Resort Style Pool Features and Costs

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There’s most likely been a time in your life when you wanted to pack a bag and escape to a luxurious tropical resort. 

Getting away for a vacation to paradise isn’t always feasible. Luckily, if you have a pool at home, you can bring some of those features to you. While it may not be an exotic, faraway place, you can enjoy a stay-cation at a resort-style pool in your backyard with resort-style features. 

Resort-style pools are designed for tranquility and relaxation. And if you already have a pool at home, there are so many creative ways you can add to it to achieve this style.

If you’re looking to make your pool feel like a resort, a lot of the high-quality, extravagant pieces can be costly. However, many essential features of a resort-style pool have a range of affordability and variations, so you can even upgrade on a budget.

Here are seven unique features and their costs to get you started on creating your resort-style pool.

Seven Resort Style Pool Features and Costs

You don’t need to go to a resort to get the luxury you deserve. With the right amenities to your home pool, you can enjoy a resort-style pool every day.

Water Features

Adding water features to your pool is a simple way to capture the ambiance of resort pools and create the atmosphere of tranquility you’re looking for.

Small waterfalls and fountains will not only make your backyard look straight out of a resort, but the soothing sound of falling water is essential for a relaxing experience as you lounge at your pool. You can include rocks and vegetation around these features for a more natural look, transforming your backyard into a tropical vacation spot.

Custom pool cascades are another fantastic above-water feature to add a decorative element that will build on the resort feel and give your pool a unique and classy look.

Prices for any water feature will vary based on size and material. On average, you can expect to pay around $1,000-3,000 for a waterfall, with additional costs for more extravagant, decorative features.

Fire and Light Features

Another easy way to create a relaxing, resort-style aesthetic at your pool is through soft lighting effects and fireplaces. String lights and decorative torches throughout the poolside area help create a warm and soothing ambiance while you’re unwinding in the pool at night. Along with lights surrounding the pool, you can use underwater LED lights for an added glow.

You can also add a firepit or smaller fire features, such as fire bowls, torches, or fire troughs, for a guaranteed way of making your pool feel high-end. Poolside fire features draw the eye and provide a soft, cozy setting that will make you feel like you’re relaxing on vacation. 

Fire Pits cost around $4,000 to install, while additional fire features, including fire bowls, troughs, and torches, range from $1,000 to $10,000.

Comfortable Poolside Furniture

At any luxury hotel, you’re likely to find comfortable, upscale furniture for guests to use for lounging or sunbathing at the pool.

An outdoor living room with lounge chairs, an outdoor sofa, a dining table, or even a cabana will give you a beautiful and comfortable space to relax and enjoy your pool. A raised platform or wooden deck for the poolside furniture can elevate the space and make it the perfect place for you to eat, socialize, or relax. 

For warmer days when you want to cool off and enjoy your pool, there are plenty of options for decorative floating chairs or pillows as well.  

The cost will be dependent on a lot of factors: the outdoor pieces you’re looking for, material, style, and more. Generally, high-quality outdoor lounge sets will range from $800-$15,000. 

Swim-Up Table

If you want to enjoy food and drinks without having to get out of the water, a swim-up table or pool bar is a perfect feature for your resort-style pool.

Swim-up tables and bars are an essential part of the ease and relaxation that comes from staying at a resort. By adding floating tables and pool seating to your own pool, you can bring that experience to your backyard for you and your guests.

You can find plenty of more affordable options for floating snack trays and drink caddies that are functional and look great for $50-$100. However, having a full swim-up bar or table installed is likely to cost around $5,000.

Tropical Decor

If you can’t stop thinking about visiting warm, exotic locations, you can use tropical decor and landscaping to make your backyard feel like paradise. By surrounding yourself with lush plants and natural decor, you’ll feel like you’re vacationing on a tropical island without leaving your home.

Bright flowers and natural greenery will bring a warm and natural element to your pool, making it feel as tranquil and peaceful as any tropical resort. You can add additional decorations such as stones, statues, and potted plants to complete the tropical ambiance.

The cost of bringing a tropical design to your pool is largely dependent on your own personal touches. Planting flowers or purchasing potted plants offers a cheaper way to bring tropical features to your pool, while additional landscaping, decor, or even a natural stone waterfall may be an appealing option for a higher budget. 

Beach Entrance

Adding a beach entrance to one side of your pool is a unique way to enhance your resort-style experience. A sloping beach-like entry creates a wading ledge that will make you feel like you’re on a tropical beach vacation every time you swim. 

Adding a beach entrance allows you to use your creativity to make the entrance suit your style and preferences for your pool. You can keep it simple as a wading pool or add vegetation, decorative accents, rocks, or a natural waterfall to build your ideal beach entrance for your resort-style pool’s aesthetic.

While beach entries cost around $50-$135 per square foot, additional costs will depend on the features you add to it. Keeping the entrance simple or styling it with vegetation and rocks offers a low-budget way of creating a natural feel to your beach entrance, while rock waterfalls and other water features will be more costly.

Options for Shade

On warm days at resorts, it’s critical to have umbrellas and other shade options for you and your guests to lounge and cool off in. At your own pool, having plenty of options for shaded areas will help ensure that you and your guests can stay cool and comfortable while at the pool.

You can use multiple umbrellas for shaded areas over lounge chairs and poolside dining areas. Canopied poolside furniture is also an excellent choice to help provide shade and help you stay cool, and you can find a range of outdoor furniture pieces that are both functional and look great with your resort-style pool.

For an even more luxurious and unique feature, you can install a poolside cabana or high-quality wood pergola over the pool for additional shade throughout the area. Or, for a more natural look, you can use tall, strong greenery to create shade.

Greenery and umbrellas are both great and more affordable options for creating shade around your pool, while a backyard cabana is a pricier choice and can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000.

There’s nothing quite like having a resort-style pool in the comfort of your own home. With the right features (at the right price!), you can enjoy luxury like never before.

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