The height of luxury for any aspiring millionaire has to be the outdoor pool.  Typically these are found on the continent, but increasingly luxury self-catering properties are making waves in the UK with their own pools. With a summer that's predicted to be a ‘scorcher' by the MET office, Blue Chip Holidays has found a selection of available properties in July and August that have access to heated outdoor pools; just the tonic for a hot summer of fun!

Inow and Polurrian, St Ives

Inow and  are set within the magnificent Tregenna Castle Estate situated in the picturesque town of St Ives. There is an extensive leisure centre with a spa and hair salon, fully equipped gym, indoor and outdoor heated pools, sauna, jacuzzi, squash, table tennis, croquet, tennis and badminton courts plus a 16 hole golf course with views overlooking the fantastic St Ives coastline. Set within 72 acres of garden and woodland, and with direct access to Porthminster beach, it's the perfect place to escape for a beach break with that extra touch of luxury.

And if that's not enough, Inow and Polurrian are ideally positioned for days out exploring the beautiful county of Cornwall and all its delights, including the Eden Project, Tate Gallery, Newquay Zoo, Land's End, as well as the county's historical monuments and castles.

On Monday myself, Caron, Alan & Brian the Blue Chip Travel Turtle dusted off our passports and set off for Saunton in North Devon.

We took a fairly unconventional route to Saunton, which included driving up the M5 to the Bridgwater junction, realising the error of our ways and driving 20 minutes back down the M5 to the junction which we should have turn off in the first place, signposted Barnstable.

Despite this slight misjudgement we were kept "entertained" by the BBC Radio 2 music quiz where Alan really came into his own and started to show his age.

After the Human Navigation System error and a spell of flirting with the low petrol warning light, we safely made it to Saunton Sands, which has been the setting for several famous productions including Robbie Williams Angel's music video. The beach itself is surely one of the best in the area, with 3 miles of flat golden sand located in front of the Braunton Borrows, which are a huge area of sand dunes. The beach benefits from good surf, making it a haven for longboarders, kite surfers and sailors. Even in Mid-December the beach seems to retain its popularity with the keen surfers who were prepared to enter the icy waters in the hope of catching a good wave.