When to renovate a hotel or resort pool in Thailand: seasons, rain and keeping the hotel open

Planning around high season, quieter windows and weather

In Phuket and along the Andaman coast the quieter booking window largely overlaps the rainy season, which is the harder time for drained work: rain reaches the open shell, render and finish need dry conditions to bond and cure, and high groundwater can push on an empty shell. So the shutdown is planned around the local rain pattern, the groundwater on your site and the drying the work needs, not only around the booking calendar; where groundwater is high, this is agreed with you and your engineer — or, if you don't have one, with our partner engineer — before the pool is emptied.

In busy periods, we prioritise work that keeps the pool open and agree site access and noise with your engineering team. Drained work inside the shell is planned for quieter booking windows. The programme is agreed for the individual project.

Weather also shapes how drained work is managed on site. At SAii Phi Phi, where we relaid the resort pool in PebbleCrete Supreme Arctic Blue and finished the outdoor showers and tap panels in the same material, shade sheets were rigged the length of the pool over the work and part of the surface went down after dark under lamps. After heavy rain or flooding, we also rebuild flooded pump rooms and waterproof below-ground pits, basements and pump rooms where water pushes in from outside.

• Inspect before the high season so urgent repairs and planned upgrades are put in order of priority
• Keep busy periods for pump room, surround, coping or waterline work that leaves the pool open
• Schedule drained shell work, resurfacing and internal waterproofing for quieter booking windows, planned around the rains and the groundwater on your site
• Check below-ground pump rooms, balance tanks and surrounds after flooding or heavy rain. If a pump room has flooded, nobody goes in while the power is on: have the supply isolated and the equipment and earthing checked by a licensed electrician first

Upgrades and repairs that keep the pool open

Several upgrades and repairs can be done with the pool in normal use or with the water lowered slightly without draining. An on-site inspection confirms what is possible for your pool and how the water is protected. Any electrical work is agreed with the owner's electrician or engineer.

• Waterline tile cleaning with the water lowered slightly, testing a small area first, using chemical cleaning with care because it can take tile glaze or grout with it, or using wet glass-bead cleaning and collecting residue underwater through our own mobile cart filter so it does not pass through your pool filter
• Coping stone repairs or coping replacement on many skimmer pools with the water lowered rather than drained
• Pump room upgrades, including replacing and simplifying equipment, salt water and smart controls, heat pumps and chillers, incoming water filtration, and refilling sand filters with PebblePure glass filter media
• Lighting work outside the shell, including lamp replacement, app-controlled lighting and overhead projection onto the water
• Cleaning, washing and recoating wooden and composite decking around the pool

Drained works and combining upgrades in one shutdown

Regrouting, tile repair, internal waterproofing, new steps, fibre-optic installation and deep renovation need a drained pool. Work inside the shell is done dry so adhesives, grouts, renders and waterproofing can bond. When draining is needed, we can combine several upgrades in one shutdown, with the programme agreed for the project.

When a pool has to be drained in a quieter window, we combine several upgrades into one planned shutdown. At Kata Sea Breeze — Bar Pool, the pool, steps and jacuzzi were stripped to the shell, the swim-up bar was cleared for the works, the pool was re-rendered and finished in PebbleCrete Supreme Azure Blue with White Halo, and the old sandwash coping was replaced. At Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay — including The Deck pool, we demolished back the old surfaces on the moulded in-pool loungers, benches, steps and edges across The Deck restaurant pool, the main pool and the room pools, applied a bondcoat and laid PebbleCrete Classic Pearl White.

• Regrouting and tile repair in a drained, dry pool
• Deep renovation to the shell where layers have failed — as at Crest Resort & Pool Villas, where lifting layers were stripped to sound concrete before applying PebbleCrete Supreme Verde inside and PebbleCrete Glass Sea Mist Green on the coping — renewed in seamless PebbleCrete or new tiles
• Building or remodelling steps, sunken seating, swim-up bars, shallow beach entries that slope from zero depth, and Baja shelves (standing or tanning ledges, which are not the same as beach entries); a textured finish feels different underfoot from smooth glazed tile
• Installing fibre-optic lighting, which is not LED lighting: light is carried through fibres from one light source outside the pool, so fitting fibre optics needs a drained pool
• Replacing leaking lights with ultra-slim resin-filled surface lights rather than resealing them; the inspection determines whether replacement needs lowered water or draining. Leak investigation is a separate step, done with water in the pool where possible — for example with fluorescent dye at suspected points — and does not always require draining; we cannot promise to find every leak without opening up parts of the structure.

Using an inspection to set priorities before closing a pool

Before blocking out rooms or planning a closure, an on-site inspection establishes the scope from what is actually there. Usually the pool stays full for this visit. You receive a written report with photos and recommendations in order of priority, which is yours to use with any contractor.

If the shell shows structural damage, we say so and agree the next step with you and your engineer — or, if you don't have one, with our partner engineer. An inspection cannot find every hidden problem at once; some appear only when the pool is drained, opened up or restarted, especially when its history is unknown.

Refilling, water chemistry and restarting before guests return

Plan cleaning, source-water testing, refilling and a controlled equipment restart before reopening the pool. Much of the fill water in Thailand comes from a lake, a river or a borehole and is often acidic, which is hard on a cement-based finish, so have the source tested before the refill and tell us in advance if you plan to use it. A hotel pool also takes a large volume to refill: check that your supply can deliver it inside the shutdown. We choose cleaning to suit the finish and its condition, and check equipment as it runs.

For water chemistry, source water, equipment, use and the finish all matter, and testing is done on site. A controlled restart can go in stages if hidden faults appear once the plant is running; extra repairs are shown with photos and quoted separately. At handover, we give written care instructions and agree who handles water testing and treatment from then on, whether your team or our scheduled pool care service.

What to send us for a first discussion

Send photos of the pool, waterline, surround and pump room, together with your location and approximate pool dimensions. Say whether the pool uses skimmers or an overflow, what needs fixing or upgrading, and when quieter booking windows fall. If draining is planned, tell us the intended fill-water source.

• Photos of the pool, waterline, surround and inside of the pump room
• The hotel, resort or villa location in Phuket or elsewhere in Thailand
• Approximate pool dimensions and whether it uses skimmers or an overflow
• What you want fixed or upgraded, and when your quieter booking windows fall
• Where the fill water will come from, if draining is planned

Further reading

• Pool finishes for hotels and resorts