by Candy Harrington, editor of Emerging Horizons
Searching for a Zero-Entry Pool
I need help in trying to find a place for a vacation within 2-3 hours of Atlanta, that has also a pool with a walk in “beach type” of entrance. How should I go about this search? It’s for my wife who uses a cane and can’t manage the cement steps on most pools.
You posed a very interesting question; not that people don't want access to pools, but it's just that by and large, pools are less accessible to slow walkers like your wife, than to wheelchair-users.
Here's why. The standards regarding access to pools are fairly new, and retrofitting is not required. Additionally, properties have the option of building a zero-entry pool or installing a lift. Most opt for the lift because the zero-entry pools can take up more room. Most of the zero-entry pools that I've seen have been large community pools, rather than hotel pools. Two notable exceptions however, are located at Hemlock Lodge in Kentucky’s Natural Bridge State Resort Park and at the Marriott Shoals Resort in Florence, Alabama. But then again, both of those are very large pools.
Your other options are to find a pool with a lift (if your wife will use one) or look around for a zero-entry pool at a nearby community center or water park. The other suggestion I can offer is to do a search on local commercial contractors who build pools, and see if they have any zero- entry designs. If they do, ask them if they have built any in the hotels near your desired destination. It's a lot of work I know, but again, it's just not a very common design choice for hotels. Perhaps it will start to catch on in new construction, once the hotel folks realize that maintaining pool lifts can be an expensive undertaking.