Travel
The Best Swimming Pools On The Planet
At their best, hotel swimming pools are theatres of relaxation, the aquatic stage for cooling bodies and warming romances, where time floats on impossibly clear water. Nothing signals the start of a holiday like the first dive, when we shrug off the strain of the journey and quotidian concerns to reemerge somewhere else, preferably completing the transformative plunge with the first of several poolside cocktails.
Since they became suburban status symbols and the inspiration for countless artists, from Mr David Hockney’s splashes to Mr Terry O’Neill’s shot of Ms Faye Dunaway at the Beverly Hills, hotel pools have also become heavy weapons in the hospitality arms race. The world is dotted with heavenly bodies of water that are at once feats of engineering, triumphs of design and tranquil oases at one with their surroundings. From the bustle of one of the world’s densest cities to the wide-open savannah and an island paradise, MR PORTER presents nine of the best. All you need to do is pack your trunks and a few good books.
