Hello, everyone! First-time hot tub owner and first time posting. We just placed our order for a Marquis 750 this past weekend and are looking forward to delivery/installation in 3-4 weeks. My wife and I are super excited about making our cold Chicagoland winters more bearable with the addition of a hot tub on our back deck. With the tub ordered, we are now looking at accessories to try and make the experience as pleasant as possible.
Our deck has two sections: one main rectangular section that has all our furniture and a gazebo on it, and an octagonal section off to the side. The octagonal section is where we are going to install the new hot tub. We've always had a gazebo on the rectangular section, but it's always a pain to take it down in the fall and put it back up in the spring every year. So, this fall we are switching over to a new hardtop gazebo that can withstand 2,000lbs of snow and can be left up year round. After we get our hot tub installed, the gazebo area is where we will disrobe/towel off before and after our hot tub sessions. We are trying to come up with ideas to keep our robes and towels nice and warm while we are in the hot tub so we don't get that ice-cold shock of putting on frozen robes after getting out of the tub.
What do others do during the cold weather? I'm looking at patio heaters to help keep the area immediately next to the robe/towel hooks warm. I'd prefer heaters that can be mounted/suspended from the gazebo so that children and/or pets are not likely to accidentally touch them. Are there such things as towel/robe heater closets? Some type of enclosure we can put everything in that will keep it all warm? Would that be better than a patio heater?
Any suggestions, recommendations, or advice anyone would be willing to offer would be greatly appreciated for us first-timers! Thanks!