When we went on vacation as kids, my parents used to joke that our destination didn't matter… all we cared about was gift shops and swimming in the hotel pool. I'm older now, and gift shops have lost some of their appeal, but I still love a good pool.
These days, though, it takes a little bit more than the pool at the Holiday Inn to impress me. Here are ten breaktaking hotel pools guaranteed to knock the socks off adults and kids alike.
TOP ROW:
1. The Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore has a rooftop infinity pool right at the edge of the city's skyline. (You can also buy tickets to visit the pool, even if you're not staying at the hotel.)
2. The Hotel Joule in Dallas features this pool that cantilevers out over the city's streets.
3. The heated swimming pool at the Hotel Portillo in Portillo, Chile is perfect for relaxing after a long day of skiing.
4. At the Katkies Hotel, Santorini.
5. The spectacular pool at the Raleigh hotel, built in 1940, has played host to celebrities and figured in countless postcards. It's still one of the hottest pool scenes in Miami.
BOTTOM ROW:
6. The hotel pool at San Alfonso del Mar, in Chile, is the world's largest swimming pool, sprawling for nearly 3/5 of a mile along the shore of the Pacific Ocean. It's also the world's deepest, bottoming out at 115 feet.
7. The Endemico Resguardo Silvestre hotel, in Baja California's wine country, has a pool with breathtaking views of the desert landscape.
8. The infinity pool at the Ubud Hanging Gardens, in Bali, is two stories tall and overlooks the surrounding rain forest. As if that weren't enough, each room also has its own plunge pool. Image from Freshome.
9. The Casa Colombo Hotel in Sri Lanka boasts this pink pool.
10. And no roundup of hotel pools would be complete without a mention of the massive pool complex at Caesar's Palace, in Las Vegas. Remniscent of the Neptune Pool at William Randolph Hearst's Hearst Castle, the Garden of the Gods pool oasis comprises eight different pools, all surrounded by temples and statuary. Non hotel guests can get in for a fee of $20 on the weekend.
