cslewis

I have been to places where swimmers are required to shower before entering the pool. Other places do not require swimmers to shower before entering the pool.

evergrn

As has been mentioned above, pool sanitation requires adequate amount of free chlorines at all times and removal of chloramines.
This really needs to be monitored and maintained constantly, on a daily basis.

I wonder what % of hotels either 'manually' disinfect the pool on a daily basis, or have pools with machine automatically filtering/maintaining the water.
Do you think most hotels do not do this to such extent?

Also, it seems to me that there is a correlation between hotel brand and pool water quality.

At most HGI / Embassy Suites / many Doubletree, indoor and sometimes outdoor pools smell "like chlorine." (meaning not enough free chlorine, not clean enough).
But at Fairmont / Conrad / many Hyatt, even indoor pool water smells very fresh and my eyes don't burn.

Is it possible that pool water sanitation criteria are built into certain hotel brands' management/franchising contract?

I like doing staycations with a big objective being the use of pool. But I'm becoming more and more of a germaphobe, plus had a bad experience with my eyes acting up after a pool use a couple years ago even with swim goggles. Trying to find out if there's a semi-reliable way to screen hotels for this ahead of time, rather than take a chance and then find out after I've checked in.

James Silva

Yeah, same. It is not mandatory to shower before entering the pool.

YVR Cockroach

Here's some interesting reading.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/w...ting-in-a-pool

In some, it seems one is more likely to get ill from "treated" water immersion than in non-treated water.

MSPeconomist

lukanh

[Moderator edit] Quit going to the pool right away

Matt_L

I have found many occasions in China where wearing a swimming cap has been mandatory for both men and women.. in the most relaxing, resort style pools..

GUWonder

There is very little to no policing of people showering before most pool use in the world even when there is an advisory to do so. And even in places where there is pool-entry control checking on swimwear and showering before pool use, I've never seen policing of adults' showering with soap/shampoo/bodywash. The last time I've encountered anything approaching such policing going on, it involved school or other swim classes for kids, but it involved no policing for soap/shampoo/bodywash use prior to going into the pools.

I was on swim teams for many years and have used many public pools over the decades, and I seem to have had way fewer problems due to that than due to going into ocean/sea/lake/river waters.

aztimm

I've run into this rule in many places, including China, Japan, and even Europe. As a guy, when I swim in a pool I generally don't wear a cap, unless required or the water is cold. When I swim open water, it is usually required for safety (we generally wear very bright colors).

It is funny to see this thread resurrected after I did an open water swim in a river on Sunday (the Tennessee River through Knoxville, TN). Someone asked me if I thought the river water was safe to swim in. Hmmm, the race organizers do tests at various points along the course, so the water is probably safer than many pools. Heck, the way my suits fade in my gym pool makes me wonder what the heck is in the water! I've learned to wear nylon or polyester suits in that pool, as they can take more of a beating than lycra.