If you're looking for a hotel pool experience beyond a quick plunge and a few laps, here are a few of the hotels around the world that combine imagination, architecture, ambiance and sometimes advanced engineering to deliver a hotel amenity you can't help to want to dip into.
The Rocks, Sydney, Australia
The 5-star Park Hyatt Sydney curves along Dawes Point, with 155 rooms and suites, floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views of the Sydney harbor. The panorama from the rooftop pool and terrace is equally impressive, as are the amenities which include a pillow menu, heated toilet seats, butler service and spa.
South Beach, Miami, United States
The Art Deco-style Delano is where hip South Beach took off in 1994 when Philippe Starck redesigned the 1947 building for Ian Schrager. It is on the beach, steps from Lincoln Road shopping, the New World Symphony and Miami Beach Convention Center and always buzzing during Art Basel. Rooms can be described as "beach chic." Its visually dramatic swimming pool has underwater music. The 3,500 square foot Aqua Spa offers full-service spa classics and anti-aging treatments with a rooftop view. Hidden away in a subterranean sanctuary is the FDR Bar with international DJs, live music, celebrity drop-ins and creative cocktails from 11 pm to 5 am Monday, Friday and Saturday. Lots of adult fun, but the hotel is also family friendly with a kids' playground and babysitting available.
Valais
Le Crans Hotel & Spa sits mountaintop just off the Crans-Montana ski resort slopes with panoramic views over the Valais Alps. Accommodations in the chalet-style hotel are limited to 15 luxurious suites and apartments with fireplaces and hot tubs. The rotunda restaurant serves Michelin-starred and GaultMillau pointed dishes, the cellar is filled with wines from all over the world, and the serene spa offers a full menu of Eastern and Western treatments. There are two heated swimming pools, but the outdoor one is open to the elements year round.
Historic Center, Puebla, Mexico
Near the Puebla Cathedral in the historic town center, La Purificadora has retrofitted a 19th water processing factory with minimalist and modern lines while preserving many of the original elements like the stone aqueducts. The elevated glass-walled rooftop pool, however, is a sleek addition and is nearly 100-feet (30 m) long. All 26 rooms are stylish and comfortable, slightly less puritanical is design than the common areas. Three suites have private hot tubs.
Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France
Built in 1929 as Molitor Aquatic Center, the building - resembling an Art Deco ocean liner - was converted into the luxury Hotel Molitor in 2014 with an emphasis on sports and well-being. Its more than 18,000-square foot (1700 m2) Clarins© spa is the biggest hotel spa/solarium in the city. The indoor pool - piscine d'hiver - is 108 feet (33 m) long. The outdoor pool, maintained at 82°F (28°C), is breathtaking at 151 feet (46 m) and has often been the setting for fashion shows, including one in 1946 when Lucien Pollet introduced the bikini. The hotel's 124 rooms and suites have a sleek contemporary decor. Extras include babysitting and special programs for children. Roland Garros Stadium, Parc Des Prince Stadium and the Longchamp Racetrack are close by.
Whampoa Garden, Hong Kong, China
On the Kowloon waterfront, the 555-room Harbour Grand Kowloon has six restaurants, a rooftop glass-walled swimming pool and a free shuttle bus to downtown Tsim Sha Tsui every 20 minutes. Rooms have harbor, courtyard or city views. It is near the Hung Horn Promenade and the MTR Whampoa Station, Exit D2.
San Miguel, Ibiza, Spain
From a clifftop 590 feet (180 m) above the sea, Hotel Hacienda Na Xamena is a 5-star property that has been offering Ibiza hospitality and style since 1971. Rooms and suites are bright and airy, and amenities abound, but perhaps most stunning is the series of infinity-edge cascading hot tub pools carved out of the cliffside available to hotel spa guests.
Central King West, Toronto, Canada
Located in a hub of art galleries, boutiques, and restaurants, is the stylish Thompson Toronto - the only hotel in the city to boast a rooftop infinity pool. Rooms are classy, designed by a studio in New York, and feature dark, hardwood floors, full length windows, and modern design. A rooftop bar complements the pool, with four other bars on-site. Thompson Toronto is a great place to start off your night whether you book a stay here or stop in for a cocktail.
Kreis 2, Zurich, Switzerland
Housed in what was once the Hürlimann Brewery, the B2 is a high-tech urban hotel with a fashionable modern design that honors the building's industrial heritage. Highlights of the long list of amenities include a popular heated rooftop pool with city views, a wellness spa with thermal baths and a 36-foot-high library lounge with over 33,000 titles.
Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Fasano brand has become synonymous with sophistication in Brazil, with some of the poshest addresses in the country. Elegant and expensive and popular with a beautiful jet-set crowd, amenities at the Rio property include a rooftop infinity pool with beach and mountain views, a luxurious spa, a see-and-be-seen bar and the famed Fasano Al Mare restaurant.