Philly Plain Dealer

This piece has been drafted since April 25, 2025.

Approaching the intersection of 17th Street and Fitzwater St in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of South Philly there is a seemingly nice apartment complex with the saddest hot tub in Philadelphia. 

I’ve lived in Point Breeze for five years and often find myself walking on 17th Street either to or from Center City, and everytime I get to Fitzwater I notice a solitary hot tub in front of the apartment building dubbed “Artist’s View.”

This hot tub sits in front of the apartment building, perfectly visible to the many passersby on any given night. There are no tables, no chairs, no special lighting, nowhere to put your towel or any frills surrounding the jacuzzi. 

Getting into a hot tub is an intimate experience, usually to relax. Imagine the serene experience of relaxing in a hot tub, jets on your back, then imagine the 17 bus stopping at the corner and the traffic that amasses behind it blasting a variety of genres through their collective speakers.

I have never seen a single person inside this hot tub, nor have I ever seen it without a cover. Small coniferous trees, a fence with 3 inch gaps, and about five feet separates the hot tub from the sidewalk. 

It’s easy to be enamored by the amenities that an apartment building has to offer, but very rarely does a tenant take advantage of the “common room” that was a key feature of the apartment visit. I’m sure that tenants of the “Artist’s View” were psyched at the prospect of having a hot tub at their apartment complex.

But then, reality sinks in. You will be shirtless seven feet from a SEPTA bus, there is nowhere to put your belongings where someone can’t steal them and run away unscathed, and there is no privacy. The property group that owns the Artist’s View thought they could just plop a hot tub in front of their building and trick the public into thinking it was an amenity. In reality they’ve just created the saddest hot tub in Philadelphia.

Would you hop in a hot tub where hundreds of strangers can stop, stare, and bother you? Look at these pictures, does this look like a welcoming or fun time? Would you be proud of this hot tub? 

There are many fine hot tubs around the city, many of which are at apartment buildings. I have no problem with a tub of bubbling hot water, a couple beers, and a bluetooth speaker. However, a poorly placed hot tub is worse than no hot tub. Next time you’re in South Philly, check out the saddest hot tub in Philadelphia.

UPDATE: (4/18/26) I’ve driven past this hot tub dozens of times since then and it looks worse than it does in the above photographs. More construction, never a soul in the tub.