Pools in which we will bathe
This summer there will be swimming pools . There was a time when we thought we couldn't sit on a curb with our feet in the water and, at that moment we became even sadder. The idea of a summer without swimming pools was unprecedented in recent history ; Never before have a few liters of water concentrated so much hope. Everyone knows (and this is scientific evidence) that it is impossible to be sad in a pool.
But there will be pools and these are some of the ones that will be open this summer; many will wait until september . This is not an encyclopedic review (more would be needed), but a walk through some pools in which we can bathe . They belong to hotels, resorts or lodgings and they are in Spain; there will be time to think about more distant pools.
According to the CSIC, "the spread of the virus is unlikely on beaches and swimming pools" , but it will be essential to control the crowds and objects of common use that are a contagion mechanism. Hotel pools will follow strict capacity control protocols , distance between sun loungers, cleanliness and furniture disinfection , and physical and chemical purification in the water. This is cumbersome but once we're underwater, everything will be light and joyful; as usual.
These pools are there, waiting for us, horizontal and nervous.
We start this journey through Andalusia . There are many beach, city and country pools . If we have learned anything this time, it is that you have to hurry to fulfill your dreams. For this reason, if we have always wanted to stay in one of those great hotels with plenty of mythology, now is the time to do so. The Alfonso XIII (A Luxury Collection Hotel) of Seville opens the 2 july and with him your pool in which will reduce the capacity by half to guarantee the safety distance. Whoever seeks tranquility will have a lot . At times, this pool is reminiscent of the Chateau Marmont because, paradoxically, this Sevillian hotel could be in Hollywood. City hotels with swimming pools can be a good relief and lend themselves to short breaks.
The NH Collection Amistad, in Córdoba, opens this month and has a strict protocol for the control of people and accessories such as towels . In addition, it increases the water filtering period and the measurement frequency of physical and chemical parameters to guarantee its condition.
With a look that takes us to the Chateau Marmont
who wants beach , you are in the right community: in Andalusia they know a lot about that . If these months we have proposed to invest locally, here we have an opportunity. The Andalusian chain Fuerte Group Hotels opens its hotels on July 3, Fuerte Marbella (Málaga), Fuerte Conil-Resort (Cádiz), Fuerte El Rompido (Huelva) and Fuerte Grazalema (Cádiz). They all have transparent pools . In addition, like so many other hotel labels, it has reinforced the flexibility of your reservation policy.
Iberostar , another Spanish label, opens this month its hotel in Sancti Petri, in Cadiz , the Iberostar Selection Andalusia Beach . All these accommodations are facing the sea, so they bring together the best of both worlds; they are perfect for people eager for small pleasures , which this year is almost all of us.
Iberostar Selection Andalusia Beach
All pools have something, but some have a capitalized Something . That happens with the Donaira , a eco retreat, organic farm and equestrian center which is located in the Sierra de Ronda. yours is one natural pool fed by spring water and that it has a filtering circuit that waters the medicinal garden; in this pool, cleaning the pool is somewhat unique and that no pesticides or additives are used in it . In La Donaira everything is part of a larger plan, in which each floor, every bee, every piece of furniture, every horse and every tree exists for something and for a common good . This project reinforces something we have learned this year: the importance of living in community and taking care of what surrounds us.
The Donaira pool is, in a word, special
A winning option in this strange summer will be rental of entire houses or independent apartments . There is an interesting pool in Sierra de Huelva , a place that we do not want to write in bold for fear that it will be filled. It is in the Finca Buenvino, it is salt water, it is in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by charm on all sides. On the outskirts of Seville, in Espartinas, is Hacienda el Loreto , a house of 50's four-bedroom apartment for rent in its entirety. The Californian air that it has is not a mirage: its owner lived there for a long time and wanted to reproduce the modernist architecture of the area in her house. The pool is in a garden of 8000 m2 and it is easy to feel like a star of the metro in it.
With Californian airs... but Andalusian blood
Since we are in Andalusia let's look for farmhouses , those constructions that are so authentic and always more valued outside than inside. Sleeping in one not only means being on vacation, but seeking a connection with the local culture, something that we have promised ourselves to do in these months of reflection. The Cortijo Montano, in Begíjar , Jaén is a good example of this type of trip. It has capacity for thirteen people and brings together the security that we will seek this summer, with keys such as contactless check-in. This is important, but it will also be important to be able to take a bath surrounded by olive trees. The Cortijo El Aguilón, in Tarifa , offers, from July 10, intimacy and swimming pool in orchard of orange trees . It has four houses with separate private terraces around the farmhouse is a ten minute drive from the beach. Long live the farmhouse with pool.
Privacy in Tarifa. And orange trees.
Let's leave Andalusia and now travel through the rest of Spain, interspersing beach, countryside and city. let's buckle up . Not all the popular urban hotels with swimming pools will open (the Four Seasons in Madrid waits until September and many in Barcelona, too), but those that are will be highly desired. The Aloft Madrid Gran Via Yes will be available in july with open terrace and pools . In the province of Madrid is The Box Art Tower ; This hotel in the mountains will open from this week, swimming pool included. Until June 30, it will only do it on the weekend and from July he hopes to open the hotel every day and the restaurant from Tuesday to Sunday. The space of the sun lounger area has been expanded and all guests (14 people in seven rooms) can enjoy the pool. It is an excellent option so that those of us who live in Madrid can feel like we are on vacation in a while: it is only 45 minutes from Gran Vía.
45 minutes from Gran Vía
in La Vera , that coveted place, there will be swimming pools this summer. The Cantaelgallo Cowshed will open in July with its private and beautiful pools . In Toledo is Valdepalacios , one of the great inland hotels in Spain, which will be open from June 26. It is a hotel with a lot of space and a lot of privacy , perfect for these times; in it meals, breakfasts and dinners are held outdoors or in the room and it has individual entrance to its rooms.
