When you’re traveling on a budget a hotel pool pass can elevate your trip to fancy in just a few minutes and for a usually small price. When I first started traveling with Emmie and staying in very budget hotels I really missed a few things – sometimes we didn’t even have a phone in our room! – but mostly a pool, cause you especially need one when you’re traveling with kids… and I pretty quickly found an awesome solution – just use someone else’s fancy hotel pool, for a fraction of the cost of staying at the hotel.
Plus, you can now access airport lounges for cheap too! Find out how to get into airport lounges when flying here.
A pool pass usually works one of three ways:
– You buy the pass for $X and that entitles you to use the pool and often gives you a discount on meals and drinks
– You pay $X which you then redeem on food and drinks
– You can sometimes find complimentary pools (which we did, below).
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When we first traveled to Kuching, in Borneo, our budget hotel cost us $23 a night including a local breakfast of chicken and rice. The Hilton Hotel was literally across the road from where we were staying, and was around $200 night (but you can get it for $150 now which is unreal). How I pined for a bit of luxury, but then I realised we could rent the lifestyle!
For $10 a day we could swim in the Hilton’s three pools. Which we did, every afternoon after being out exploring.
A few months ago in Kuala Lumpur we were staying at the KL Journal which we love – and it also has a great pool – but the front desk staff told me about the W Hotel’s rooftop cocktail bar and pool that’s right under the Petronas Twin Towers. We floated on beanbags and lay in the sun, I had a cocktail and Emmie had a juice – best of all there was no charge to use the pool.
So if you’re not near the coast and battling a budget look for the pool day pass and spend a cheapie afternoon in someone else’s pool.
How to find pool passes.
It can require a bit of research but here’s how we track down the pool passes where we are staying.
- ask the front desk / guesthouse staff
- google pool pass + ‘name of where you’re staying’
- Research hotels where you’re going and contact them and check.
One of the best pool passes ever was the Shangri-La Chiang Mai. If that’s still going then definitely do it, it’s a gorgeous resort and pool and is perfect for a rest and a swim on those long, hot northern Thailand days.
So that’s it – do a bit of research and you can rent the fancy lifestyle and keep to your budget!
Disclaimer: may not end up that cheap if you treat yourself to drinks, chips and assorted snacks.