![The Berkeley](https://www.thehotelguru.com/_images/80/24/8024c4bb68711c37fbfcfb41440a7111/600x422.jpg)
In some countries hotels with incredible pools are de rigueur, but the UK is not one of those. There are lots of UK hotels with a great pool, but this isn’t really your classic hotel pool destination so there are very few really spectacular hotel pools in the UK. There are some though, and we’ve included them on out list of the 20 best hotels with pools in the UK, but our list also includes some really great hotels with great hotel pools, and really great spa hotels with great hotel pools, and, a personal favourite, some really great family hotels with great hotel pools.
Some of the UK’s Best Hotel Pools with a View
![Lodore Falls Hotel and Spa](https://www.thehotelguru.com/_images/67/fe/67fe67a2a1e8bc844fa90ac64c0db391/600x422.jpg)
- It’s hard to compete with the view of London from the top floors of The Shard, which is where the Shangri-La at the Shard has put their pool; it's called the Skypool, and is billed as being the highest infinity pool in Europe. This is really a destination hotel pool if the UK has one. One of the hotel bars occupies the other side of the top floor, with the 202 rooms and suites, and the impressive restaurant below. Outside you’ll recognise the smooth, shimmering, iconic shape, and inside there’s a nod to the hotel’s Asian owners in the decor and the restaurants.
- For a pool that overlooks the sea try the The Scarlet hotel, an eco-hotel beside Mawgan Porth Beach in Cornwall. This is a fantastically designed building that will appeal to anyone who appreciated clever modern design, or anyone who just appreciated great functionality and design that doesn’t get in the way of a spectacular view. Here the infinity pools seem to stretch into the sea and the flat roof of the hotel resembles the cliff tops. The spa facilities are perched in lookout positions too and the restaurant features plenty of glass and an impressive menu.
- The Lake District is awash with incredible views, but there aren’t too many pools with the best of them. At the Lodore Falls Hotel and Spa they’ve positioned the spa and hydrotherapy pool at the front of the hotel, so they overlook Lake Borrowdale and the fells, and there’s 40 acres of picturesque countryside around the hotel so it still feels private. The hotel recently added a Scandinavian feeling spa to its Victorian main building, and the suites in the new building are far more modern, and offer easier access to the spa, saunas and pools. There’s a range of dining options and plenty of room to relax against the view.
- The heated infinity style spa pool at the St Brides Spa Hotel isn’t the world’s biggest or most impressive, but it does have an incredible view of Saundersfoot Harbour and up the Pembrokeshire coast. The hotel isn’t flashy either, its simple, chic, 34 rooms are modern and neutral, not at all distracting from the views and the feeling of really being at the seaside. The Marine Therapy Spa helps with that too, with its rock sauna, salt grotto and adventure shower.
Best Hotel Pools in London
![One Aldwych](https://www.thehotelguru.com/_images/ba/76/ba76ace9017609013f607e698f4a3aa1/600x422.jpg)
- There aren’t many outdoor hotel pools in London, and even fewer on rooftops, it’s not really that sort of a city, but The Berkeley is a really fantastic surprise and exception to the rule. Its gorgeous pool and roof terrace (which is covered in the cooler months to ensure year round use) is right opposite Hyde Park, with absolutely fantastic park views. In addition to the pool The Berkeley is quite simply one of the most beautiful hotels in town. There are 214 rooms and suites in a wide range of sizes, all of them beautifully decorated in muted greys, blues and ochres, with modern art and carefully positioned statement lighting, and plenty of wood and marble. This is contemporary luxury with all the mod. cons. and more, including Dyson hairdryers and Burberry trenches on loan in case you forgot yours. Plus bars, restaurants, Michelin stars and spas etc..
- One Aldwych’s main draw is probably its location, close to Covent Garden and the West End, Somerset House, the BFI and The National Theatre, but it also boasts one of London’s great hotel pools: an 18 metre basement pool with all the mod. cons., including underwater music and mood lighting. The spa and gym facilities next door complement it perfectly too. Upstairs the Lobby Bar is impressive looking too, and the restaurant has a great reputation. The 105 rooms are now eco-friendly as well as being elegant, and fairly contemporary.
- The Haymarket Hotel is just as central, this time close to The Mall, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, and the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. And it also has an 18 metre pool in its basement, complete with a glitzy poolside bar and an excellent collection of inflatables. Upstairs there are 50 rooms, brightly decorated with an air of flair and fun in signature Kit Kemp style, plus a library and a terrace — both with honesty bars, and a buzzy bar and restaurant.
Best Hotels with Outdoor Pools
![Calcot House Hotel](https://www.thehotelguru.com/_images/e4/53/e453e12462e2f5a7800fc7239b2bec31/600x422.jpg)
- You’ll find many of the best outdoor hotel pools in the UK in glamorous country house spa hotels like Calcot Manor Hotel in Tetbury in the Cotswolds, where there’s a good chance they’ll have an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. This charming, 14th century former farmhouse turned manor house turned 35 room hotel has been heaped with awards, and is regularly praised for its beautiful setting, its friendliness, its pool and spa, its food and the outdoor hot tub which is right next to a log fire that roars when necessary.
