In case you hadn’t noticed, hotel pools
have moved up a notch from the kinds of places we once learned to doggy
paddle, and have become the featured item, the designer mint on the
pillow in a hotel’s amenity kit. It’s good to be a pool these days.
Sparing no expense, we travelled the globe to find you the very best of
them. It was no picnic, but work is work and someone has to step up to
the plate. These are the pools that show up in those dreams you’ve been
having. The ones where Kate Moss emerges from the water dripping with
sexiness, and who for some reason is unable to keep her hands off you.
They brush up against lush jungle, and reach across towering cityscapes.
Pools whose edges seem to disappear into their surroundings like
they’re not even there. Without exception, they look nothing like any
pool we ever swam in as kids. The 20 best hotel pools in the world look a
little something like this:
1. Ubud Hanging Gardens, Bali
It’s made from solidified volcanic ash and has been dubbed the “most
amazing pool in the world.” And who’s to argue? Arriving here is like
getting back to the hotel on your wedding night and popping the buttons
on your bride’s dress. You could spend hours moving from one spot to
another, each more thrilling than the last. It’s absurdly beautiful,
right up to the strip of jungle at the edge of the pool. [Details]
2. Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore
The iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel dominates the Singapore skyline. It
looks like someone landed a very big skateboard on top of three
skyscrapers. 57 floors up is the Skypark. The infinity pool spans almost
the whole length, some 500 feet of Windex disappearing into the
skyline, giving the impression that you could easily swim off the edge.
You can’t. [Details]
3. Paresa Resort, Phuket, Thailand
The infinity pool at the Paresa resort is lit by fiber optics, and
creates the effect of swimming in a starlit sky. It’s like taking a dip
in the deep end of Stephen Hawking’s brainwaves. If, by some chance, the
idyllic views across the Andaman sea piss you off, just pop on over to
the energy flotation pool – Paresa’s other pool – and hang around near
the quartz crystal obelisk. It’s been said to soften negative energy.
Once your negative energy is sufficiently pliant, you’ll never want to
leave, which will instill in you the most often-heard phrase at Paresa:
“Phuket, we have to go home tomorrow.” [Details]
4. San Alfonso del Mar, Chile
What’s more than a kilometer in length, covers 20 acres, has
sailboats, and looks like an ocean? If you answered the pool at the San
Alfonso del Mar Resort, you’d be right. Hardly surprising, this is the
largest outdoor pool in the world. The original intention was to build
an infinity pool. Then someone said, “screw the illusion of infinity,
we’ll just make it infinite.” The pool is so big it has a pool in it.
From the right angle it looks like just more of the Pacific. You can go
kayaking here, or try your hand at windsurfing. [Details]
5. Hotel Costa Dei Fiori, Sardinia
On the island of Sardinia somewhere between the coastlines of France
and Italy lies the infinity pool at the Costa dei Fiori. It’s prime seat
panoramic view across the Mediterranean. Like an Atlanta NASCAR finish.
Only slower. Like really a lot slower. [Details]
6. The Address, Dubai
We know wedding cakes with fewer tiers than the pool at The Address
in downtown Dubai. It’s a five-tiered pool overlooking lakes and
fountains and is so close to the Burj Khalifa you have to stand on your
head to see it. This is an urban setting. The only way it could get more
urban is if the water in the pool was made of concrete. [Details]
7. Cambrian Hotel, Switzerland
There are pools and there are outdoor pools, and then there’s the
outdoor infinity pool at the Cambrian Hotel, located just minutes from
the Alpine ski resort of Adelboden. Set amongst landscape more dramatic
than the Kardashians, this is man-in-his-element outdoors, the kind of
chest-beating, north-face-of-the-Eiger outdoors that separates men from
men. Are you man enough for the Cambrian? [Details]
8. Golden Triangle, Thailand
Not just a pretty pool, The Golden Triangle Resort is also an
elephant camp. You can go elephant trekking here, and mahout training –
that’s elephant driving to you. So wind down the windows, pull back the
lid, and take an elephant out for a spin. [Details]
9. Qasr Al Sarab, Abu Dhabi
The Empty Quarter Desert has been described as beautiful, harsh, and
epic. Dropped down into the desert, the freeform pool at Qasr Al Sarab
takes out the harsh out, and lights up at night like a hotel in a
desert. Epic. [Details]
10. Kandalama Hotel, Sri Lanka
Even the edge of the pool’s seems to have fallen off the edge of the
pool at Kandalama. You’ll find it in the lake, where it blends without a
ripple into its surroundings. In the evenings, a traditional flautist
from the village comes to the pool and plays. [Details]
11. Conrad Maldives, Rangali Island
Voted best hotel in the world twice. At least. The only way to get here is by seaplane.
