After a long, cold winter, the first whiff of spring has our thoughts turning longingly to balmy summer days spent sprawled out around a pool. And while local lidos come with the risk of queues that spill around the block, booking a mini break to a hotel with its own swimming pool guarantees you plum position.
Whether it’s a city break, a seaside getaway, or a countryside jaunt with the family that appeals, there’s a host of brilliant UK stays with impressive options to choose from.
As well as enduring classics – including a reed-filtered natural pool at an eco-friendly bolthole on the Cornish coast, and a pretty thermal number in Bath – there are plenty of hyped, contemporary hotels with serious pool appeal.
From a sparkling rooftop version in south London to an infinity-style option with a sea view, and one tucked beside a historical manor, here’s our list of the best hotels in the UK that offer spectacular swimming pools as part of a stylish getaway.
For more hotel guides, including the best Cornwall hotels and the best spa hotels in the Lake District, plus individual UK hotel reviews and the world’s best hotels with swimming pools list, visit our hotels page.
At a glance
Belgravia, London
Thirty years in the making, and built from the ground up in Belgravia, the Peninsula London raised the capital’s luxury hotel bar when it opened in 2024. Its 25-metre pool is rather special, as it’s not only one of London’s longest luxury hotel swimming pools, but it’s housed in the property’s atmospheric subterranean spa. Designed by acclaimed architect Peter Marino, the space has a double-height ceiling with clever illuminated panels that phase through differing levels of light throughout the day, mimicking the sun’s natural path and intensity. Walls decorated with mosaic artwork resemble the treelines of neighbouring Hyde Park.
One end has a separate hydropool, with rushing waterfall and underwater jets to pummel tired muscles. Swim underwater and you’ll hear orchestral swells courtesy of below-the-surface speakers. Elegant chaises and loungers, some tucked in alcoves for extra privacy, sit poolside and there’s a snack menu featuring mezze and cold-pressed juices.
Also not to be missed is fine dining at rooftop restaurant Brooklands by Claude Bosi, where clever dishes blend the very best of British ingredients with traditional French techniques.
Address: 1 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7HJ
Price: From £836
Read more: The best spa hotels in Bath for rejuvenating retreats, thermal waters and peaceful countryside escapes
Bournemouth
For fun in the sun, and a set-up that’ll trick you into feeling like you’re in Miami or Ibiza rather than Dorset, hot-foot it to hip seaside resort the NICI. In the garden, a heated pool decorated with emerald tiles stretches for 30 metres, drawing the eye towards distant turquoise waves. Ringed by candy-stripe curtained cabanas and loungers (first come, first served) on a sandy deck, the open-to-all-ages pool has in-water seating at one end, which is ideal for semi-submerged chatter.
During the summer holidays, parents can take advantage of a free kids’ club, Coconuts, which keeps little ones (four plus) busy with arts and activities close by.
Pull up a stool at the Old Harry Rocks bar for frozen margaritas or make for the Old Harry Rocks restaurant, which is decked out with boho woven lampshades and has bi-fold doors leading out to a sun-drenched terrace where the likes of mozzarella and clementine with pine nuts, and an impressive surf’n’turf are served.
There’s also an 18 metre indoor pool (kids’ sessions run from 9am to 10am, and 4pm to 5pm) and spa, plus bedrooms in tropical palm green and white palettes with mid-century-style furniture and gilded cocktail trolleys. Other on-site highlights include South Beach restaurant, watersports and an indoor cinema. Nearby, a pathway zig-zags down towards West Cliff beach’s popular sweep of golden sand.
Address: West Hill Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5EJ
Price: From £148
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Newquay
Few dips are as refreshing as those at the Scarlet’s natural, outdoor pool – unheated and filtered by a living reed bed – which has views out to golden-hued Cornish beach Mawgan Porth, and catches a gentle breeze from the rolling Atlantic. After a cool dip head to the clifftop wooden sauna, steam room and log-fired hot tubs to warm the cockles. Or if you don’t fancy braving the outdoors, worry not – there’s a 13 metre-long, solar-heated indoor pool, too.
Known for its eco credentials, this smart, adult-only boutique hotel has 37 rooms with a beachcomber-chic vibe and excellent Ayurvedic spa treatments, as well as DIY two-person rhassoul and hammam experiences. Whether drifting in hanging cocoon pods in a post-massage daze or enjoying leisurely fine dining at the sea view restaurant, a visit here is a guaranteed soul-soother.
