A Pool With A View
3:31 PMWhen I was a little kid, I drew houses. More often than not, it'll have a caption that says "My Dream House". It always was a three-storey house with a roof deck pool (complete with palm trees and daybeds that looks so comfy you just wanna lay there and rest all day and night (while counting stars). I tried looking for my artwork but I think I have already lost it. If only I can find them again it'll surely bring back good memories. With the advancement of architecture and building design nowadays, my dream is of course not far from reality. I could make it happen if I have all the money I need. Haha! Then again, while I don't have the required money yet then I might as well just continue dreaming and admire what others have built enough for everyone's amazement.
My dream house is a far cry from the risk the architects took to build pools with a view. These are pools located impossibly high off the ground. Some even have infinity-edges that make you think they never end thus the word infinity. Let me share to you some of the amazing structures that have been built. See if you have been to any of these...
1. InterContinental Dubai Festival City - A transparent acrylic section extends beyond the edge of the hotel building, giving swimmers the impression of being suspended in mid air and of course it has the amazing view of the Dubai Skyline. At 36 floors high, the InterContinental Dubai Festival City boasts exquisitely designed rooms with waterfront views of the vibrant Dubai Creek or the 100 berth Festival Marina.
2. Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Palms Hotel Las Vegas, NV, USA - This suite takes up the entire 52nd floor. The pool cantilevers off the edge of the tower. The hotel has fantasy towers too and at the top of the Fantasy Tower are the six Sky Villas, which each offer an outdoor pool overlooking The Strip; Playboy Club with its own casino; Moon nightclub, with a retractable roof; and the restaurant Nove Italiano.The new tower also houses a state-of-the-art recording studio and a floor of meeting space.
3. Thompson Toronto, Canada - The 16-storey luxury hotel, designed by Studio Gaia, has 102 guest rooms and 30,000 square feet of dining and event space—including three restaurants, a ballroom, a lobby bar, and a rooftop lounge and patio with an infinity pool. The rooftop, on the 16th floor, has a patio with an infinity pool and an indoor lounge with a fireplace and bar. The space offers unobstructed 360-degree views.
4. W Hong Kong - Located in West Kowloon, the hub of the buzzing financial district of Hong Kong, the new W brings a large dose of New York style to this cosmopolitan Asian business capital. The area is right on the commercial waterfront, so instead of luxury yachts you are more likely to look out onto imposingly large freight and cargo ships. It works though, juxtaposing the designer, luxury environment with the gritty, functional realism of the hotel's location. One of the standout is the spectacular rooftop pool, featuring an incredible mega-scale mosaic of a butterfly graphic created by Australian designer Fabio Ongarato. The pool looks out over the whole island - one of the most breathtaking in the city.
5. Intercontinental Hong Kong - Good things come in threes at this Intercontinental: the third-floor Pool Terrace, with its feng shui-inspired outdoor pool (one of Hong Kong’s largest); the spectacular “infinity” spa pools with three distinct temperature areas; and option number three -- the private infinity pool in the new 7,000-square-foot presidential suite.
6. Burj Al Arab, Dubai - Soaring skyward like the sail of a huge dhow, the futuristic tower of this spectacular hotel is a landmark as exclusive as it is unique. Burj Al Arab stands around 1,000 feet high and 900 feet offshore on a man-made island, linked by a causeway to the mainland adjacent to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The outdoor pool and sundeck overlook the Arabian Gulf.
7. Hotel Caruso Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Italy - This Orient-Express hotel's infinity pool is killer. How pretty is that? A former 11th century palace overlooking the Amalfi Coast, Hotel Caruso has long welcomed guests to its exquisitely decorated rooms - and has now been returned to its original glory. But the biggest star in the hotel is the open-air heated infinity pool. You've got evocative medieval ruins on one side and infinite shades of blue stretching out before you.
8. Marina Bay Sands Singapore - If you want to take a dip in this pool, you'll need a head for heights - it's 55 storeys up. Oh oh not me I think! Swimming to the edge won't be quite as risky as it looks. While the water in the infinity pool seems to end in a sheer drop, it actually spills into a catchment area where it is pumped back into the main pool. At three times the length of an Olympic pool and 650ft up, it is the largest outdoor pool in the world at that height. The SkyPark has a huge infinity pool with amazing views over the city of Singapore. The pool is 150 meter long; at a height of 200 meters up in the air. Right next to the pool is a huge lounge deck area where you can relax a bit and soak up the fact that you’re experiencing something quite unique.
9. Blood-Red Pool The Library, Koh Samui, Chaweng Beach, Thailand - This elegant and modern boutique hotel is most remarkable for its amazing blood-red pool and the tall trees that seem to grow in, around and through the building. The aforementioned red pool serves as the focal point, with daybeds, Thai antiques, and an open air mini-library.
Of course will I ever end this list without including a hotel pool with a view in Santorini? Check this out...
10. Astarte Suites Santorini, Greece - Santorini, Thira, Stroggili, or Santa Irini, are many different names for the same beautiful island. Astarte is a luxurious 9-suite complex, each with its own personal style and vision. Built in one of the island's most beautiful areas, opposite to the endless Aegean blue, every detail in Astarte was made especially for you who know how to enjoy the best things in life. All suites have volcano and caldera views, even from the interior of the suites. All suites have a heated, indoor Jacuzzi-pool, air-conditioning, satellite television, isoclima window glasses, direct-dial telephone, mini-bar, bathrobes, slippers, Hermes cosmetics and other comfort amenities. Astarte Suites facilities include the large outdoor swimming pool with Jacuzzi, sun-bathing deck, pool bar, snack bar, and the 'LAVA' lounge cafe-bar, located above the swimming pool.
PHOTO CREDIT: Google Images
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