5 Favorite Hotel Pools

1. Le Bristol Hotel, Paris. Teak decks and a stunning view of rooftops, plus elegant wall paintings.

2. Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles. An egg-shaped pool in the midst of greenery, swans and the like. You can jump right out of your ritzy cottage into the water.

3. Kalev Spa Hotel, Tallinn, Estonia. Fifty meters long, with accompanying slides, water chutes and fountains. It used to be a Soviet training facility; the hotel is merely an appendage.

4. The Stanford Park Hotel, Menlo Park, California. The pool is small, but you can swim anytime and the staff keeps the water pleasantly warm even when the air hits freezing. Plus, you can enjoy the sound of trains whistling as they pass outside.

5. The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, Arizona. Nestled in the high Sonoran Desert against the backdrop of the Tortolita Mountains its three pools and 235-foot water slide make this a great family retreat.