29 Pool and Waterside Views: Infinity Edges, Resorts and Natural Settings

An infinity pool seems to let the water continue straight into the landscape. The edge becomes difficult to pick out, the horizon takes over and, for a moment, the pool feels larger than the space it occupies.

That visual trick can be lovely. Choosing a stay around it works best when you also consider the less photogenic details: who may use the pool, how busy it gets and whether the rest of the accommodation suits your trip.

How an infinity pool’s edge disappears

In an infinity or vanishing-edge design, water passes over a carefully positioned edge into a collection system. From the intended viewpoint, the visible pool surface appears to merge with what lies beyond it.

The effect depends on position. A photograph made from the waterline may look different from the view at a lounger or from your room. The edge is an engineered feature, not a place to climb or sit for a more dramatic picture.

City, forest, mountain or coast?

A city rooftop, a forested valley and a coastal terrace offer quite different experiences. If you want to spend several quiet hours beside the water, shade, comfortable seating and the atmosphere around the pool may matter more than how high it sits above the ground.

At Jade Mountain in Saint Lucia, the relationship between private accommodation and the landscape is central to the appeal. Other properties use a shared pool as a social space. Neither arrangement is automatically better; they suit different kinds of stay.

Who can use the pool?

At Marina Bay Sands, the famous pool is reserved for hotel guests. Access to an observation area is not the same as permission to swim. Similar distinctions can apply at other properties, including room-category restrictions, age policies or separately booked facilities.

Check the current rules directly, along with opening hours, maintenance notices and any facilities especially important to you. An old gallery caption is not a current promise of access.

Natural pools have different conditions

Rock pools and waterfall basins can create beautiful edges of their own, but they do not operate like managed resort pools. Water conditions, access and supervision may be very different. A photograph resembling an infinity pool does not establish a suitable swimming place.

Choose a stay beyond its signature photograph

Compare location, transfers, meals and the room you will actually use. A pool that looks perfect in a photograph can still sit far from the places you hoped to explore.

Our guide to unusual hotels offers a useful set of questions for choosing a distinctive stay. Once those practical details fit, you can give the view the attention it deserves—and perhaps leave the camera on the lounger for a while.

Read the 29 images by landscape and design

Read the gallery in groups rather than as a countdown. Marina Bay Sands places a horizontal water surface against a dense skyline; the Cambrian brings mountains into the composition; Ubud Hanging Gardens and Viceroy Bali use a greener surrounding landscape. Along a coast, the pool edge can echo the sea’s own horizon. These are different design relationships, even when the photographs share the same apparently disappearing boundary. The setting you enjoy looking at may matter more than the pool’s position in a numbered list.

Kuang Si’s waterfall basins and Porto Moniz’s lava pools belong to a different category from the engineered hotel pools. Their inclusion broadens the gallery’s visual theme, but it should not blur the distinction between natural water and a managed swimming facility. Some captions also preserve historical hotel names, and broad labels such as Los Cabos identify an area rather than a uniquely bookable property. Use the credited images to shortlist a setting, then identify the exact property and pool before comparing rooms. That extra step keeps a memorable photograph connected to the place you actually intend to visit.