Address: Tredragon Rd, Mawgan Porth, Newquay TR8 4DQ
Price: From £254
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London
When it comes to views of the London skyline, the Sky Pool at Shangri-La The Shard is hard to beat. At a dizzying 182 metres above ground level, and located on floor 52 of the Renzo Piano-designed Shard, it’s western Europe’s highest swimming pool and has to be seen to be believed. At 10 metres long, it’s a pool best suited to lounging rather than laps.
A maximum capacity of just 23 people, and hourly book-ahead-of-time slots keep things from feeling overcrowded. While swimming hours run from 6am to 6pm for adults (with dedicated children’s slots 9am to 11am and 3pm to 5pm), comfy poolside seating makes this the ideal spot for a glass of Champagne from adjoining GŎNG bar after hours, plus there’s a glass-fronted Sky Sauna adjacent to the pool offering views of St Pauls and the London Eye.
More reasons to book include the sensational views from the hotel’s 202 bedrooms, Shangri-La’s signature warm service, and the fact that the hotel is close to foodie haven Borough Market.
Address: 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 9QU
Price: From £622
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Oxfordshire
Overlooking oak-filled gardens, which spill down to 3,000 acres of parkland, and with scallop-edged parasols in terracotta and cream stripes lining its south-facing terrace, the 25 metre pool at Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire nails Riviera finesse and rural glamour in one fell swoop. Given the hotel comes from the team behind exclusive private members’ club Maison Estelle on Mayfair’s Grafton Street, it’s no surprise that the pool experience at this handsome Jacobean manor house is just so.
Sip Negronis and Aperol Spritzes from the pool bar, or browse a curated edit of beach attire and accoutrements at poolside boutique The Cabana. Children’s swim hours are 9am to 11am, and 4 to 5pm.
For something even more special, for an additional £145 adults can book into Eynsham Baths, a tucked-in-the-forest Roman-style bathhouse in a 3,000 square metre Neoclassical-style building. Here, guests can indulge in thermal journeys through a serene, column-filled tepidarium bathing hall, five pools, a steam room, and a sauna charged with hay from a neighbouring farm.
Address: Eynsham Park, Oxfordshire, OX29 6PN
Price: From £595
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Hook, Hampshire
Not only does Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire deliver on grand Georgian manor glamour, it has a pick’n’mix selection of pools, making it a smart choice for multi-generational groups. Winning in terms of “wow” is the photogenic 20 metre infinity pool, housed inside a Peter Winston-designed conservatory with a vaulted glass ceiling, reminiscent of an 18th-century glasshouse. It forms part of a whopping 27,000-square-foot spa inside the manor’s former stable block.
During the summer, guests can order Pimm’s summer cups, mango lassi mocktails, flatbreads and ice cream cups straight to their lounger from the Pool Bar. As well as family sessions in the main pool from 4pm to 7pm daily, plus 8am to 10am at the weekends, there’s a petite vitality plunge pool with massagers, as well as a courtyard relaxation area.
Also appealing for families are the indoor adventure pool Sharkie’s Reef – kitted out with slide, umbrella fountain and bubble jets – and a complimentary year-round kids’ club for arts and crafts, as well as activities that’ll even keep teenagers happy, such as tennis, horse riding and boat trips.
Address: Dogmersfield Park, Chalky Lane, Hook, RG27 8TD
Price: From £882
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Hertfordshire
Set in a landscaped garden with herb and veg-packed beds, its own sandy deck – Ralph’s Beach – and a 25 metre outdoor heated pool ringed by sunshine-yellow and white striped parasols, the Walled Garden at the Grove delivers Miami vibes in abundance. Courtesy of Martin Hulbert Design, expect daybeds upholstered in Christopher Farr fabrics and an al fresco spa area for massages.
Sun loungers are free and first-come-first-served, while cabana set-ups are bookable at an additional cost (various packages for half/full days include coconut water, Moth canned cocktails, fruit platters, and ice creams).
During summertime, there’s also an outdoor cinema, top-notch Turkish fare on offer at Skewd restaurant, as well as pool-centred activities such as water polo and soundbaths.
