Is having a pool and nice weather overhyped?

[Keithlemondrop]

I have really got completely obsessed with the idea of moving somewhere with sunny weather and where pools are the norm. There is NOTHING i love more than lazing around a pool on holiday, barbecuing and socialising with friends/family.

The world is really our oyster as both dh and I have very in demand jobs. And our kids are young. I sit in my bikini in my garden on a warm day but it’s just not the same. I know you cant out run your problems but a pretty garden and pool wouldnt hurt is my view.

Have I just overhyped this in my head? It just seems a wonderful lifestyle. Putting on a sundress on a Saturday morning and then going to do a big bbq food shop, followed by a day lounging by the pool seems like HEAVEN. Or is it just a bit of a novelty to me.

Do you live somewhere like this? What is your experience?

I'm sure the people sat next to.you wouldn't think so.

New England is cold, cold, cold in winter. If you want a pool lifestyle, the East Coast is not the answer. They all go to Florida in the winter.

Plenty of people in countries with four seasons have pools, it's not either/or.

It's not overhyped! Who wouldn't want that

We had a pool when I was a teen/young adult living at home. I often used to walk home from work at lunchtime and have a quick dip before going back to work - it was wonderful on a hot day.

Like a PP live in Singapore so the condo has a pool so no maintenance hassle - tbh we don’t use it as much as you’d think as day-to-day life carries on with DC

I do like the warm weather - it can get hot and humid but for me much nicer than cold

It's hot hear in Australia and I've never had a pool but then I don't like swimming much 😊 I suppose as the saying goes the grass is always greener on the other side 🙂

I always wanted a pool, but living in Ireland and the UK it was a bit of a pipe dream, and not that much use in the climate. I moved to Oz and when house hunting I really wanted a pool, my husband wasn't so keen (as we live very near the beach). Anyway, we got a pool! We both absolutely love it! It isn't heated so we only use it six months a year, but we are getting a heater fitted to extend that to nine months. It is such a joy and a luxury, although it has ruined hotel pools for me. My husband even enjoys cleaning it! It's a saltwater pool so not expensive to run at all, and even in winter I love to look at it, it gives me a kick every time.

We have four season still also. Hot summers, snowy winters.
I would prefer a winter hot tub outside than a summer pool tbh.

You should think about Western Australia, flights back to UK not that bad, direct 16 to 17 hours, stop over about 20 (and will keep getting quicker). Perfect sunny weather for 6 months, I would say like it feels like a proper winter due to the change in temps, definitely need winter coats and boots, but short and enough occasional lovely days to make you remember summer won't be too far away.

I had a pool for 10 years, loved it, ours was big and we had solar so wasn't too hard to maintain or heat. I now live walking to beach which is even better! Never regretted moving here and weekends still feel like holidays when the sun's out.

Hey snap, I'm also in WA! 😁Best move I ever made, although I still hate winter here even when daytime winter temps are about 18 degrees. I have been here too long and fear I have gone soft. I will never do a UK winter again thank god!

Haven't had a pool but I did once live very near a lovely and very aspirational beach in a hot country. It wasn't over hyped. We loved nipping down to the beach regularly and easily.

The downside to it was having to work in super hot temperatures. That was very hard and actually made me ill at times. It's one thing to lounge around in the heat and dip in the water to cool off but totally another to have to function at a high level when it's too hot to move. So from a work/life balance thing, it slightly tipped into unmanageable for me.

I had a South African boyfriend and spent the summer there, it was as the poster describes, really lovely. But I found it so hard to cope with the divide between the white community and black community, it was still really apparent. Having grown up in London it felt really off.

I’m Australian and have had many home pools. They are lovely to have when the temperature is over, say, 34c (for me). I also prefer warmer pool water, so I only swim when the water has warmed up. We do have a solar blanket for the pool, but that only helps in summer. Pools are also wonderful for parties and BBQs.

However, they need to be cleaned and maintained - year-round. They have expensive equipment that often breaks due to being out in the sun and being exposed to harsh chemicals, such as pumps and filters. Much of the time, you could just be looking at a an extremely expensive water feature.

As its water, other creatures like it too, such as ducks, spiders and snakes.

As you have children, you’ll need to watch them around the pool. My own son nearly drowned in our pool as a 2 year old after I looked away for a moment, and I also had to drag an elderly neighbour out of her pool after she fell in and try and resuscitate her. Most children here attend regular swimming lessons.

It sounds amazing to me if you have some sort of fabulous garden set up with decent seating and a cooking area. We have a pretty decent garden that has a huge lawn and a hot tub area with lighting running down the side. On a hot day it defiantly gives off some holiday vibes, mainly at the weekends though.

That said I don’t think there is anything relaxing about a pool with young children who need constant supervision.

I used to live in a hot country and had a pool... It took a massive amount of maintenance to keep it looking good and I had nightmares about the children drowning so we installed a net, making a quick swim a major activity. I think a pool is grossly over rated... you cannot leave it unattended and only a very irresponsible host would drink alcohol whilst guests are swimming... Somebody has to be alert at all times due to potential accidents and the need to manage an emergency situation

Ha ha, I am also so soft now, anything under 25 degrees feels chilly. Booking Bali to break up the whole 2 months of actual winter we get!

I think the outlook for the UK is warmer and wetter.

Ha me too! We are total Perth clichés!

I have a question about people talking about safety issues. Don't you have a pool fence? We can't even put up a paddling pool without one, if the water is more than 30cm deep you need a permanent fence. The pool is inspected every few years to make sure all fences etc. are compliant. I think paddling pools and fish ponds are probably more dangerous as they aren't fenced/alarmed etc.

Anyone can buy a paddling pool from the shops and put it up in there garden in the UK, there is no policing it as far as I know or know anyone who has been told to put a fence up around it. We had a really big pool over lockdown and I was super strict with my son.

We live in the algarve and have a pool. I use it every day as we have a walk-in pool cover, which can be opened up really easily as the weather warms up. We also do our own maintenance, which is fairly straightforward

It does get cold here in winter, but only really Dec-Feb

It’s a lot of work and expense to maintain a pool.

Why don’t you rent a villa somewhere warm for three months and see how you like the lifestyle?

I think an indoor pool in the UK is the way to go.

A long thin pool running down one side of the garden.

Doors that open on to a nice sun terrace, fenced from the garden.

A proper building with a shower, loo and changing rooms. Solar panels on the roof.

You could have a door with a high-level handle to reduce the risk of a child getting in.

I have given this a bit of thought and even tried to persuade my best friend to build this in her garden!

I come from a hot country - I find pools a pain (cleaning, draining, rebalancing chemicals), and people with a pool seem to get bored of it and not use it as frequently once they're used to it.

I do love socialising outdoors, BBQ etc - but temperatures are rising and standing outside all day in 40+ degrees is not actually that pleasant imho

I’m on a lounger, under an umbrella, by my pool at the moment. I just did the daily mai tenance and chemicals - a few minutes (we have a robot vacuum). On days like today it really comes into its own. There are very few summers when we haven’t had good use of it.

am in Home Counties

NB: we fenced ours.