On the grounds of Tim Love’s tasty Italian restaurant Gemelle sits a community of shipping containers doubling as boutique rooms. Hotel Otto (4400 White Settlement Rd, Fort Worth, 817-732-9303) is a tiny slice of the Italian Riviera on the outskirts of the West Side. For $25 on the Resort Pass app, guests can work on maximum tannage from chaise lounges on the deck of a tiny lap pool built for Instagrammable moments. Greenery walls, kitschy neon sayings, and breeze blocks create a lovely backdrop for indulging in happy-hour beverages and light bites from the restaurant. There's even a bocce ball court. Whatever it is you do, ensure an Aperol Spritz is in one hand if not both. Ciao.
Courtesy Hotel Otto
We have officially hit the steamy shores of Summerland and the annual epidemic of PTO being left out to dry. Approximately two-thirds of Americans don’t use all their paid time off, a rate that’s up 14% from 2017 and that leaves a whopping $312 billion on the table. When surveyed, employees said it’s hard to take time off for fear of falling behind at work and that travel costs are too expensive. If time or money has you limited, then a daycation might be your best vacation, and, luckily for you, our little ville has several low-cost options for cooling down near a body of water without booking flights and packing big bags. One can play bougie with a day pass at a luxury hotel pool or feel outdoorsy grilling at the local swimming hole, all while staying properly hydrated and well-fed. This list is by no means comprehensive. It’s just a glance at some of our faves.
While Central Texas boasts nearly all the well-known spring-fed swimming holes like Hamilton Pool, Jacob’s Well, and Barton Springs, a lesser-known pool of this type is found right here in the Fort. Located northwest of downtown between River Oaks and the joint reserve base, Burgers Lake (1200 Meandering Rd, Fort Worth, 817-737-3414) has been hosting sunbathers since 1929, making it possibly America’s oldest waterpark. With sandy beaches and shady trees, Burgers Lake lets you bring your own grill, or you can save yourself the trouble and cram $8 cheeseburgers and $5 jalapeno-cheddar dogs down your throat before announcing “cannonball!” from a diving board. Parking passes are $20. Courtesy Burgers LakeFor around $30 a day for adults, grab your best matey and sail a short way to Pirate’s Cove (2461 N Burleson Blvd, Burleson, 817-426-5037) at Jellystone Park, a Yogi Bear-themed campground resort off 35-South in Burleson. Complete with a massive skull-ladened pirate ship, a tropical 750-foot lazy river, multiple loopy slides, and nautical statues throughout, Pirate’s Cove really conjures up the swashbuckling spirit, especially after a few adult beverages from the nearby cafe. Courtesy Jellystone ParkThe presence of the Omni (1300 Houston St, Fort Worth, 817-535-6664) downtown is soon to expand with the addition of another tower, but until then, starting at $35 a day on the Resort Pass app (or via the hotel), you can enjoy exceptional views and drinks on the third-floor rooftop pool. Right in time for your summer daycation, the Water Horse pool bar has transformed into a New Orleans-based tiki bar pop-up sure to transport you to the South Seas. Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Tiki Social will be open only Thu-Sun until 8pm, the usual hours for Water Horse, and access is included with the day pass. Courtesy the Omni Fort Worth DowntownThe Near Southside’s newest boutique hotel recently set up camp around a former Fort Worth fire station built in 1911 after a devastating blaze leveled the neighborhood. Part of Hilton’s upscale Tapestry Collection, The Nobleman (503 Bryan Av, Fort Worth, 682-432-3000) is named after all those first responders who kept watch from this 114-year-old brick building that’s been respectfully incorporated into the new hotel design. However, for $30 a day on the Resort Pass app, you, too, can keep watch beside the second-floor pool while enjoying cocktails from the hotel bar before ending the day with dinner from the in-house restaurant, The Duchess. Courtesy The NoblemanAnd while this is more picnic-based, the newly renovated Forest Park public pool (2850 Forest Park Av, Fort Worth, 817-392-5589) is ready for the sizzling season. For a measly $6, you can kick back under the sun at this most cost-effective option we found. Having an Olympic-sized lap pool on one side and wading pool on the other, along with one twirly-whirly water slide, this no-frills escape is easily accessible and chill enough to make you forget you’re in Cowtown, even for a brief moment in time. Courtesy FortWorth.gov
