It’s a very hot summer, breaking records in certain areas. The problem is, so many people are stuck in towns with limited access to the beach or even a decent lake. You could try and buy a day pass to the pool at a local hotel, but you get there and find it’s packed and more like a pool party than a relaxing day chilling in the sun, dipping in and out the pool to cool down.
There’s a solution in the form of Swimply, which has been put forward as the Airbnb of pool hire. Swimply offers people who are able to hire their pool for a few hours, the day or a long weekend, to offer it to other people to hire. As a person who wants to hire a pool, simply choose your desired area and look through the options available, plus the caveats (whether there’s a toilet, for one) and then book.
It’s a decent idea. You could treat yourself to a better pool for half a day, when on vacation. Or if you’re in town on business with time to spare, find somewhere to chill in the sun between meetings.
You could be floating around in your own private pool for the day
But, there are a few obvious issues. As pools are attached to people’s homes, it means that there are limitations. You don’t get access to their home to change, so only pools where you have separate access are available. Also, if you’re intending to sit around a pool all day, you’ll want a cool drink or two. And a bathroom. This could seriously limit the number of pools made available for hire.
We had a look through the options listed on the site and there definitely needs to be a wider selection. We had a look around California, a state where you’d expect to be a wide selection of pools available to hire, but the choice was limited, often with as few as one pool in the local area.
The prices are competitive. We found some half-decent pools for $40/day which would be far better value than a family paying a hotel for a day pass to use their pool.
At this point, Swimply is only available across the United States.
Hopefully, Swimply improves over time and more exposure encourages owners to list their pool for hire. However, sadly, we have a few doubts. Too many pools are attached to homes and, if the home owner is present, has to watch other people using their pool all day? If they aren’t at home, they need to give the pool hirer separate access and hope they abide by their rules.
