Assuming that you have an outdoor, rather than an indoor hot tub there are four main options when it comes to creating some shade and shelter.

  1. A permanent gazebo structure – This can look great and will be a valuable addition to both your hot tub experience and to your property as well. Most permanent structures are built from wood, usually to match decking or other landscaping. You can have a bespoke designed gazebo or there are also a large number of kits available. You essentially buy them as you would a garden shed or other garden structure and they are designed for self-assembly.
  2. A tent canopy or temporary gazebo – These are considerably less expensive than permanent structures and can easily be taken down and used elsewhere when not needed over the hot tub.
  3. Side Umbrellas – These offer a stylish solution if you have space at the side of the hot tub for the base and if you erect them in a relatively sheltered spot. Umbrellas are also a really versatile solution, they are easily moved and adjusted and very quickly put up or down.
  4. Shade Sails – A good budget solution. Shade sails rely on having several places available to tie them too and they are relatively cumbersome to remove and adjust once up. However, they do look quite cool in the right context and can offer a good level of shelter.

Tent Canopies and Temporary Gazebos

So, these are a great option if you don’t want the hassle of buying and erecting a permanent structure. They can be taken down, moved around and used for other activities as well as screening your hot tub. If you want a canopy/gazeebo for occasional use then my top recommendation is the Coleman Instant Screenhouse. This is absolutely perfect if you want shade from the sun and bugs as well as the odd shower of rain. It’s available in three sizes and you can put it up in around three minutes flat! Bear in mind however that it isn’t designed to be up all year round and it’s not going to be particularly storm proof but it’s a flexible and appealing solution.

If you want something altogether more sturdy that you can leave up for longer in a wider variety of weather then I would highly recommend the Sunjoy Summer Breeze Gazeebo. This is made with a sturdy powder-coated steel frame and is altogether a stronger and more stable canopy than the one above. It takes two people a short amount of time to put together so still has the capability of being moved however it’s not really designed to be portable in the way that the Coleman Screenhouse above is.

Side Umbrellas

I love these as I think they just look stylish and they are really versatile. You can also just erect them in moments and they are more easily instantly moved than having a gazebo or canopy. If you are thinking of having a side umbrella you need to make sure that you have enough room by the side of your hot tub to place the stand or to fix it into the ground or onto your deck.

The main things to look for are the overall size and the quality of the cantilever opening and closing mechanism. You can almost guarantee that the first thing to fail on an inferior product will be the opening and closing mechanism which instantly makes the whole umbrella useless and unusable. My top recommendation is this Le Papillon Side Umbrella. It rotates through a full 360 degrees, comes in 7 different colors and is made from sturdy powder coated steel. Please note that you need to purchase the weights for the base of this umbrella separately.

Shade Sails

If you fancy a slightly more economical solution then a shade sail might be just what you are looking for! This one, the Love Story UV Block Sun Shade Sail comes in 3 different sizes and five different colors. There’s even a comprehensive fixing kit available as well. The only slight issue with shade sails is that you will need to locate fixing points for each corner. These might be on the house, a fence or post or similar. Bear in mind that they can be at varying distances apart as you will suspend the sail on ropes and that they will need to be at different heights so that you create a slight slope for water runoff.