Ora escapes

A great hotel pool isn’t the biggest one, or the bluest one. It’s the one I don’t want to leave for lunch.

Here are five picks that felt genuinely mindblowing to me, from a jungle canopy in Brazil to a crater in the middle of the desert. Those hotel pools are not always the biggest one, or the bluest one. It’s the one I don’t want to leave for lunch.

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzanie

This one is insane. The infinity pool sits right above a watering hole where elephants, buffalo, and antelope come to drink throughout the day. No glass, no jeep, just water and the savanna stretching to the horizon, with a live safari playing out in front of whoever’s in the pool.

The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa, French Polynesia

Here’s the pool that got me. The saltwater infinity pool, the largest on the island, with Mount Otemanu standing in the background like a painted backdrop. Around it, overwater bungalows perched on the turquoise lagoon. I can picture myself swimming, looking up, and feeling like I’ve fallen into a postcard that came to life.

Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge, Rio Negro, Brazil

This is the one that surprised me most. The infinity pool sits right on the bank of the Rio Negro, facing the Anavilhanas Archipelago, one of the largest river archipelagos on Earth, with roughly 400 islands scattered across the Amazon rainforest. You can swim, look up, and there’s nothing but forest and water in every direction. No roads, no noise, just the jungle.

Sky Lagoon, Reykjavik, Iceland

Not a hotel pool in the classic sense, but I couldn’t leave it out. This geothermal infinity pool faces straight out into the North Atlantic, and on a clear day I can see Snæfellsjökull, a glacier-capped volcano, sitting on the horizon. Water at 38-40°C, air that bites, and a view that looks faked. It isn’t.

Amangiri, Utah, USA

This is the one that looks fake in every photo. The pool is built directly into a sandstone escarpment in the middle of the Colorado Plateau, surrounded by nothing but red-rock mesas and canyon walls carved by wind and water over millions of years. No sea, no lake, just desert stretching to the horizon. I’ve never swum anywhere that felt more like another planet.

Grand Hotel Kronenhof, Pontresina, Switzerland

My pick for anyone who wants glaciers without giving up warm water. The spa’s infinity pool sits behind floor-to-ceiling windows in the Engadin Valley, with the Bernina glaciers filling the view. I go for the contrast, steaming pool, ice-capped peaks, total silence.

None of these pools made the cut because they are the biggest or the most photographed. They made it because each one turns a swim into the whole reason for the trip. If this kind of stay is what you are after, take a look at the rest of our hotel edits: the same filter applied to rooms, rooftops, and everything else worth booking a flight for.