About
BestPoolHotels is an independent editorial guide to the world's most memorable hotel pools. We don't rank hotels on thread count, lobby art, or breakfast buffets — we rank them on the one thing our readers actually came for: the pool.
Most hotel guides treat the pool as an afterthought. We flip that. Every hotel on this site is selected and ranked because of how good its pool is — the view, the water, the loungers, the crowd, the sunset light. If the pool isn't worth a flight, it doesn't make our lists.
We keep our city lists short — usually five to ten hotels — so every spot is one we'd genuinely book ourselves.
Every hotel earns a single Pool Score from 0 to 10, calculated from five weighted criteria. Each criterion is scored 0–10 by an editor, then the criteria are combined with the weightings below.
| Criterion | What we look at | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Pool design & setting | Architecture, materials, shape, integration with the building. | 25% |
| View & atmosphere | What you see from the water, the crowd, the music, the light. | 25% |
| Size & lounging space | Pool footprint, deck size, sunbeds, shade, room at peak hour. | 20% |
| Access & seasonality | Guest-only vs. day-pass, season length, daily hours, heated / year-round. | 15% |
| Service & maintenance | Cleanliness, water temperature, towel and bar service, attentiveness. | 15% |
| Criterion | Score (0–10) | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pool design & setting | 9.5 | 25% | 2.38 |
| View & atmosphere | 9.5 | 25% | 2.38 |
| Size & lounging space | 9.0 | 20% | 1.80 |
| Access & seasonality | 8.5 | 15% | 1.28 |
| Service & maintenance | 9.0 | 15% | 1.35 |
| Pool Score | 9.2 | ||
Pool Score (0–10) is our own editorial judgement of the pool, built from the five criteria above. Meta Rating (0–100)is a separate, external signal — a weighted blend of guest ratings from Google and TripAdvisor for the hotel as a whole.
The two often agree, but they measure different things: a beautiful pool can sit in a hotel with mixed service reviews (and vice versa). When a hotel has no usable third-party rating data, we hide the Meta Rating rather than show a fake number.
We re-score every hotel before each summer season.
A small note: pool details can be seasonal — opening dates, hours, and access for non-guests change year to year. Always double-check pool info on your booking page before you book.
Our shortlists come from a mix of on-the-ground visits, the hotels' own websites, and a careful read of recent traveler reviews across major booking platforms.
We never copy review text. Everything you read here is rewritten in our own words by our editors, with quotes and specifics cross-checked against multiple sources. If a hotel claims a "rooftop infinity pool" but real guests describe a small plunge tub, we go with the guests.
Pricing, opening hours, and seasonal details are verified directly with the hotel before publishing and re-checked at least once per year.
BestPoolHotels is funded by affiliate links. When you click a "Check availability" or "Book" link and complete a booking, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions keep the site independent and ad-free.
Affiliate relationships never influence our Pool Score or which hotels we include. Rankings are decided by the editorial team before any booking links are added, and hotels cannot pay for placement.
For full details, see our advertising disclosure. Questions? Email hello@bestpoolhotels.com.