Water that belongs to your room alone
A private pool changes the shape of a day more than any other single feature. There is no walk to the main pool, no question of loungers, no swimwear in the lift. You swim before breakfast in your own water and again after dinner without seeing another guest. The trouble is that the phrase covers a great deal, from a heated twelve metre lap pool to a plunge tub the size of a bathtub.
A real private pool is fully enclosed to your villa or suite, cannot be overlooked from paths or neighbouring terraces, and is cleaned daily. The marketing version is a shared pool that happens to be near your door, or a cold splash pool listed as private because it has a fence. Before booking, ask for the length in metres, whether it is heated and to what temperature, and whether any other room can see it. A floor plan tells you more than a photograph.
Private pool: hotels with this advantage
No hotel carries all of these keys. Remove one and try again.
Questions readers ask
How big is a private pool usually?
Anything from three metres to a proper lap pool. We list the length where the hotel gives it. As a rule, under four metres is for cooling off, six metres and more lets you swim a few strokes, and only pools from ten metres are for exercise.
Is the water heated?
Often not, and it matters more than most guests expect. Unheated pools in the Mediterranean are pleasant from June to September and cold outside those months. Ask for the target temperature in writing if you travel in spring or autumn.
Are private pools safe for small children?
Only with precautions. Ask whether the pool can be covered or fenced, how deep it is at the shallow end, and whether the villa doors to the terrace can be locked. Some hotels keep child gates on request, and the good ones offer them before you ask.
The insider letter
New houses, verified advantages and the room to ask for. No tracking, unsubscribe any time.