Are Swim-Up Rooms Worth It? The Dream vs the Reality

To tell you the truth, we’d never wondered: are swim-up rooms worth it?

Since we saw them for the first time, while planning our Cruise & Stay holiday (yes, we did a package holiday once!), we knew we wanted to stay in one.

At that time, we chose a different hotel, which didn’t have swim-up rooms (so sad, we know), so when we got the opportunity to stay in one in Thailand, years later, we instantly booked.

And we absolutely loved it.

But!

To be honest with you, not everything was great about it. Like when we discovered some people didn’t understand that OUR sun loungers were part of OUR private terrace and they can’t use them.

In this post, we’ll share with you what staying in a swim-up room is really like – the good and the bad.

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Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.

After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full-time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆

During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia. Btw, even our secret wedding was more of an expedition than a wedding. 😅

And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful travel tips and info with you!

Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own epic adventures too!

Swim-up room: the dream

The first swim-up room we ever came across was a hotel in the Dominican Republic, as part of a Cruise & Stay deal.

Mirka couldn’t believe it!

Here’s the thing. Mirka is originally from Slovakia. And Slovak people are famously obsessed with the sea and, really, all bodies of water, since Slovakia is a landlocked country.

And we’re not even exaggerating when we say it’s a total obsession.

So discovering there are hotels where you can jump into a pool straight from your room, without having to go anywhere, was to Mirka like discovering a tasty chocolate you won’t gain weight from (anyone know of one btw? If yes, please let us know!).

In the end, we chose a different Cruise & Stay hotel, in Jamaica (the pool there was insanely big!)

But years later, while full-time travelling, we were looking for a place to spend our 10th anniversary.

And we discovered a swim-up room in a hotel on Koh Samui, Thailand.

Koh Samui swim-up room

If you’re not familiar with Koh Samui, it’s the second largest island in Thailand, making it a popular choice for holidaymakers.

Not exactly our vibe, as backpacking full-time travellers, but since it was our milestone anniversary (10 years at the time!), we decided to splash out (although splash out in Asia terms – the resort was so cheap! More on this below).

We stayed at the Prana Resort Nandana in a pool access room – Mirka’s dream finally coming true!

The 4* hotel is beautifully designed, with a big pool (which we had direct access to!!) and a separate beachside pool and a private beach, of course.

Oh, and the customer service did not suck, unlike the horrors we experienced in a certain Slovak 4* hotel…

But, we’re here to talk about whether swim-up rooms are worth it, so let’s get to business! And by that we mean let’s dream about being in a tropical destination on a terrace where you can just hop down and you’re in the pool!

Are swim-up rooms worth it?

We already admitted that, for us, swim-up rooms are definitely worth it – a total dream. Like staying in an Aurora Cabin where you can see the Northern Lights straight from your bed.

Some hotels are just a next level experience.

Here is why we think swim-up rooms are worth it:

1. The ultimate freedom

With a direct access to a pool you don’t have to worry about anything. 

There is no need to rush to the pool early in the morning to grab a good sun lounger.

Or to pack your beach bag well, trying not to forget anything, before you hop on a shuttle that will take you across the resort to the pool.

You just wake up, put your swimwear on, and you are ready to go.

(Although do check the pool opening times, you don’t wanna get yelled at in front of everyone for being the weirdo splashing around in the pool at 6am!)

2. The toilet access

Easy toilet access is one of the top reasons for booking swim-up rooms.

Hear us out!

Maybe you have digestive issues and you need access to a toilet frequently during the day. 

Or maybe you’re an anxious traveller who prefers the privacy of their room, rather than using a public bathroom by the pool.

Or, the fun of all funs, especially on a holiday, maybe you’re on your period and you’d love an easy access to a comfortable bathroom. Btw, make sure you check out these 4 period products that I (Mirka speaking!) cannot live without when travelling (even when at our homebase, actually, they are great).

Or maybe you’re not battling periods on your travels, because you’re pregnant. In that case, congratulations! Consider booking a swim-up room so your 25 daily trips to the toilet are a bit more bearable.

Our swim-up room had a direct access to the bathroom from the terrace – you didn’t even have to cross the room. It was great, because we could easily pop into the bathroom straight from the pool, without worrying about dripping all over the room. We imagine that would be a big perk with kids!

