The best Los Angeles hotels with pools
When temperatures soar in Los Angeles, you'll want a pool at your hotel to cool down in - ideally with a great bar attached to enjoy cool cocktails at sundown. From hip hideouts in Downtown to the best places to see and be seen in Beverley Hills and beyond, here's where to make a splash.
Out the back of Hotel Figueroa's semi-open Veranda restaurant is its Wednesday Addams-chic pool, brilliantly shaped like a coffin (no one knows why), and surrounded by loungers and cacti that, like the pool itself, date back decades. Beyond this is Ricks’s, a two-storeyed (again semi-open) bar with heaters for chillier evenings and a fun, party vibe. The property was built in the first half of the 20th century as a YWCA hostel, and this heritage, of which the pool is a part, is kept alive throughout.
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'Eye candy on the Sunset Strip' sums up this boutique hotel's look as well as its clientele. The social scene at the Mondrian revolves around an outdoor pool with underwater music. It's surrounded by cabanas and chaise longues, where starlet look-alikes sip lemongrass-infused cocktails and sunbathe while thumbing through celebrity gossip mags. At night, the pool area turns into Skybar, with DJs spinning, flickering candles and flirting on a rooftop with panoramic views across the urban mosaic.
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Oh, if the palm-printed walls of The Beverly Hills Hotel could talk. Elizabeth Taylor honeymooned here with six of her seven husbands; Faye Dunaway learnt how to swim in the pool; and a Yoko Ono and John Lennon 'bed-in' was staged in one of the bungalows. The services by the pool are excellent – ice-cold water, umbrellas aplenty, sun tan lotion, sunglasses cleaning and free snacks such as mini soft-serve ice-creams and mojito lollies. The people that work poolside – mostly blond, tanned teens clad in all-white uniforms – are like something out of a Brett Easton Ellis novel, and will adjust your parasol as much as you like throughout the day.
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The Oceana feels like a classic beachside club from the Fifites, nicely updated to be modern and fresh. Bedrooms are stacked around a butter-yellow courtyard, ringed with balconies and walkways that you half expect a blonde starlet with crimson lips to lean over and croon from. In the centre is a kidney-shaped turquoise pool, ringed with loungers and big, downy cocoon-style chairs. It's easy to stay active, with daily yoga classes and guided hikes, as well as weekend surf lessons. Guests freely borrow cruiser bicycles for pedalling around town and to the beach.
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A wonderfully creative hotel full of fantastical ideas: chairs shaped like teacups and white bathrooms that glow like the futuristic spaces in ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’. There’s a rooftop pool, gym and Philippe Starck-designed spa. The rooms, with their faux mink bedspreads, have a glam modernist feel. Saam restaurant does molecular gastronomy: think cotton candy foie gras, liquid olives and dragon’s breath popcorn. The SLS Patisserie serves up treats worthy of Alice in Wonderland. The main event though is the dark night-clubby restaurant/bar space called The Bazaar run by El Bulli alum José Andrés. At night it is quite the scene.
Hobnob with the occasional celebrity at this seaside American beach house in Santa Monica. Artworks by David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein decorate the public areas. Balconied bedrooms make you feel like are staying at your own private beach cottage, with their white wooden shutters that open to catch the sea breeze. The outdoor pool deck has private cabanas and chaise lounges, while the hotel’s casual-chic restaurants and bars afford gorgeous sunset views. Guests can step outside straight onto the Santa Monica beach promenade and bicycle trail.
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No other lodgings in Hollywood have as much character as this 1927 hotel, where the first Academy Awards ceremony was held. A plain façade hides an exquisite interior done in Spanish Colonial Revival style. But that's only half the story. The glamorous poolside area plays out a mid-20th-century modern theme, apropos to Hollywood's golden days when Marilyn Monroe slept in a suite here. After sunset, it transforms into an open-air lounge with cocktails, and killer DJs. Rooms have four-poster beds and gorgeously-tiled bathrooms.
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Chateau Marmont has remained the go-to hotel for Hollywood stars, who pop in and out largely unseen. It’s modelled on the Loire Valley's Chateau d’Amboise; expect frescoed vaulted ceilings, estate furniture and a warren of secret entrances and exits. Guests can opt for modern rooms, or one of the nine Spanish cottages, two poolside bungalows and two hillside bungalows dotted around the place. During daylight hours, a chilled-out social scene revolves around the small outdoor heated pool. Dotted around the lush grounds are nine Spanish cottages, two poolside bungalows and two hillside bungalows designed by mid-century modern architect Craig Ellwood.
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The Standard is a minimalist-modern boutique hotel, with big rooms and hipster style, along with a location that's great for exploring downtown or quick trips to Hollywood. The real scene orbits the rooftop swimming pool, which doubles as a busy beer garden and an outdoor cocktail bar with DJs. A total of 207 spacious rooms are cheekily named by size, from Medium to Gigantic and even 'Wow!', featuring platform beds, Egyptian cotton bedding and walls and curtains with swirls and stripes of slate gray, mustard yellow and cream.
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A cross between a bohemian hangout and a boutique hotel. The trellised front entrance opens into an intimate lobby space, where a mish-mash of antiques, art and shabby-chic furnishings mix. Cosy hallways with colourful carpeting and painted murals and artwork on the walls lead toward the guest suites, or you can step out into the grassy rooftop garden for fresh air and flowers. This is where you'll find the saltwater swimming pool, which is reserved for adults during most of the day and evening. Dine in the rooftop garden, where fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits grow, or order into your private suite at any time of the day or night.
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A tranquil oasis in the heart of Beverly Hills that delivers on every level. The hotel itself is exquisitely beautiful both inside and out, and a stay is enhanced by uniquely personalised service and a five-star experience that could really be a six star, if such a category existed. Winding walkways lined with lemon trees and palms make the grounds feel like a picturesque maze. Courtesy cars, including a Rolls Royce, will take you anywhere in Beverly Hills or Century City. There's an excellent spa and rooftop swimming pool with private cabanas.
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Next to the Sunset Strip, LA's best-known playground for rock stars and wild-child celebrity VIPs, this high-rise hotel in West Hollywood is a sophisticated retreat. Looking like a private apartment building, this white high-rise blends into the neighbourhood. Inside, it's all about being enveloped by luxury, staring in the gleaming marble-clad lobby where velvet-covered sofas await. Spacious suites come with private balconies for unwinding, or head to the rooftop pool where you can laze in a cabana all day long. Poolside dining is also available, best after dark when the fire pits crackle.
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A luxurious hotel with sweeping views of the Pacific, including from the pool and hot tub. Casa del Mar started as a beach club in the Roaring Twenties for Hollywood A-listers, and is one of only two hotels in the Los Angeles area with direct beach access. It now exudes casual elegance and style. Each room contains a rich walnut four-poster bed with exquisite John Robshaw fabrics: white linens and chenille throws and accented with shades of calming blues, whites, and creams that draw upon the seaside location. There are two restaurants: Terrazza and Catch, both of which have dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows perfect for watching the sunset.
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Inside a historic downtown building, the Los Angeles Athletic Club has a storied past; Charlie Chaplin once lived here. Today the club mixes its heritage – overstuffed wing-back chairs, Persian-patterned rugs and brass chandeliers dress up the lobby – with hip style that epitomises downtown LA's ongoing revitalisation. It's the facilities of the members-only athletic club that shine (entry is complimentary for hotel guests). Take the plunge into a heated lap pool – although it's indoor, it's Olympic-sized, so a great bet for swimming lengths. At group fitness classes such as yoga, kickboxing, pilates and Zumba, you'll be working up a sweat with an enviably fit crowd.
