Arebos Self-inflating Hot Tub

Is the Arebos Self-inflating Hot Tub worth buying?

Yes, the Arebos Self-inflating Hot Tub is worth buying at £379.99 if six bathers and a wide circle matter more to you than the cheapest water on the market. It carries 1,000 litres, 130 air jets and a 2.08 m footprint, and the LED strip, insulated thermal cover and floor mat all arrive with it.

The trade is the price per litre: you pay 38p for each of those litres, where the Nordivale asks 25p for the same 1,000 litres in the same size shell, £128.20 less. The Santorini makes sense for a household that wants the Arebos LED lighting and the round six-seat layout and is willing to fund it.

How much water does the Arebos Self-inflating Hot Tub give you for the money?

Divide £379.99 by 1,000 litres and you land on 38p a litre. That is the number to hold against the Nordivale at 25p and the Dellonda at 36p for a bigger 1,200 litres, so the Santorini is mid-priced water rather than a bargain.

The 130 air jets spread across six seats work out at roughly 22 jets per bather, and the round shape is what makes that comfortable: 2.08 m across gives each person shoulder room that a 1.85 m square cannot. The water is adjustable anywhere between 20 °C and 40 °C, so a cool afternoon soak is a setting rather than a compromise.

What comes in the box and what is it like to live with?

The box holds the spa itself plus an LED light strip with its own remote, an insulated thermal cover, a floor mat, a filter pump, one filter cartridge and a repair kit, so nothing essential has to be bought the same week. It arrives with no assembly required, and the frame holds its shape from the first inflation.

Empty it weighs 26 kg, light enough for one person to shift across a patio on their own, and the wall stands 65 cm high, which is comfortable to step over. Once it is full, expect about a tonne of water on the spot you chose, running from a standard 240 V socket. The pump draws 2400 W in total, 1800 W for the heater and 600 W for the blower that drives the bubbles, and the two can run together.

Where does the Arebos Santorini fall short?

The owner base is thin. Only 32 buyers have rated it, and they give it 3.7, the softest score of the ten tubs ranked on this site. That does not make it a bad spa, but you are buying closer to the front of its life than you would be with a model carrying a thousand reviews.

At 38p a litre it is beaten on value by its own shell: the Nordivale delivers the identical 1,000 litres, 130 jets and 208 cm circle for £128.20 less. The size is the other cost. A 2.08 m circle needs roughly 2.3 m of clearance before anyone can walk round it, and once the tonne of water is in, moving it again means draining it first.

How does the Arebos Self-inflating Hot Tub compare with the Nordivale and the Dellonda?

The Nordivale is the direct rival: same 208 cm shell, same 1,000 litres, same 130 jets, £251.79 against £379.99. That £128.20 gap is the whole story, and it works out at 25p a litre against 38p. Buy the Nordivale if the water and the shell are all you want; buy the Santorini if the Arebos LED lighting and the anthracite finish are worth the extra to you.

The Dellonda is the step up, not the alternative: £434.98, so £54.99 more, for 1,200 litres and 140 jets around a 160 cm inner circle. That is 200 litres more room, and it holds six adults without knees touching while the Santorini seats six more snugly. Choose the Dellonda if your evenings usually run to a full house, and the Santorini if four to six bathers is the realistic number.