A guest, a laptop, and a Zoom or Teams conversation from the comfort of a sunbed or a chair in front of the pool. This image is increasingly common in hotels around the world, and it reflects a clear trend that blends digital nomadism, bleisure tourism – a mix of business and leisure –, occupational health and hotel design.
We’re talking about poolworking, the mode of work that lucky professionals are embracing. It isn’t just about fleeing the four walls of an office, or colleagues not always ideal; letting the turquoise water become a real screensaver for the laptop, and hotel sun loungers replacing the ugly ergonomic chairs also hooks people. And a lot. The pool is no longer limited to the coveted reward after a day’s work in the hotel room, but now also substitutes for meeting rooms. And not only in summer, as this way of working moves further away from the notion of seasonality to be enjoyed throughout the year.
To be honest, poolworking isn’t for everyone. In Spain, for example, work flexibility remains a pending task for many companies. This is confirmed by a recent Edenred study, a leader in Benefits & Engagement and Mobility, which reveals that 47.6% of professionals in our country have low or nonexistent flexibility. All this, despite the fact that eight out of ten workers acknowledge that these measures improve their productivity and well-being.
And indeed, working away from home, and more so from a hotel where leisure and rest are blended with professional obligations, is not always feasible. On one hand, many companies are not in favor; on the other, working with a laptop in a setting of heat, noise or screen reflections isn’t very advisable either. Therefore, many hotels are adapting to this new reality to offer conditions of the dream office: outdoors, with views of the hotel’s crystal-clear pool, with wifi that works like lightning, and sun loungers, chairs, and desks where inspiration arrives almost without being summoned.
