Stays with Heated Pools in Tenerife, Open All Winter

Four outdoor pools wind through palms and dark volcanic rock here, and the one to head for is the main infinity pool: saltwater, heated and open all year, its edge running out towards the Atlantic. It has a shallow end, a pool bar within reach and pool toys for younger swimmers. Around it sit a kids' pool with a plunge pool, a third pool for all ages, a fourth with set opening times and a water slide.

Expect loungers, umbrellas and towels at no charge, plus a sauna, a hammam and massages. The kids' club and playground make this an easy family pick. One thing worth knowing for winter: heating is confirmed for the infinity pool, the kids' pool and the two pools of the slide and play area (24°C in winter), but not stated for the third pool, so check before you promise everyone a January swim.

Palm trees and a Thai-style pavilion frame the main pool at the Botánico, set in large gardens with views of the Atlantic and Mount Teide. It's outdoors, heated to 26°C and open all year, ringed with red parasols and loungers, and it's the pool everyone can use. A kids' pool with a plunge pool sits nearby, and a third outdoor pool is kept for adults, with set opening times.

Inside, the 3,500 m² spa has its own heated pool under a timber roof, along with Turkish baths and a Japanese sauna, and access is free for guests aged 16 and over. Towels, loungers and umbrellas come with the outdoor pools at no charge. Children of any age are welcome at the hotel, so the main pool is where families swim, while the spa stays a grown-up space.

At 1,255 m², the circular main pool is closer to a lagoon than a hotel pool, set in a palm garden with the hotel's curved white wings around it and the sea beyond. It's heated all year, to around 26-27°C in winter and 28-30°C in summer, and 1.5 m deep, with a patterned tiled floor that lights up at dusk.

Some 600 loungers ring the water, towels are provided, and the Kiosco bar serves snacks by the edge. A lifeguard is on duty from 09:00 to 18:00 in winter and until 19:00 in summer, and a hydraulic lift helps guests into the water. Children have their own heated pool plus a splash park with 16 water features, included for guests. Here's the thing: this is a big family hotel built for a warm winter week with kids, not a quiet retreat.

Every one of the 28 villas has its own heated pool on a private terrace, and from the water you look across the Costa Adeje golf course to the Atlantic. Several pools run to an infinity edge above the fairways; others sit beside a Balinese-style gazebo or a canopied daybed. They're open all year and included in the stay.

Size depends on the villa: the one-bedroom villas have smaller, plunge-style pools, so pick two or three bedrooms if you want to swim rather than soak. There's also a small shared pool with loungers and drink service by the pool bar, and the Golden Pond spa adds an indoor pool, a Turkish bath and a hot tub. In winter the villa pool is the point: a warm swim with the sea below you in January.

From high up in Torviscas Alto, the main pool looks down over the rooftops of Costa Adeje to the Atlantic, its curved edge set into a pale stone terrace with palms and canopied daybeds around it. It's outdoors, heated and open all year, with a shallow end, a plunge pool and a separate kids' pool alongside.

Loungers, parasols and pool towels are free to use, so a day here can run from a morning swim to sunset over the lights of the coast. Children of all ages are welcome, and the complex keeps quiet hours from 22:00 to 09:00. With a kitchen in every apartment, it suits families and longer self-catering stays through the winter.

The Atlantic fills the view from the rooftop infinity pool at Royal Hideaway, its edge lining up with the sea, with daybeds set on platforms in the water and a timber deck all around. Below, in front of the white terraced facade, the main outdoor pool sits among lawns. Both outdoor pools are saltwater, heated and open all year, with loungers, umbrellas, and pool and beach towels.

No children stay here, so there are no kids' pools, and the rhythm is set by adults. Away from the outdoor water, the spa adds a third heated pool, a hydrotherapy circuit with jets and waterfalls, a steam bath and a sauna.

The heated freshwater pool wraps right around the main building, so the arcaded wings and palms are on one side of you and the gardens and the Atlantic on the other. It's outdoors, open all year and included in your stay, with sun loungers and umbrellas along its edges and a heated outdoor jacuzzi close by. Playa del Duque is about 300 metres away.

Indoors, the Spa Sensations wet area adds a hydrodynamic pool, a whirlpool bath, a cold plunge pool and a steam room, open 09:00 to 20:00. Here's the thing: spa access costs extra, so count the outdoor pool as the one you'll use every day. Guests in the Star Prestige rooms get their own pool terrace, and the Superior Sea-View Suite has a private pool. Adults only, so the water stays quiet by design.

On Abama's clifftop, three heated pools are open to every guest all year, out of seven spread through the gardens. The Lagoon Pool, the largest, curves between palms at the heart of the Citadel. The Persian Garden Pool sits among the terracotta, Moorish-style buildings looking over Abama bay, and the Serenity Pool, for ages 13 and up, faces the golf course.

