Swimming in a city hotel often involves rolling up your towel and taking the lift to the basement. Underground is where most urban stays install their water features, if they even have one. With news of the Thames-view pool currently in the works at the new St. Clement hotel, we’re reminded it doesn’t have to be that way. The Health Club at the new London property at 180 The Thames is going against the tide, building its 25-metre pool beside glass walls overlooking the river, so swimmers can feel as if they’re doing lengths in the Thames. With views of Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and the London Eye, it’s basically clothes-free sightseeing.
It’s got us dreaming about pools with water views — the ideal situation for travellers who love the idea of wild swimming but not the practice itself. For instance, at The Yeatman in Porto, a luxury hotel owned by grape-growing Fladgate group, a pool in the shape of a wine bottle has epic Douro River views from the deck and underwater, thanks to in-built glass portholes.
At Hilton Molino Stucky in Venice, located on the edge of Giudecca Island, guests can watch vaporetti crisscross the lagoon from its rooftop pool, atop a converted historic mill. And in the Finnish capital, Clarion Helsinki’s pool enjoys prime 16th-storey rooftop views over the city. In summer the roof and walls retract to let in the Scandi sunshine, while in winter heat is pumped indoors to make it useable year-round.
At the point where Europe glides into Asia on the Bosphorus, you have more than one waterfront hotel pool to choose from. The most famous are Istanbul’s Peninsula, so close to the shoreline that seagulls float metres away, and the Four Seasons, with its salt-sprayed pool terrace. But the biggest pool of all can be swum at Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul — views encompass the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, so you can avoid the long entry lines and ‘see’ them poolside.
To the Americas. If you’re dedicated to squeezing in your laps between sights, the best New York hotel pool can be found at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge — like the very best city waterfront swims, it allows you to accomplish both at once. The same can be said of Emiliano Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, where swimmers get a front-row seat over Copacabana Beach and its 1970 mosaic Roberto Burle Marx promenade. The pool’s all-glass side panel reveals swimmers’ underwater moves to people below.
Asia’s steamier cities have some impressive outdoor swimming spots. In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands’ pool spans 150 metres atop its triplet of towers. And in Hong Kong we like that Harbour Grand Kowloon’s infinity-edge pool overlooks the skyline and Victoria Harbour.
In Sydney, Park Hyatt’s pool throws in Opera House views, making it the best place to witness the New Year’s fireworks. And in South Africa, the pool at the Silo Cape Town might feel for all the world like you’re at a beach resort, with its Atlantic Ocean vista, but it is moments from tourist sights including the V&A Waterfront, Cape Wheel and ferries to Robben Island. A masterstroke.
