Each hotel is being equally honored in no particular order.
An exemplar hotel pool is a lot more than a place to show off how great you look in your new bikini. It’s not just a spot to cool off from the sun, gather with friends, have a splash fight with a kid, or to lounge about in a chair while a pool butler spritzes your face with mineral water or brings you a fruity drink. A pool, in fact, acts as a portal to “blue mind,” a state of tranquility, stress reduction, and meditative happiness that scientist and author Wallace J. Nichols explains in his book Blue Mind. As humans, according to Wallace, we’re hardwired to connect deeply with water. We’re drawn to hear it, feel it, gaze at it, and lie around it. And there’s no better place to revel in “blue mind” than beside (or submerged in) a superlative hotel pool. Here, we give you the ten pools to put on your list for “blue minding” in 2024. These extraordinary pools embody the spirit of their destination, and we promise that they’ll bring you bliss.
Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, Italy
It’s Venice, and water abounds. But the Hotel Cipriani’s glamorous, Olympic-sized pool, the only one of its size and grandeur in the city, redefines water-y repose — even in a destination filled with canals. Fully heated and filtered by seawater, it reigns as the veritable centerpiece of the hotel, a place where sophisticates gather at waterside tables for lunch or aperitivo. On Giudecca Island, with spellbinding views of Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Square, boasting gardens where Casanova frolicked with his paramours, and home to a vintage mahogany boat, the Cipriani and its pool are unrivaled. *At time of publish this property is temporarily closed and is set to reopen TK
The Setai, Miami Beach, Miami
Proving that more is better, The Setai bedazzles with its trio of masterful pools, set side-by-side in decorative rows, lined up east to west to capture both the sunrise and sunset. How to choose between them? Opt for the 75-degree lap pool, the 85-degree center pool, or the family pool, which maintains a comfy 90 degrees. Composed of 99% recycled glass, the glimmering pools mirror the color of the sky and sea. Poised beachfront, the Setai conjures Asian gracefulness, accented by classic South Beach buzz.
Park Hyatt Tokyo, Japan
You saw it in Lost in Translation. Make like Scarlett Johansson’s character and take a dip in Park Hyatt Tokyo’s nest-like pool. You’ll freestyle across it, hovering above Tokyo’s glittering urbanscape. Extending 65-feet, 47 floors up, the tranquil sanctum above Tokyo’s bustling hubbub features floor-to-ceiling windows that frame not only the eye-catching skyline but momentous Mount Fiji on the horizon. Situated in the heart of Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest hoods, this hotel remains an Asian icon.
Amangiri, Utah
Amid southern Utah’s otherworldly, 180-million-year-old desert terrain, remote Amangiri has a spectacular ability to awaken something spiritual inside. Used by guests as both a place to decompress in nature’s largesse and a base for visiting a variety of national parks, the resort revolves around a great room, the nucleus of the retreat. Panoramic windows allow nature to flow indoors, while on one side, the breathtaking, irregularly shaped pool, a metaphor for the desert’s organic shapes, wraps around an evocative rock. It feels like a bonafide oasis.
Singita Serengeti House, Tanzania
Part of a resplendent wildlife region in the Serengeti, Singita Grumeti Reserve’s 350,000 acres of grassy plains brims with wildlife. It’s also home to several Singita lodges, one a villa-like retreat called Singita Serengeti House. Lavishly appointed, overseen by a chef, butler, housekeeper, and safari guide, Serengeti House accommodates just eight guests, Step outside for its pièce de résistance: A spellbinding 82-foot lap pool that rims the bushland, with all-encompassing Serengeti views like a golden sea flowing to the horizon. Take part in your own “swim safari.” You’ll likely see giraffes, warthogs, and more as you splash.
Bürgenstock Resort and Alpine Spa, Switzerland
You’ll glide across limpid Lake Lucerne on a catamaran to reach the vintage funicular that whisks you two thousand feet up hill to the mountain’s summit where an uncanny, village-like retreat unfolds. Cows with bells wander a meadow, hiking trails wend past, and a design-centric, contemporary hotel draws from Swiss artistry. Its Alpine Spa boasts myriad irresistible wellness elements, but by far the most awe-inspiring (and Instagrammable) fixture remains the cliff-hugging infinity pool which juts from the mountain to float over the lake.
Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, Louisiana
Chic, artsy, with two restaurants created and helmed by award-winning chefs, Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans occupies a historic tower that lords over the mighty Mississippi River. With 341 guest rooms and suites, the hotel nevertheless evokes a boutique chic and hospitable friendliness that befits the Big Easy’s ever-welcoming air. Cleverly furnished and filled with art that references the city and region in a sophisticated way, the hotel gives the city’s bustle some recreational competition with its gorgeous 75-foot pool, edged with a large painting that depicts a variety of local birds. Frozen rose’ and pool fare by Chef Donald Link seal the deal.
Montage Healdsburg, Healdsburg, CA
Dive into this 73-foot-long, zero-edge pool, flanked by cabernet sauvignon vines at dawn, to watch the sunrise as you swim your laps. In Sonoma, Montage Healdsburg spreads out over 230 vineyard, oak, rosemary, and eucalyptus abundant acres, its standalone bungalow suites marvels of NorCal sustainable architecture. This (adults-only) pool, kitted out with cabanas, is the resort’s heartbeat, with the adjacent oval-shaped family pool, casual cafe, spa, and fitness center completing the quintessence of wine country wellbeing.
Cover image, courtesy of Bürgenstock Resort and Alpine Spa; words by Becca Hensley.
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