Loungers, umbrellas and towels are set out at each, with lifeguards on duty and the pools open from morning until 18:00. Children are welcome at the Lagoon and the Persian Garden; Serenity keeps its afternoons quieter for 13 and over. Here's the thing: the Del Mar infinity pool and the villa-area pools are kept for Retreat guests, so book the Retreat if a sunset swim over the bay is the point of your trip.

Set among the fairways of the Abama golf course, the main pool runs out to an infinity edge with the Atlantic and La Gomera beyond it. It's heated and open all year, with a pool bar close by. Two more outdoor pools and a shallow kids' pool, kept apart for the youngest swimmers, complete the set.

Loungers, parasols and pool towels come with the stay, so you can arrive with nothing but a book. From the loungers you look across the sea to La Gomera, and the sun goes down over the water in the evening. Suites with a private hot tub on the terrace give you a second warm soak once you leave the pool.

High on the hillside at Los Gigantes, the pools look the same way the apartments do: along the dark cliffs of the Acantilado and out over the Atlantic towards La Gomera. There are two, a main pool curving between the sun terraces and the Oasis pool bar, and a children's pool linked to it by a waterfall. Both are outdoors, open all year and free for guests, with the water heated for the winter months.

Loungers, umbrellas and pool towels are laid out on the terraces, and the bar keeps you fed without a trip back to the apartment. Here's the thing: heating is confirmed, but no temperature is published and the resort doesn't say whether the children's pool is heated too, so ask before you book if a warm winter swim is the point of the trip. Quiet hours run from 23:00 to 08:00.

Seen from the loungers, the main pool seems to pour straight into the Atlantic: it's an infinity pool with palms along its curving edge, heated and open all year. A separate outdoor kids' pool keeps the youngest swimmers apart, and the two- and three-bedroom villas add something rarer, a private pool of their own on the terrace, looking out to sea.

Loungers, parasols and pool towels are laid on, and the pool bar means a cold drink never takes you far from the water. When the afternoon cools, the spa's steam room and sauna are the next stop. Year-round opening and heated water make this a solid pick for a winter week in the sun.

A broad, many-sided outdoor pool fills the middle of RIU Garoé's 2,800 m² tropical garden, with the hotel's wings wrapped around it. It's open all year and heated in winter, and a fenced kids' pool sits alongside it.

Loungers, parasols and pool towels are included, and the pool bar is a few steps from your lounger. For cooler evenings, the spa has a sauna, steam room and hot tub, plus massages and beauty treatments. Children of any age are welcome, with a playground and mini golf in the grounds, so this one suits families as much as couples looking for winter sun on the north coast.

An 80-metre river pool winds between the River Villas at Royal River, under palms, and each of those villas opens from its own pool into it. The Pool and Grand Pool Villas have a private pool on the terrace instead, and the Lagoon Villas stand on stilts over a lake with direct access to the lagoon pool. Shared pools add to that: a rooftop infinity pool looking across the golf course to the Atlantic, and a main pool below. All outdoors, open all year and included in your stay.

Loungers, umbrellas and towels are set out, there's a pool bar, and a barbecue is laid around the main pool on Thursdays. Brunch can arrive on a floating tray in your villa pool. Worth knowing: the pools are heated, but no water temperature is published, so ask before booking if a warm January swim is the whole point. Adults only, from 14.

At the centre of Flamingo Suites, the pool sits on a pale tiled sun terrace, with curved white buildings and tall windows facing in on it from every side. It's outdoors, heated and open all year, with a plunge pool and a kids' pool alongside, and La Pinta Beach is only 100 metres away when you fancy the sea instead.

Pool access is free within set opening times, with loungers, umbrellas and towels provided, and the spa has a hot tub, a sauna and a steam room for slower afternoons. Children of any age are welcome, so expect families around the main pool. The 1- and 2-Bedroom Suites with Private Pool have their own heated pool on the terrace, so a winter dip works there too.

The main pool at Wyndham Residences Golf del Sur is a big, curved outdoor pool ringed by palms and the low white villas of the resort, with Mount Teide on the skyline behind. It's heated and open all year, which is what makes this a winter option rather than a summer one, and it's free to use. A children's pool sits alongside it.

Around it are sun loungers and umbrellas on a wide terrace, a pool bar, and Zacary's, the resort restaurant, right by the water. Worth knowing: the children's pool is reported as heated too by the island tourism board, but the resort itself only says that of the main pool, and one December guest found the water cooler than expected. Expect a lively family pool with an entertainment team, not a quiet one.

White hotel blocks wrap around a curving pool at Coral Suites, with terracotta paving, palms at the edges and a poolside bar close at hand. It's outdoors, heated and open all year, with a shallow end for easing in, and the Nuevo restaurant looks straight over the water.

Because the whole hotel is adults only, with a minimum check-in age of 18, the pool stays a grown-up place from breakfast to the last cocktail. Loungers, umbrellas, and pool and beach towels are all provided, and swimming is free. When you want a change of view, head up to the rooftop terrace for the Atlantic, or into the spa. A good pick for winter sun without children.