Does your home have a pool or hot tub?

[Rain Man]

I'm watching "Lottery Winner Home Buyers" or some such thing on HGTV. The couple is in Miami, and the homes all have swimming pools.

Swimming pools seem nice in concept, but I kind of wonder how much long-term quality of life they offer. A back yard swimming pool is not big enough to swim laps, I think. So if you have a pool, how do you use it? (If you live in an apartment or condo, you can consider a common-area pool to be your pool.)

And is maintenance a hassle?

When I bought my house, I took a long look at a house that had a pool. But in the end it didn't win me over.

Same questions for hot tubs, though I have no expectations off swimming laps in a hot tub.

Backyard pools are sure beautiful, though. When they show a house with a swimming pool, I ooh and aah. If I had a pool big enough to do laps in, and it was shallow enough for me to not drown, and if maintenance was easy, I'd want one.