USA TODAY TRAVEL: HOTEL POOLS

This piece sums up a lot of what I feel about hotel swimming pools.

Don’t get me wrong, just about all pools are great. For me, backyard pools conjure up images of BBQs and wild splashes, parties and family and birthday parties, Little Leagues seasons done, graduations combined with Father’s Day, post-beach sand removal. Public pools are hit or miss—some more like a giant vat of people soup on a hot summer day than a municipal celebration of heat-quenching fun.

There’s an indoor public pool not far from my work, Junior Olympic size and always the perfect temperature, no matter what the season. When I swim for 40 minutes on my lunch break, goggles on, earplugs inserted, the rhythmic strokes echoing in my brain, the blue, blue water and painted lines on the bottom of the pool are utterly transforming. It’s like I’ve been to the moon and back when I get to my desk, refereshed and clear headed.

But only hotel pools offer that perfect mix of luxury and relaxation—of utter indulgent delight, in the anonymity of a place where the only people who know your name are either the people you came with, or the people who are there to make sure your visit is as comfortable as can be. No one but you really cares what your bathing suit looks like, whether your cover-up is appropriately stylish or is just a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt. When it’s time to leave, there’s no showering or changing in a stall, no cleaning up or remembering to put your towels in the dryer.

Hotel swimming pools are all about relaxation and pure joy.  Chris Gray Faust of Chris Around The World says:

“…a true treat for me is the gift of time, preferably spent by a beautiful hotel pool. I love lying on a lounge chair, a pile of trashy gossip and fashion magazines stacked next to me. Add an umbrella for shade, a diet coke or a fruity drink served by a smiling attendant, a gorgeous crowd for people watching – and I’m one happy camper. (While many people think this is all that travel writers do, I’m here to tell you that my free time is so limited that spending an hour doing nothing at the pool can be a slice of heaven).”

Word.