One of the great inland hotels in Spain
Traveling north we find the pools of the thermal village of Mondariz Spa, in Pontevedra , which is already open. From there they affirm that the existing regulations and that it is "quite extensive but relatively simple to comply with". This place has a healing air that is not at odds with what is safe or vacation . We all need this year to take care of us.
In the Basque Country there are also swimming pools . the of Etxelaia , which opens from June 19, is splendid: it belongs to a house with capacity for 18 people that is rented out entirely. It's in Urdaibai, one of the most beautiful places in Spain . It is difficult to talk about hotel pools in Spain without mentioning the chlorophyllic debauchery that is the Asia Garden's Hotel Thai & Spa . Its eight pools and its Thai packaging offer, this year more than ever, escape by the liter.
Healing airs in Pontevedra
This summer of 2020 comes with something new and this is exciting because it is a sign that there is energy . On June 26 opens Mas de Torrent, a new Mas de Torrent . This mythical hotel in Empordà is reborn after months of renovations that have updated not only its facilities, but also its decoration (from Pilar Garcia-Nieto ) and equipment. He does it hand in hand Unique Hotels , who has directed projects as unique as Finca Serena in Mallorca, The Principal Madrid and the Hotel Único in Madrid or the Grand Hotel Central in Barcelona.
Mas de Torrent retains the charm it always had, to which is added a new air and an even higher service. Pau Guardans, president of Único and who knows everything about hotels, sums it up like this. “ We received a magnificent legacy and we are very excited to be able to project this benchmark of good taste into the future”. The Mas de Torrent pool is huge and it has balsamic views and some of its suites have a private pool . It is one of the openings of a year in which we will see few.
balsamic views
We leave the peninsula and go to the islands . If an island always has a varnish of exoticism and vacation, this summer, even more so. The Balearic and Canary Islands are full of desirable pools. As our intention is not the exhaustive enumeration but the dream, we will highlight just a few among the many that will open this summer.
By allusions, We start in the Balearic Islands , in Finca Serena, located in Mallorca . This inland hotel opened last year (we still consider it new) and will be opening in the next few weeks. your pool is perfect : rectangular, like any orthodox pool, overlooking the vineyards and the interior of the island and with a good balance between quiet and social. It invites you to grab a novel on a sun lounger for hours and swim in peace.
The definition of a perfect pool
It will reopen on July 1 , east of the island, Castell Son Claret , an important hotel located in a 19th-century castle Tramuntana mountains . This summer offers special rates and many extra benefits when making reservations. Their common pool is interesting, but it's the ones in the private suites that make us dream louder.
Without moving from the island we go to the capital, to Palma, where Can Bordoy, which is already open . Its pool is in the largest private garden in the city center; everything about this hotel exudes character. A curiosity: it remains with hot water all winter because its owner is Swedish and wants to be able to bathe at any time of the year. An exquisite project will open this summer in Mallorca that will make people talk, It's Raco d'Arta . Whoever comes here will find stylishly decorated houses distributed in a large estate and the will to reconcile well-being, gastronomy, Nature and of course swimming pool . We'll keep track of him.
An important hotel located in a 19th century castle in the Sierra de Tramuntana
We jump off the island and go to Ibiza . There we can bathe in the first hotel on a global scale of the new hotel brand 7Pins Kempinski , a fusion of Kempinski Hotels Y 7Pines Hotels & Resorts . Perhaps this summer we will look for a resort, a self-sufficient place with good cuisine, well-being, views and, of course, a swimming pool and where they think for us. In this case they are swimming pools, in the plural, because this hotel has three . One of them is an infinity of 54 meters (eye, 54 are many meters) suspended on the cliff with a glass wall.
7Pines Kempinski Ibiza, an infinite infinity pool
And, again, ale hop, we're going to another island. Gecko will open on June 25 , a Formentera classic, with a pool next to that transparent sea so coveted and valued . On July 1, another classic will reopen, this time from Minorca, Torralbenc . With its calm pool, its fresh gastronomy and its villas, it is a place where you want to stay and live. This year we will chase places like this around the map: peaceful, spacious, connected to the local culture and with a story of their own.
The classic reopens on July 1
Now we change the archipelago and travel to Canary Islands , where we are weeks ahead in terms of phases compared to the peninsula. In Fuerteventura will open with new normality, the Iberostar Selection Fuerteventura Palace . It has many-star service, direct access to the Jandía beach and the promise of relaxation.
In Tenerife we can join the pool to the beach and also to golf in the Abama Terraces which will open in July. This resort, belonging to the label Preferred Hotels & Resorts , is organized in 151 residences ; having your own kitchen and space this year will be valued more than ever. It has three swimming pools with their corresponding anti-COVID-19 prevention and safety protocols: reduced capacity and mandatory distance between sunbeds and umbrellas. Cleaning with special products, as in all hotels, will be extreme this summer. Security will be the most coveted amenitie.
In Lanzarote, it opened on May 25 Alava Suites, whose pool would have liked César Manrique . It is disinfected daily, as is the furniture that surrounds them, the hammocks are placed at a distance of three meters between them and there are prevention messages in the area. This place has only six suites, so privacy and social distancing are unintentionally maintained. The challenge for all hotels this summer will be to implement security without compromising well-being and enjoyment.
The pool that César Manrique would like
This year the trips will be close and prudent, but they will be full of emotion. Let's try not to shed a tear the first time we travel this summer and swim in a pool. Or let's not try, let's leave it. life is liquid