- Ockenden Manor also has both an indoor and an outdoor pool, though this time there’s a wonderful glass wall between them so you’re sort of in both at once! About an hour from London this 28 room hotel, converted from an historic manor house in a tranquil setting, is probably most renowned for its Michelin starred fine dining, but the pool, spa, and terrace with wonderful views over the lawns and the South Downs beyond are all really something.
The Best UK Hotels with Indoor Pools
- it’s more common for hotels in the UK to have indoor pools, and again you’ll find some of the most impressive and memorable in spa hotels like the elegant Danesfield House Hotel and Spa, which is set on 65 acres of Thameside gardens between Henley and Marlow in Buckinghamshire. Their pool is the sort you’ll never forget: 20 metres long, with Klein Blue tiles underwater and pillars, murals and mosaics out of the water. The spa is more modern, and award-winning, and there are 75 rooms and suites which range from traditional in style to a collection designed by Phillipe Starck. The Modern British restaurant is also very well considered.
- Stoke Park was a luxurious country mansion in the Palladian style, which is just the kind of building that’s ripe for being converted into a beautiful country house spa hotel, complete with golf course, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, award-winning restaurants, a large outdoor hot tub, which is more like a small pool, and a beautiful indoor pool in a pool room with huge windows and high ceilings. It’s also a short distance from London, in leafy Buckinghamshire, so perfect for a country escape or mini-break.
The Best Family Hotels with Pools
- Maison Talbooth in Dedham Vale, Essex is a destination hotel and spa in the heart of Constable country. Converted from a handsome Victorian house on the river, the modern expansions are elegant and very comfortable, and include a popular restaurant and a gorgeous outdoor pool complex which is open all year and includes a shady pool house for summer and a crackling fire if you’re taking a winter dip. There are just 12 suites, and it's very family friendly, so you’re not sharing the pool with many people.
- If you want to take your family to the seaside, but want to hedge your bets with the weather then the St Moritz near Rock in Cornwall is perfect, what with its two pools — indoor and outdoor, and family friendly glamour. A seaside institution in the 1920s and '30s, this hotel has recently been rejuvenated, but in keeping with its Art Deco feel, and it is now stylish and comfortable, with 48 rooms, a Cowshed spa and some great deals out of season. It’s a beautiful spot, and great for surfing.
![Park House Hotel](https://www.thehotelguru.com/_images/dd/0f/dd0ff826aa1550e19fe33ef721adb201/600x422.jpg)
- Park House Hotel in the heart of the South Downs National Park is another great family spa hotel with two pools (one of them is a heated outdoor pool) and loads of facilities including two lawn tennis courts, a professionally designed pitch and putt golf course and putting green, a croquet lawn and a spa. This is the sort of hotel that gives you the feeling of staying in someone’s wonderful country house as a guest, with family portraits and photos and a wonderfully peaceful, rural location. There are 21 rooms including three cottages which are just perfect for families.
- On the outskirts of Bradford-on-Avon, Woolley Grange is a Jacobean family manor house with the feel of a country house hotel, set in stunning gardens and with a really beautiful hotel pool. This is a great family hotel, with just 26 rooms, plus a restaurant that caters to all sorts of whims, plus children’s clubs, games rooms and a garden that allows for plenty of running around without bothering anyone else. In fact this is a popular hotel with those not travelling with children too, which is always a good sign. The spa is impressive as well.
Most Romantic Hotels with Pools in the UK
- The Isle of Eriska is a romantic escape with an incredible backdrop: a private island on the west coast of Scotland overlooking Loch Linnhe and the Morvern Mountains. This 25 room hotel was a baronial mansion, but it makes a beautiful spa and golf resort. The rooms and suites are luxurious, with open fires and incredible views, the restaurant has a Michelin star, the spa is very well regarded, and they have a family of badgers living on the island too. Peaceful and romantic.
- Just outside the elegant, mini-break-perfect city of Bath, is Bath Priory, an elegant Georgian manor with four acres of garden, turned 27 room hotel, complete with an award-winning restaurant, a sauna, steam room, gym, solarium and both indoor and outdoor pools. One of the nice things about Bath Priory is that they have some lovely paintings and antiques, an a wonderful kitchen garden, but also excellent mod. cons..
- The Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa is right on the coast in West Sussex, just along from Brighton, and is a mock-medieval mansion in 30 acres of private parkland which includes direct beach access. But if you want to swim closer to your bed there are both indoor and outdoor pools, the former is in a beautiful, airy building with big windows opening out onto woodland. There’s also a spa and an excellent restaurant. Plus peacocks, follies, a real 13th century chapel and faux-medieval outbuildings. The hotel has 39 rooms.
Top UK Spa Hotel Pools
- The Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa is a beautiful retreat in the picturesque Yorkshire village of Helmsley. This chic old York stone inn has been refitted inside and the decor is now sophisticated yet relaxing. There are 33 rooms – 21 of them are suites, a well-regarded restaurant and an award-winning spa which incorporates a heated outdoor pool. Romantic, small, and the perfect place to relax and recuperate.
- The Old Course Hotel at St. Andrews, overlooks the 18 hole golf course and West Sands Beach beyond. It’s elegant and luxurious, and has a world class spa with a lovely pool and a rooftop hot tub, plus there’s a range of places to eat and drink, from formal to informal, and everywhere you look the views are incredible.
Still not sure which to book?