in supplies, service, and maintenance, depending on the unit and usage volume. A high-occupancy property with frequent guest turnover can run higher. Add the cost of emergency repairs, which happen, and the ten-year replacement cycle on most hot tub units, and the total cost of ownership is meaningful.

Guest incidents are also a risk factor. Guests who don't follow care instructions, who bring drinks and food into the tub, or who use it irresponsibly drive up your maintenance costs and can damage the unit. Guest incidents in hot tubs are also a liability consideration that your STR insurance policy needs to address explicitly.

Saunas, by comparison, are low-maintenance. There are no chemicals, no water, and few mechanical failure points. The primary maintenance cost is electricity. A sauna that has a heating element fail is a $200-400 repair. A hot tub with a pump failure is $600-1,500.

For investors running a detailed STR model that includes amenity costs, our Nashville STR underwriting calculator is a useful tool for building maintenance line items into your projections.

What Other Amenities Move the Needle More

Hot tubs and saunas get a lot of attention, but I want to be honest about the full amenity hierarchy in Nashville STRs, because there are several categories that generate better ROI and are often deprioritized in favor of flashier amenities.

A game room with a pool table, arcade games, or a shuffleboard table is a high-return amenity in the Nashville market. Group travelers actively search for STRs with game rooms, and a property with a dedicated game space commands a meaningful premium over a comparable property without one.

Outdoor entertaining space, specifically a covered outdoor kitchen or dining area with a fire pit and quality outdoor furniture, photographs extremely well and has almost no ongoing maintenance cost compared to a hot tub. In the Nashville market, where spring and fall weather is genuinely pleasant, outdoor entertaining space is a significant draw.

Theater rooms or movie setups, again targeting the group travel market. A projector setup with surround sound and a sectional couch is a $3,000-5,000 investment that photographs well, requires almost no maintenance, and adds perceived luxury.

High-speed internet is consistently one of the most reviewed amenities on STR platforms and one of the most underinvested. A $50/month gigabit fiber connection is invisible in photos but shows up in reviews, in search filter performance (WiFi is a frequently-applied filter), and in booking quality among remote workers.

How We Evaluate Amenity ROI Before Recommending

When a buyer asks whether to add a hot tub or a sauna to a prospective Nashville STR, my answer starts with questions. Who are you targeting? What is your current comp set doing? What is your ADR objective? What is your operational model?

Then I look at the comp set on Airbnb in that submarket, filtered for properties with similar bedroom count and price range. How many have hot tubs? How are those listings performing relative to those without? What does the listing description say about the amenity? Are reviews mentioning it positively?

I also look at the amenity filter performance on Airbnb's search tools. If the hot tub filter in a given Nashville neighborhood returns 40 listings and you're one of 45 comparable listings that doesn't have one, you're losing a portion of that search traffic every time. That's not an opinion. It's a filter exclusion.

For buyers purchasing an existing Nashville STR or evaluating a property to convert, this amenity analysis is part of the acquisition conversation. Understanding how the property is positioned relative to its comp set, and where targeted capex can improve that position, is part of how we underwrite the deal. You can learn more about how we structure that process on our STR advisory page or see how Jack approaches STR buyer representation on our buying page.

FAQ

Is a hot tub worth it on a Nashville STR under 3 bedrooms?

It depends on your ADR target and comp set. For a 1-2 bedroom property targeting couples or small groups, a hot tub can absolutely drive ADR and occupancy. But the space requirement and maintenance cost are the same regardless of property size. Run the math: if your ADR lift is $25 and you project 150 booked nights, that's $3,750 in additional annual revenue against $1,500+ in maintenance costs. The return is thinner than on a higher-ADR property.

Do guests misuse hot tubs often?

Yes, with enough frequency that it should factor into your risk model. The most common issues are guests bringing glass containers into the tub, using it beyond posted hours (which creates noise complaint risk), and not showering before use. Clear house rules, posted signage, and smart locks that allow noise monitoring help manage this.

Can I add a sauna to an existing STR without major construction?

Barrel saunas and infrared units can be installed outdoors or in existing garage/basement space with minimal construction. A standard 2-person indoor infrared sauna needs only a 110V outlet and a level floor. A 4-6 person traditional sauna may need a 240V circuit. Most Nashville STR properties can accommodate an add-on sauna without major renovation.

How do I price a STR listing after adding a hot tub?

Adjust your base rate upward, test demand at the new rate, and compare booking pace to the prior period. Dynamic pricing tools like PriceLabs and Wheelhouse can help you calibrate. The goal is to capture the ADR lift on nights that would have booked anyway and to open up the filter-based bookings that were previously excluded.

Does a hot tub affect STR insurance rates?

It can. Hot tubs are a liability feature and some STR insurance policies require disclosure. CBIZ, Proper Insurance, and similar STR-specific insurers handle hot tub coverage, but premium adjustments vary. Disclose the hot tub and confirm coverage terms before installation.