The 15 Best Rooftop Pools at Hotels Around the World

A rooftop pool at a hotel isn't just a place to swim — it's a vantage point, a social scene, and the single most efficient way to justify a hotel stay over an Airbnb. These 15 hotels have elevated the rooftop pool from amenity to attraction, with designs that range from infinity edges overlooking oceans to glass-bottomed pools suspended 40 stories above a city.

Marina Bay Sands in Singapore has the most famous rooftop pool on Earth — a 150-meter infinity pool on the 57th floor that seems to pour into the skyline. It's exclusive to hotel guests, which keeps it manageable, and the views at sunset across the Strait of Malacca are worth the room rate ($400+) on their own. The pool deck also has bars and restaurants, turning it into an all-day destination.

The Joule in Dallas is the American standout — a cantilevered pool that juts 8 feet beyond the building's edge, 10 stories above Main Street. Looking straight down while floating gives you the vertigo thrill that every other rooftop pool aspires to. Rooms from $250 and the pool is exclusively for guests. See more at https://www.thejouledallas.com.

Hotel Fasano in Rio de Janeiro sits on Ipanema Beach with a rooftop pool overlooking the Dois Irmãos mountains and the Atlantic. The Philippe Starck-designed property keeps the pool area sleek and uncrowded — an achievement in a city that treats pools as social arenas. The contrast of floating in stillness while Ipanema pulses below is quintessential Rio.

Belmond Hotel Caruso in Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast, has the most photographed pool in Italy — an infinity pool perched 1,000 feet above the Mediterranean, surrounded by 11th-century palace walls and terraced gardens. The water appears to merge with the sea below, and the setting at golden hour produces the kind of beauty that ruins your phone's storage.

SkyPark at Andaz Singapore, the Aman Tokyo's deep-soak pool on the 33rd floor, the rooftop pool at Soho House Barcelona overlooking the Gothic Quarter, and the ice-cold rooftop dip at The Thief in Oslo (heated in winter) round out a list where every pool tells a story about its city. The best rooftop pools don't just offer a swim — they offer a perspective.

A practical note: many luxury hotel pools are guest-exclusive, but some offer day passes or allow non-guests who book spa treatments or restaurant reservations. Call ahead rather than showing up in swim trunks with optimism.