Dive in – our best places with pools
Sawday's Expert
5 min read
Nothing says summer like waiting until your body is baking from the sun before you slide into the pool. Maybe put in a couple of lazy lengths to let the water refresh you, then hop back out to find a drink and sip slowly as you drip dry. These are some of our favourite places to plunge and unwind, from a chic city lido to infinity pools in the hills of Italy and a stunning spa overlooking Madeira’s warm seas.
Elsker, Worcestershire, UK
If your summers are all about parties, then why not make this year a really big one. Elsker, a lavish mansion that sleeps 16, has everything you could want to blow the minds of your guests and mark a special occasion in style. The kitchen and lounge are huge, open-plan spaces and you can fold the doors back to let the fun flow out into the garden or onto the covered sun terrace. There’s a library, a games room and, of course, the pool, which has its own Drink Den, a little bar room just behind the recliners, so you never have to go far to refresh your glass.
Villa Nina, Brindisi, Italy
Owners Nina and Nicola have brought a little modern style and cheeky fun to this neo-classical Italian villa. Statuary and chandeliers mix with art deco posters on a base of cool, clean lines and pale tones. The pool area is cinematic and eye catching, with flowing white curtains surrounding the covered seating and an incredible sweep of Puglian countryside laid out below. If you can tear yourself away, it’s only 20 minutes to the world-famous UNESCO site of Alberobello with its limestone conical buildings, or 30 minutes to the white-washed City of Ostuni, with views of the endless olive trees in the Valle d’Itria.
Paço da Glória, northern Portugal
While Porto has taken over from Lisbon as the place to go in Portugal, most people still leave much of the country unexplored, so let Paço da Glória tempt you out of the big cities and into the wild north. The 18th-century house has seen a careful renovation, leaving the façade untouched but gently modernising the interior. You’re 25 minutes from some beautiful beaches and on the edge of the Parque Nacional Peneda-Gerês, a huge natural park, with mountains, trails and waterfalls, but this is a place for gathering friends, disappearing into the countryside and savouring the peace. There’s a heated indoor pool that’s great if the weather turns, but swimming in the saltwater pool out front then wandering up to the house for lunch is a magical experience.
Lido Townhouse, Bristol, UK
The Bristol Lido first opened its doors in 1850 and welcomed bathers for almost a century and a half. It changed hands many times, nobody quite sure what to do with it, until closing in 1990, with redevelopment into flats looming large in its future. Thankfully, it was saved, renovated and transformed into the stunning spa, restaurant and pool that it has now become. Guests at The Townhouse can use the pool all day for a hugely discounted rate, interspersing dips with breakfast at the poolside café, treatments in the upstairs rooms and dinner in the superb restaurant. From the Lido’s location, it’s a stroll to the iconic suspension bridge and an easy wander down to the waterfront, our very own HQ, and the SS Great Britain, moored on the harbourside. Just make sure you save some energy for the climb back up the hill!
Maison°9, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
On France’s south coast, between Marseilles and Toulon, lies the town of Cassis and The Parc national des Calanques. The former is a beautiful example of a traditional fishing village, with coloured houses lining the harbour; the latter is a protected area where craggy headlands hide narrow coves and boat trips offer you the option of stopping for a wild swim. Sitting a short walk out of town, between them both and surrounded by the neat fields of vineyards, is Maison°9. In this welcoming B&B, you’ll be superbly looked after, with breakfast served on the terrace overlooking the verdant garden and every care taken to ensure your comfort and total relaxation. Whatever you get up to during the day, you can come back to the pool in the evening, perhaps for a pre-dinner swim with the scents of herbs and fruit trees floating over the water.
Estalagem da Ponta do Sol, Madeira, Portugal
On Madeira, there are a lot of hotels that tap into the rustic, traditional style that was common when the island was the hub of the sugar trade. Then there’s Estalagem da Ponta do Sol, which feels like living in a design magazine stapled to the side of a cliff. Minimalist lines, open-plan and split-level interiors, wooden flooring, lots of glass and modern art on the walls all contribute to the sense of a vision exactingly executed. The bedroom block is accessed by a cool footbridge and the rooms are sharply decorated in blacks, whites and greys, with huge beds, huge mirrors, designer chairs and cathedral windows to balconies with views to die for. The pool would be a footnote if it wasn’t so stunningly positioned, with the sea stretching out seamlessly for miles from the edge.
Hotel Iturregi, Basque, Spain
This fabulous, eight-room hotel is perfectly placed to offer you everything you could want from a vist to Basque country. It’s location is rural enough that you could spend a few days simply popping down from the hills to the seaside town of Getaria, but half an hour’s drive will take you to San Sebastian, one of Spain’s culinary centres and even Bilbao is only an hour away. You can sail, surf, fish, hike for miles, or visit Michelin-starred restaurants (Getaria alone has two) and discover great pintxos in a host of local eateries. At the hotel, where you’ll feel instantly at home, book yourself the magnificent loft suite for the real treat of the views from the balcony and drift in the pool by the old stone wall as you decide which spectacular option to take for dinner.
Filodivino Wine Resort & Spa, Marche, Italy
The joy of the pool at Filodivino isn’t the liquid it’s full of, but the liquid that’s produced around it. This is Morro D’Alba country and the wine resort on Italy’s east coast is run on completely organic principles, eschewing pesticides and chemicals to create a superb range. Tastings are lavish affairs, held in the winery designed by Cristiana Dell’Acqua, who won the prestigious InArchitettura Award in 2023 for the project. When you’re not sampling wine, you can visit Spiaggia Mezzavalle, a stunning beach accessed only by boat or an incredibly steep path, or head into Jesi, where the centre is still surrounded by walls built in the 1300s over Roman ruins and two Palazzi, della Signoria and Pianetti stand proudly above narrow streets.
Hotel Nabia, Ávila, Spain
The steep, sandy drive up to this hotel on the treeline of Almanzor, the highest peak in the Gredos Mountains, makes the views from the pool all the more rewarding. Nabia is a truly wild place, where sheep roam the grounds and trails lead off in every direction. You can take birdwatching tours with a local ornithologist, paddle in rocky creeks or hire bikes and zip around the hillsides. The hotel is run to exacting ecological standards but lacks nothing for comfort and the saltwater infinity pool in the shade of an oak copse is the perfect sutainable indulgence.
L’Esprit du 8, Charente-Maritime, France
Owners Pascal & Sandrine have renovated and decorated this 1830s townhouse in Rochefort with eclectic but exquisite taste, mixing eras and styles into an innovative, elegant blend. When it comes to exploring, you could go straight from your door to tour the city’s art and history, take a delicious trip to Cognac, or take to the water on a 2-hour cruise down the Charente or an unforgettable day on the island of Aix. The boat leaves a few steps from L’Esprit du 8. With the coast in easy reach and so many great river trips and islands on offer, a swim in the pool before or breakfast or dinner makes a fittingly aquatic bookend to your days.
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Christopher Wilson-Elmes
Sawday's Expert
Chris is our in-house copywriter, with a flair for turning rough notes and travel tales into enticing articles. Raised in a tiny Wiltshire village, he was desperate to travel and has backpacked all over the world. Closer to home, he finds himself happiest in the most remote and rural places he can find, preferably with a host of animals to speak to, some waves to be smashed about in and the promise of a good pint somewhere in his future.
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