Saltwater pools are friendlier to the environment, healthier to splash about in, and require less maintenance than traditional pools. They’re also popping up at the world’s coolest hotels.
Should all hotel pools be saltwater pools? It’s actually a pretty compelling question. They’re becoming a popular amenity at hotels all over the world, but they’re still maybe not as common as they should be.
The initial outlay for a saltwater pool can be more expensive than what’s required for its chlorine-soaked cousin, but no longer needing to store and interact with pungent chemicals can lead to long-term savings and reduced liability. The salinity of a saltwater pool is about one-tenth that of ocean water, so it won’t make you more buoyant, but the water will feel softer, silkier, and be less harsh on clothes, eyes, and lungs than the water in chlorinated pools.
That’s not to say saltwater pools lack chlorine entirely — the element is still necessary to kill germs and contaminants, but it’s generated from the salt itself and present in significantly lower doses… wait, wait, hold up. You didn’t come here for a Wikipedia entry on saltwater pools. A few of you, we assume, came here to see some of the coolest hotels in our selection with saltwater pools.
You’ll find them below.
The Cape
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
“The Cape, a Thompson Hotel” pretty well sums the place up — if you know that the cape in question is Cabo San Lucas, and if you’re acquainted with Thompson’s brand of luxury boutique hospitality, then you more or less know what to expect. The hotel is blessed with a first-rate location, right on Monuments Beach, with views of the famous Arch across the bay, and a saltwater pool carved right into a rock formation.
White Exclusive Suite & Villas
Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Behind the 1927 neo-Gothic facade of the Windsor Arms is a delightfully modern hotel, completely redesigned in a sort of luxe-minimalist style, yet with an emphasis on old-world service. An intimate scale and discreet professionalism are combined with niceties like 24-hour butler service and Bentley car service. Floors 4 and 5 are given over to an indoor saltwater pool and a full-service spa, offering Ayurvedic massage and Darphine products.
Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi, Italy
Santa Caterina is the real deal: the grounds are all terraces, olive groves and lemon orchards, with the kind of jaw-dropping views that make the Amalfi Coast one of the world’s most special places. Family-owned for the better part of a century, it sits high on a hillside facing the sea and the town of Amalfi — guests ride an elevator down to the hotel’s private beach club, where you’ll find a saltwater swimming pool nestled in the rocks.
Hôtel Les Roches Rouges
Saint-Raphaël, France
The original structure of Hôtel Les Roches Rouges dates back to the 1950s, but it’s been through several iterations since then. And it feels fresh again, thanks to Festen, the hipster Parisian design duo who handled the restorations, dismantling the eighties-era decorations to reveal the building’s original charm. A natural saltwater swimming pool with a lap lane, cut right into the red rock that inspired the hotel’s name.
Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Los Poblanos, located outside of Albuquerque, isn’t just an excellent boutique hotel. It’s a working ranch where lavender grows abundantly in the fields — and finds its way into everything from in-room bath products to the artisanal cocktail menu. Along with a saltwater swimming pool, there are self-guided architecture tours, cooking classes, a fitness center, and the Hacienda Spa, dedicated to a concept called the “Generous Life.”
Inness
Accord, NY, USA
Chic hotels in the Hudson Valley are no longer an occasional novelty; the 40-room Inness is an example of a thoughtful approach, the work of Taavo Somer, an architect and restaurateur with experience in boutique hospitality. The farmhouse contains 12 soothing, minimalist-luxe rooms, which are joined by a further 28 cabins in a similar utilitarian-chic style, two saltwater pools, tennis courts, and a nine-hole golf course by King-Collins.
Teranka Formentera
Formentera, Spain
The name Teranka Formentera derives from “terre d’ancrage” — a place to anchor — and that’s just what this boutique resort on the Spanish island of Formentera feels like, a calm haven between the blue sky and the windswept dunes, the interiors mirroring the outdoor landscape while offering protection from the elements. Inviting daybeds encircle a sleek saltwater swimming pool serviced by a poolside juice bar.
Kivotos Mykonos
Mykonos, Greece
Kivotos Mykonos winds along terraced paths down the hillside, meaning most of the expansive rooms come with sea views. All are handsome, quietly contemporary, decorated with a smattering of antiques and local artworks, and though they feel private they’re anything but remote: attentive staffers are never far away. Nor are the four swimming pools (choose between fresh- or salt-water, piped-in music or not), looking out over the improbably blue waters of the Bay of Ornos.
Cocolia Hotel
Mazunte, Mexico
This boutique hotel on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast is for adults only. Consider yourself warned: Kura’s minimalist jungle villas have a seriously seductive edge. The custom-built glass-encased rain showers, big enough for two, aren’t tucked away in the en suite bathrooms, but provocatively positioned within the open-plan living areas. Each villa also features a private terrace with a double hammock, a custom-designed “floating bed” — it sounds romantic, and it is.
Petit Ermitage
Los Angeles, California
Though the reference is likely lost on some of its visitors, the Petit Ermitage isn’t named for just any old hermitage. Here in the heart of West Hollywood is a boutique hotel that doubles as a tribute to Catherine the Great’s Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (that’s the one in Russia, but you knew that). Come for the heavy atmosphere of Tsarist decadence, and stay for the the saltwater rooftop pool.
Kura Boutique Hotel
Bahía Ballena, Costa Rica
This boutique hotel on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast is for adults only. Consider yourself warned: Kura’s minimalist jungle villas have a seriously seductive edge. The custom-built glass-encased rain showers, big enough for two, aren’t tucked away in the en suite bathrooms, but provocatively positioned within the open-plan living areas. The large infinity-edge saltwater pool provides panoramic views of the Pacific. It sounds romantic, and it is.
The Marine Hermanus
Hermanus, South Africa
At the Marine Hermanus, with its stunning clifftop location overlooking Walker Bay, guests need not leave their rooms to enjoy a whale-watching spectacle. This stretch of the southern coast of South Africa is a natural playground for the Southern Right Whales that breach near the shore from July to November — right in front of the Marine, a 45-room resort with not one, but two saltwater pools.
Grand Hôtel des Thermes
Saint-Malo, France
Unlike other grand hotels of the Côte d’Azur, Grand Hôtel des Thermes has no oceanfront boulevard, no built-up beach club, nothing but sand and sea (and a heated, indoor saltwater pool). This impressive Belle Époque edifice fronts a long stretch of beach on the Atlantic coast of Brittany, a classic destination that’s nevertheless avoided the fate of a place like Cannes — which means it still feels like a proper escape.
The Caves
Negril, Jamaica
The Caves is a collection of twelve private cottages atop a cliff, overlooking the ocean, with plenty of jumping-off points to impress one’s companion and other guests. For those with a beach fetish, consider this: the sea looks better from higher up, and at The Caves it becomes your own private pool. In the cliffside, volcanic caves and grottos can be explored whilst swimming, or just relax in the resort’s small saltwater pool.
Baron’s Cove
Sag Harbor, NY, USA
For a crash course in what makes the classic Hamptons resort experience special you could hardly do better than Baron’s Cove. The look in the rooms and suites is classic nautical Americana, like the backdrop to a live-action Ralph Lauren lookbook. A tennis lesson is included with every stay, a fleet of bikes is available for self-guided exploration, and the heated saltwater swimming pool, lined with loungers and umbrellas, is summertime perfection.
Mark Fedeli is the hotel marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.