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The Nardi Atlantico Sun Lounger, Tested Against an Australian Summer

What actually keeps this Italian lounger looking new after years of UV, chlorine and salt air.

Outdoor Furniture Ideas  ·  6 min read

The Atlantico reclines flat and rolls on hidden rear wheels, so it moves with the sun without scratching the pool surround.

Most sun loungers fail in the same place. The frame chalks and fades after a couple of summers, the sling sags, and the cheap hinge that adjusts the back seizes up with grit. If you have bought budget poolside loungers before, you already know the cycle. The Nardi Atlantico is built to break it, which is why it sits among the loungers we recommend most often across our sun loungers and daybeds range.

Designed by Raffaello Galiotto and made in Italy, the Atlantico is not a styling exercise. Every part of it is chosen to survive the conditions that destroy lesser loungers. Here is what holds up, and why it matters when you are spending real money on furniture that lives outside all year.

No. 01

The frame that does not fade or chalk

The Atlantico frame is tubular fibreglass-reinforced polypropylene with UV additives, and the colour runs all the way through the material rather than sitting on top as paint or powder coat. That single detail is the difference between a lounger that holds its finish and one that goes patchy.

When colour is moulded through the resin, a scuff or scratch does not expose a different colour underneath. There is no coating to flake, no metal to rust, and the UV stabilisers are baked into the material to resist the fading that flattens cheaper plastic loungers within a season or two. For a country that gets some of the harshest UV on the planet, that matters more here than almost anywhere.

• Colour through the resin. Scratches blend in instead of standing out.
• UV-treated polypropylene. Built to hold its tone under direct Australian sun.
• No metal in the frame. Nothing to rust near a pool or on a coastal block.
• Catas tested. Independently tested to Italian furniture standards, not just a marketing claim.

Colour is moulded through the resin, so the frame ages evenly instead of chalking at the edges.

No. 02

A sling built for chlorine and salt

The Atlantico uses a breathable synthetic sling stretched across the frame, not a foam cushion. Around a pool that is exactly what you want. The fabric does not soak up water, it dries in minutes, and it shrugs off the chlorine and salt that rot cushion fill and leave it smelling damp.

Because air moves through the weave, you are not lying on a hot, sweaty surface in February either. And when the fabric does eventually show its age after years of use, it is replaceable rather than throwaway. You re-skin the lounger instead of binning the whole thing, which is a quietly important point when you are weighing up cost per year.

• Quick-dry sling. No water-logged cushions after a swim or a downpour.
• Breathable weave. Comfortable to lie on even in peak summer heat.
• Replaceable fabric. Refresh the sling instead of replacing the lounger.

“A cheap lounger is a yearly purchase. A lounger that resists UV, salt and chlorine is a one-time one.”

No. 03

The practical details that get used every day

Durability gets people in, but the day-to-day details are what make a lounger worth owning. The Atlantico has the ones that matter sorted.

• Four-position reclining back. Adjusts from sitting upright to lying flat, with a mechanism that does not seize from grit.
• Rear wheels and non-slip feet. Tilt and roll it to follow the sun, then it stays put once you set it down.
• Stackable. Loungers stack for winter storage or to clear the deck for a party.
• Light at around 16kg. One person can move and reposition it without a fuss.

It is also armless, which lets the loungers sit close together along a pool edge and slide under a side table neatly. Small thing, but it is the kind of detail that makes a poolside actually look considered rather than cluttered.

Four recline positions and a stackable frame make the Atlantico as practical to store as it is to use.

View the Nardi Atlantico

The Verdict

Where the Atlantico earns its price

The Atlantico is not the cheapest lounger you can buy, and it is not trying to be. What you are paying for is a frame that holds its colour, a sling that dries fast and can be replaced, and hardware that keeps working after years outdoors. Spread that across the life of the lounger and the cost per summer lands well below the budget option you would otherwise be replacing every couple of years.

It is part of the wider Nardi outdoor furniture range, so if you are kitting out a pool area you can match it with side tables and chairs in the same finish. For a residential poolside that has to look good and survive Australian conditions year-round, it is one of the easiest recommendations we make.