3 OF A KIND:THE STANDARD HOTEL, Los Angeles
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tel: 001-213-892-8080
There are frequent parties up on this LA rooftop, where the pool is surrounded by deep red Astroturf, and complemented by a dancefloor, outdoor fireplace, movie-screen and vibrating waterbeds within bright red pods. The pool is up close and personal with surrounding skyscrapers and also affords aerial views of downtown LA and its financial and arts districts – so plenty of people-watching, both near and far, is on the menu.
Rooms: Rooms vary in size but, this being America, there is no such thing as small. They start at Medium (300 sq m) and rise through various metreage including Large, Huge, Gigantic, Humungous, Wow!, Big Penthouse and Bigger Penthouse (1,000 sq ft), a corner room with lots of natural light which seats six for dinner. Decor is pared down. From $245 a night (€186.50)
W HOTEL, Hong Kong
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tel: 00852-37172222
You’ll rarely swim higher than this in a city – the roof-top pool at the W Hotel is on the 76th floor, a vertiginous 692ft above Victoria Harbour.
From up here you can see across the cityscape, taking in both sides of Kowloon Island and all of Hong Kong Island. The view from the nearby hot tub is partly obscured by the ICC tower, but you can muse on the contrast between work and play as you watch people toiling in their offices while warm froth caresses you. Should you tire of the city view, you can contemplate the butterfly and clouds mosaic wall on one side of the pool, by Australian designer Fabio Ongarato.
The W Hotel is in the city’s West Kowloon commercial, entertainment and cultural district, close to the waterfront and it is connected to the Elements shopping centre.
Rooms: There are 393 rooms, all effusively named, with the starter space being known as the Wonderful room, rising all the way up to Extreme Wow. Features in various rooms include floor-to-ceiling windows for full-screen city and harbour views, walk-in rainshowers, which can become part of the bedroom when the sliding doors are open, and baths beside windows and/or TV screens. Decor is fresh oriental, in baby blues, pale olive-greens, turquoise, deep raspberry and aubergine. Doubles from €210.
GRAND HOTEL CENTRAL, Barcelona
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Heavenly moments are to be had up here in the roof-top pool, high above the city streets, looking onto Barcelona Cathedral next door and the cityscape beyond. This is an infinity pool and so brings the city into your face and a sense of frisson that comes when the edge of the water you’re sitting in meets thin air.
The Grand Hotel Central, which is part of the Design Hotels portfolio, is in a 1920s apartment building and, in a recent revamp, designers Sandra Tarruella and Isabel Lopez kept original features, such as the lift shaft and marble staircase, and mixed them in with the new chic, flat-planed, stylish look, in neutrals and dark brown with grey and light green hints.
The hotel is well located, in the Gothic quarter, beside the El Born district with its designer shops, bars and eateries, and a walk away from Las Ramblas, Plaza Catalun and the sea. No wonder the view from the pool is so street.
Rooms: There are 147 rooms including standard doubles, triples and various suites including a loft suite. Superior rooms have especially good city views while Deluxe kings have five windows for panoramic views of Barcelona. Doubles from €170