Inside this manor house (and former home of the Earls of Clarendon) turned luxe spa property, discover a sultry black mosaic-tiled 22 metre pool in the Sequoia Spa. It offers family swimtime for children aged 12 and over, from 3pm to 5pm, daily, plus there’s an eight metre indoor kids’ splash pool. Elegant bedrooms in muted tones inside the Grade II-listed country pile are pleasingly calm after a day spent sunbathing.
Address: Chandler’s Cross, Hertfordshire, WD3 4TG
Price: From £485
Read more: The best Cotswolds hotels for luxury spa breaks and countryside cuisine
Battersea Power Station, London
In recent years, Battersea has transformed into a shopping and dining mecca, with the renovated power station — known for its Art Deco brickwork and quartet of towering, white chimneys — at its heart. There’s nowhere better to appreciate the splendour of the architectural icon than at the art’otel Battersea Power Station’s 16th floor, with its 12.5 metre rooftop pool. Only available to hotel guests, the pool sits pretty next to the lively JOIA rooftop bar where a menu of tapas and petiscos from Henrique Sá Pessoa, of Lisbon’s two Michelin-starred Alba restaurant, rubs up against cooling alcoholic slushies and summery Balearic house tunes.
For those not staying, occasional ticketed aqua aerobics events are the only chance to experience the pool. If you are bedding down, enjoy taking leisurely lengths, soaking in the hot tub that sits at one end of the pool, or settling down on a lounger.
Further appeal comes in the hotel’s quirky interiors, with bedrooms and lounges styled by artist Jaime Hayon featuring surreal photography, colour pops and curio.
Address: 1 Electric Boulevard, Nine Elms, London, SW11 8BJ
Price: From £269
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Plymouth, Devon
For those who like their swims with a side of R&R, Boringdon Hall Hotel is just the ticket. Its 11 metre indoor swimming pool is kept at 30C year-round and sits inside the £5m, award-winning GAIA spa. Head through an outdoor swim-through to a small hydrotherapy pool for Devonshire countryside views and the wildness of Dartmoor beyond; relax in a clutch of outdoor hot tubs and teardrop-shaped daybeds on the sunny, bamboo-filled terrace; or try gold-tiled experience showers, and the full thermal suite, including Finnish-style sauna (80C – 95C), crystal salt steam room with quartz centrepiece, and lemongrass and eucalyptus-infused herbal sauna.
Make things even more spoiling with a GAIA Everglowing face and body treatment (from £135/60 mins). Offering a fast-track glow-up, it combines foot ritual, exfoliation, massage, a facial and Gua Sha.
Foodies are also well-catered for, as the property’s also home to Michelin-starred Àclèaf restaurant, renowned for its inventive British dishes. As for slumbering, the four-poster rooms, with curtained beds in rich purple hues, fireplaces and bathtubs, are particularly special.
Address: Plymouth, Devon PL7 4DP
Price: Contact the hotel for rates
Read more: The best spa hotels in the Lake District for outdoor saunas and forest views
Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Surrounded by 132 acres of Ballymena parkland, Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort has three brilliant pools. Rotate between the garden pool with hydrotherapy jets, a 20 metre indoor affair ideal for laps – which has a polished pebble border designed to give feet a mini-massage – and an al fresco vitality pool at the edge of the River Maine (sometimes you can spot a resident heron pootling along the riverbank).
As well as its award-winning thermal spa, which includes hot tubs with dramatic waterfall views, a Celtic sauna, salt room and snow cabin, Galgorm has 125 rooms painted in woodland hues. It also offers 17 Scandi-style cottages, log cabins and Shepherds huts to bed down in.
As for drinking and dining, there’s a 550-strong gin library housed in an Art Deco-inspired conservatory and traditional pizza on offer at Italian joint Fratelli’s.
Address: 136 Fenaghy Rd, Ballymena BT42 1EA
Price: From £252
Read more: The best hotels in Cornwall
Borrowdale, Lake District
Capitalising on its picturesque Lake District setting, the 16 metre outdoor pool at Lodore Falls Hotel’s spa serves up astonishing views of Derwentwater Lake and the Catbells Mountains. Here, an infinity edge hot tub cleverly blends into an interconnecting hydrotherapy pool, which is layered with underwater bubble loungers and hydromassage neck jets – ideal after days spent rambling. It will set you back an extra £35 (Monday to Thursday) or £40 (Friday to Sunday) per person to take a dip here – unless you’ve splashed out on a suite level room category or above, when entrance is included – it’s well worth it.
