Pool party at the Four Seasons

Around the FASHION editorial office, “staycation” has become one of those faddish mongrel-words on our Avoid list—along with recessionista and celebutante. But the fact remains that sometimes on a 30-degree day you don’t find yourself at a friend’s family cottage or on a glamorous yacht for the weekend. What is one to do? Cobble together a holiday in the city, that’s what.

With this in mind, I towed an unsuspecting friend to the Four Seasons (21 Avenue Rd., 416-964-0411) pool on a recent Saturday as a birthday treat—the FS democratically offers a day pass to us non-staying plebs for a riff-raff-deterring $60. She died and went to heaven, what with the comfy loungers, cocktail menu, limitless crisp, white towels and sparkly, consistent sun (plus the gossip rags, foreign fashion mags and Sour Keys that I supplied). Double bonus friend points to me.

What the pool area lacks in ambience (it’s a touch concrete-y) it makes up for in spotless service, nice touches like a complimentary urn of cranberry- and lemon-infused water, bowl of fruit and selection of newspapers. Not to mention the supremely glamorous wash and change room, with its ample supply of fluffy robes, iced hand towels (how do they make them stay moist and cool all day?), big pump jars of SPF 30 and mouthwash, and dream-water-pressure showers. And if you wanted to, you could work up a sweat in the fitness centre before taking a plunge into the pool. We didn’t get around to that.

When we left at 6 p.m., responsibly tanned, freshly showered and supremely hydrated, we truly felt like we were returning from a mini-break of the most relaxing kind. No check-in or boarding pass required.

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