(Don’t worry, the outside door to the bathroom had a proper lock! Safety is important!)

3. Family-friendly

Travelling with small children who need their afternoon power naps?

If you stay in a pool access room, you can still be enjoying your holiday while the kiddos sleep peacefully just 2 meters away from you in the room. 

And yes, they could sleep on a sun lounger by the pool instead, but a room gives them shade, cool temperature, quiet and more comfort – all worth considering when deciding whether a swim-up room is worth it for you.

In fact, when we stayed in the pool access room on Koh Samui, there was a family with two small kids in the room next to us. 

From what we saw, the parents were loving their evening pool time once the kids were in bed!

What nobody tells you about swim-up rooms

It’s hard to believe, but there are cons to staying in a swim-up room.

Of course, everything depends on the hotel you choose – make sure you check what the hotel layout is like before booking, because not all swim-up rooms are made equal.

And then think about these things:

1. Noise

If your room connects to a big, busy pool and you (or anyone in your travel party) like to:

• Sleep in
• Take an afternoon power nap
• Head to bed early 

…it might not be the best idea for you to book a swim-up room.

We’ve got a few tips for you, though. Here’s what you can do:

• Choose a hotel with a small pool. Or a small pool that connects on to a big one, giving you at least a bit of a buffer between the noise and your room
• Pick adult-only hotel, avoiding the riot that often takes over a pool when families with kids descend on it
• Choose a higher-end hotel. Our swim-up room hotel was 4*, so the vibe was a lot calmer than if we had stayed at a party 2* place (although do those even have swim-up rooms??)

2. Privacy 

Similar advice to our previous point – check the photos of the hotel well before booking.

Does it look like everyone will see right into your room from the pool, unless you have blackout curtains shut the whole time?

If you like your peace and quiet, usually grabbing a sun lounger further away from the pool to read a book, being right in the centre of all the action might not be your vibe.

Another issue?

Despite staying at a 4* hotel, there were still total weirdos staying there too.

One time, as we came back from the beach to our swim-up room, we discovered our sun loungers wet.

Based on the marks, clearly someone used them to chill by the pool, despite it being clear it’s a private terrace! Or at least it was clear to us.

As always, the best you can do is plan well and hope that other guests will have common sense and not invade your space.

Side note: or maybe hotels with swim-up rooms should have “Do Not Disturb” signs for the private pool access part? What do you think?

3. Price

The biggest concern when it comes to swim-up rooms is, of course, the price.

We lucked out with the pool access room in Thailand, paying just €74 per night including breakfast for the two of us.

It was such a great deal, even though it was still more expensive than a standard room in that hotel (gotta love Southeast Asia prices!)

When considering the price of a swim-up room, here’s what we would recommend:

• First, get our FREE guide for finding great stays on Booking.com and avoiding the disasters (especially the ones that look fabulous in pics and then turn into a dump IRL)
• Shop around. Try not to fall in love with the first swim-up hotel you’ll find (although we’re the ones to talk. That’s totally what happened to Mirka when choosing our Lapland hotel. She saw it, fell in love, and we booked. Hell, we even booked our wedding date based on the hotel’s availability! Talk about love at first sight!)
• Since Booking.com doesn’t actually have a swim-up room filter, use Google first. Look up your location + “swim-up room hotel” or “direct pool access hotel”
• Once you find a few options, compare price of a standard room you’d usually get vs the swim-up one in the hotels
• Then decide whether the difference in price is worth it, thinking about the pros and cons we’ve listed in this post. For example, on the Caribbean cruise we mentioned? We paid extra to have a cabin with a window, because Mirka needs natural light to wake up, plus the idea of sleeping on a rocking boat with no view was kinda unnerving. It was quite a lot more money than a windowless cabin, but for us, totally worth the extra cost. So assess the swim-up room premium similarly, based on your own situation.

Are swim-up rooms worth it for everyone? 

Not really.

If you’ll spend most of your holiday at the beach, barely using your direct access to the pool, it’s pointless paying the premium price for it.

But if you’ve always dreamed of opening a door and gliding straight into a pool, pretending you are in your celebrity mansion and there definitely isn’t a family with 4 screaming kids and a drunk bachelorette party right next to you, it might just be worth the extra money for you.