A glass-fronted Finnish-style sauna and indoor thermal suites have panoramic views out to Derwentwater, and there are tranquil spa gardens to explore. Bedrooms are comfy and practical (many are dog-friendly), and the hotel is ideally placed for sightseeing, as popular Keswick is around a 10-minute drive away.
Address: Derwentwater, Keswick, CA12 5UX
Price: From £216
Read more: The best spa hotels in the Lake District
St Ives, Cornwall
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Thanks to a combination of palm-filled subtropical gardens and vistas featuring the fine white sands of Carbis Bay, you might think you’re in the Med rather than West Cornwall while paddling in the al fresco infinity pool here. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the seals and dolphins who sometimes make an appearance in the bay, which is regularly voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
As well as decked areas to maximise sun basking, a hydrotherapy pool and barrel sauna, the hotel offers a peaceful private 10 hectare Blue Flag Beach and direct access onto the South West Coast Path. Arty St Ives is a 25-minute walk away.
There’s a sports club for active types, VOYA seaweed wraps and organic facials in the spa, and accommodation options include 36 rooms in the grand, chandelier-filled main house, while self-catering lodges offer contemporary coastal cool. Head to the Beach Club for family-friendly fish’n’chips, pizza and pasta, or Walters on the Beach for laid-back seafood dining.
Address: Carbis Bay, Saint Ives TR26 2NP
Price: From £250
Read our full review of Carbis Bay Hotel
Bath
For a truly transformative soak, make for the Gainsborough Bath Spa’s cobalt blue, mosaic-tiled pool. Fed by the city’s mineral-rich thermal waters, known for their healing properties since ancient times, the 35C pool is lined by Romanesque columns and sits under a striking glass atrium inside the hotel’s small but lovely Spa Village. Combined with two smaller soaking pools, an ice alcove, saunas, a steam room and a relaxation terrace, it forms part of an hour-long self-guided bathing circuit.
There are 99 bedrooms – contemporary, while riffing on the property’s Georgian heritage – to relax in, and special spa rooms where you can run thermal water straight into roll top tubs. The spa offers a variety of therapies using the brand Omorovicza, as well as Freedom, a specially-designed watsu treatment, which involves dynamic movement therapy, sound healing and stretching in the pool’s naturally warm waters.
Address: Beau St, Bath BA1 1QY
Price: From £149
Read our full review of The Gainsborough Bath Spa hotel
Staffordshire
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Fringed by stone archways on one side and with sweeping views of the Consall Valley on the other, the Tawny’s outdoor pool might be small, but it’s hugely atmospheric. Heated year-round, it’s tucked on a terrace that spills down from the tropical-maximal Plumicorn restaurant, yet manages to feel hidden and intimate. On sunny days, watch flocks of birds swoop overhead from poolside loungers, while on chillier days, warm up in steamy waters before calling a buggy to whisk you back to your room.
There’s a 70 acre estate with follies and lakes to discover, and quirky accommodation includes luxury treehouses, shepherds huts and boathouses. It’s worth trading the swimwear for glad rags to take cocktail hour in the bar under gilded lampshades, or for suppers in the Plumicorn. By day, don your walking boots to birdwatch at neighbouring RSPB Consall Woods.
Address: Consall Lane, Stoke-on-Trent, ST9 0AG
Price: From £270
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The hotels featured in this list have been carefully selected by The Independent’s expert travel writer Ianthe Butt, who has a deep knowledge of the properties she covers, ensuring a personal and informed perspective. When picking the hotels to include, Ianthe considered her own experience staying in the hotels and evaluated location, facilities, service and all the other details that make for an exceptional stay for all types of traveller.
Are outdoor swimming pools heated in summer?
Heated outdoor swimming pools will vary from hotel to hotel. Some properties will keep them heated year-round, while others will be unheated and open only during the summer season.
Are swimming pool facilities included in your stay?
Swimming pool access is often included for guests, but you may have to book slots at some hotels, while others may have specific hours for adult-only or kid-friendly swims.
When is the best time of year to book?
The summer is the best time to book a hotel in the UK with a swimming pool, as warmer weather will guarantee that outdoor swimming pools will stay open. If you are looking for a mid-winter spa pick-me-up, however, choose a hotel that has an indoor pool.