It’s a diver’s paradise, full of manta rays, dolphin, and vibrant living coral. Not a diver? No worries. There’s an underwater restaurant, and a mini submarine to get you down to the reef. [Details]
It’s a diver’s paradise, full of manta rays, dolphin, and vibrant living coral. Not a diver? No worries. There’s an underwater restaurant, and a mini submarine to get you down to the reef. [Details]
12. Golden Nugget, Las Vegas
The pools in Bali and the Maldives may be lovingly placed among the
tranquil waters and jungle settings of the world’s most romantic love
spots, but there’s no shark slide. For that you need The Tank at the
Golden Nugget, a 30 foot slide through a tank of sharks and other sea
creatures, all out to kill you if they get the chance. [Details]
13. Hotel Villa Mahal, Turkey
The impression at Villa Mahal is that everything is flowing. The
Jacuzzi into the pool, the pool into the sky, the sky into the Turkish
Mediterranean waters. They try to tell you it’s an illusion, but we know
better. [Details]
14. Intercontinental, Dubai – Festival City
The 80 foot pool extends out over the street, from where you can see
the Burj Khalifa. (let’s end this now. If you’re in Dubai – or somewhere
near Dubai – you can see the Burj Khalifa). From below, the
glass-bottomed pool means you can also be seen. So make sure to pack
your best swimsuit. Unless you want to draw a crowd. [Details]
15. Library Hotel, Thailand
The spectacular Red Pool at The Library looks like one of the guests
just had a fight with a Great White, and didn’t win. Fortunately, this
isn’t the case. Mosaic tiles of oranges, yellows and reds are the cause,
and combined they create a pool unique in color and style, and designed
to dazzle. [Details]
16. Hotel Caruso, Italy
Set in the cliffs at the high point above the town of Ravello on Italy’s Amalfi coast, the elliptical pool at the 11th century Caruso floats among clouds and is anything but 11th
century. On a clear day you can look down at the beaches and watch hot
Italian women wearing practically nothing. Not you fool, you’re on your
honeymoon. [Details]
17. Jade Mountain, St. Lucia
The pools at Jade Mountain in the Eastern Caribbean Sea are made of
unique, colored glass tiles designed specifically for the resort. Each
suite at Jade Mountain has its own pool, and each pool is designed in
the same color scheme as the room. The result is a perfect symbiosis,
where room and pool become one, and move in together. [Details]
18. Sanctuary Resort, Paradise Valley
With names like Camelback Mountain and Paradise Valley, it’s hard to
go wrong at this luxury resort and spa. The best of two worlds is
offered here. Pampered luxury at the spa and poolside, the rugged
Arizona desert just a step beyond. [Details]
19. Intercontinental, Hong Kong
The open-air infinity pool overlooking Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour
and skyline gives you a front row seat to one of the world’s most
exciting cities. For nighttime dips alongside a dramatic city landscape,
this one is hard to beat. [Details]
20. Singita Sasakwa Lodge, Tanzania
The infinity pool at Sasakwa Lodge overlooks a wide and awe-inspiring
swathe of Northern Tanzania. Sit back and take in the sweeping plains
of the Serengeti National Park that stretch out before you. Yes, there’s
wildlife in abundance. From here you can witness the annual migration
of zebra and wildebeest, often called the greatest spectacle on earth. [Details]
