Deserts and ice-blue swimming spots make good company. At this
iconic mid-century-modern stay, palm trees fan the sky and huddle
over the pool’s perimeter. When the Californian sun gets too
intense, take shelter under the lemon- and white-striped umbrellas
and hit up the vintage-feels lemonade stand. Coordinating your
beverage to your bather feels so right here.

Fran Lebowitz said it best: “Los Angeles is a large city-like
area surrounding The Beverly Hills Hotel.” A beacon of Hollywood
glamour and the nucleus of A-list living, the gilded hotel has its
fair share of siren stories. Faye Dunaway enjoyed a post-Oscars
breakfast here in March 1977, dressed in silk and heels. Katharine
Hepburn once dived into the pool, fully clothed. It was even the
site of a notorious private pool party hosted by The Beatles. We’d
suggest switching the red-carpet dress for a Dos Swim one-piece
as you recline on a bubblegum-pink lounger. As for pool-party
antics? That’s up to you.

If there’s one thing David Hockney is known for, it’s his knack
for painting enticing scenes of LA’s swimming pools. In November
2018, the artist’s aquamarine-infused Portrait of an Artist (Pool
with Two Figures) became what, at the time, was the most expensive
work of art by a living artist to have been sold at auction. The
Roosevelt’s piscine isn’t the one depicted in the record-breaking
painting, but the hotel does have its own Hockney story. In 1988,
the bespectacled artist spent a morning covering the pool bottom
with a pattern of swooping half-moon marks, which remain intact
today.

Flanked by cream calico parasols and borders of fluttering lilac
lavender, Cliveden’s outdoor pool is a picture of English
pleasantness. But don’t be deceived. It’s also the home of a very
English scandal. It was while dipping into the gin-clear rectangle,
in 1961, that government minister John Profumo first cast his eyes
on the model Christine Keeler, marking the beginning of an affair
that would forever alter British politics. Last time we took in a
few laps, there were no Whitehall ministers hanging around the
350-year old estate, and scandal has since been replaced by spa
treatments, with the pool forming part of the historic hotel’s
wellness centre. But who doesn’t love a backstory?

Mainlined Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace:
American Crime Story? Dip your toes into the late fashion
designer’s 16m, 24-karat-gold-lined “million mosaic pool” – a play
on his famous 1990s Marine Vanitas collection. It’s pretty gauche –
naturally – but if you’re partial to a bit of OTT design, the
gilded extravagance will entice.

A cross-shaped pool is always a punchy move and, frankly, we
wouldn’t expect anything less from this Miami Beach hangout. At
Faena, the colour code is maraschino-cherry red and Colgate white –
just look at those candy-striped parasols and loungers. For 1950s
maximalist glamour, North Beach is where it’s at.

Pack your headscarf for this swish St Tropez stay, which oozes 1960s style, right down to
its enticing sea-green-tiled pool. Surrounded by French
farmhouse-style suites and crisp white parasols, the cool oasis is
the pièce de résistance of this very French hotel, and the perfect
spot from which to enjoy a little people-watching, Provençal-style.
Grab a watermelon juice, hide behind big sunnies and watch fellow
guests waft by.