Making a Splash: 5 Best Hotel Pools in Los Angeles, California

The LINE Hotel strikes that most delicate of balances: It manages to be one of the city’s most popular places to party while feeling safe, welcoming and fun for families. You can’t see the hotel pool from the street. In fact, you wouldn’t know it was there. Unless, you know, you’re in the know – as those who stay, dine, and simply hang out here clearly are.

The hotel is tucked in the heart of trendy yet low-key Koreatown, or K-Town, and the pool is tucked on its second floor. Stepping out of the elevator here feels, to me, like being welcomed into my dream home. Restaurant and bar Openaire is housed in a poolside greenhouse that overflows with plants, chatter, and the scents of zingy, spicy dishes wafting from the kitchen.

It’s a favorite for weekend brunch, with bottomless cocktails and sharing plates that are ideal for groups of friends or families. This is the type of place where people come to catch up and just be. And, if you feel like it, you can stay for the afternoon party on the pool deck. Dancing isn’t required, but you’ll probably join in with the splashing and swaying anyway. It’s just that kind of place.

The Hollywood Roosevelt first swooshed opened its stylish doors in 1927, and its timeless elegance manages to recall those glory days while also feeling impeccably, delightfully modern. Take the pool, for example. You can almost hear the pop of Champagne corks, the clinking of ice, and the tinkling of laughter as glamorous groups chatter and gossip, sprawling on their sun beds while somehow managing to maintain an air of chic.

Most days, in fact, that’s exactly what you will hear, because this hotel is still the toast of Hollywood and one of the most desirable watery hangouts in LA. It’s been a stars’ favorite since the Golden Age, when it welcomed A-listers including Marilyn Monroe, who lived in her suite for two years.

The pool itself has an underwater mural designed by British painter David Hockney, and the setting is pretty as a picture, too: lined with cushioned beds and black-and-white striped sofas, and fringed by tall, spindly palm trees. There’s often live music provided by guest DJs, while Tropicana Sundays are the hottest parties in town, with tunes and dancing all day.

The rest of the hotel is equally gorgeous, of course, especially the lavish suites like Monroe’s and the enormous penthouse, whose terrace is tucked cinematically below the hotel’s sign. (Actors Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the story goes, used to book this spectacular room when they were having an affair.) You can peek into the Blossom Ballroom, where the first Academy Awards were held in 1929.

There are many places from, and ways in which, to see the Hollywood sign, popping out from the shrubby hills of the Santa Monica Mountains. You can pull into overlooks on wiggly Mulholland Drive, or gaze at it from Griffith Observatory. You can even hike to see it close up. But, for me, the best view of the iconic white letters is from the open-air pool at Mondrian Los Angeles, one of the city’s best boutique hotels.

View it from the water, maybe with a drink in hand and probably dancing to a sunny soundtrack, or from one of the impossibly soft day beds. Or grab a table at Skybar, the ivy-clad pavilion a few steps up from the pool. Tall glass panels perfectly frame the sign and its surroundings, which are bathed in an orange glow at sunset and glitter after dark.

The pool area does, too, with bulbs strung around the deck, lanterns hooked in trees, and pool lighting that glows invitingly. It’s designed to look like an outdoor living room, dotted with wicker furniture and cabanas, and feels so exclusive and tucked away that it’s hard to believe you’re in the heart of West Hollywood. Until you look up into the hills, that is.

Call it millennial, call it hipster, call it too cool for school. Or should that be too cool for pool? Whatever label you slap on it, The Rooftop at Hotel The Standard Downtown is a desirable place to be. It’s in Downtown LA (or, if you’re hip enough to pull it off, “DTLA”), so it already has the street cred of hanging out in one of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods. But, when you’re up on the roof, you’re in a bubble of fun and fabulousness.

It’s straight out of the most brilliantly bizarre imagination: an adults’ playground of riotous color and funky shapes. The deck chairs are whimsically wavy, the day beds are tucked in bright red pods, and the greenery comes in the form of topiary sculpted into dog form. You can even relax on a vibrating waterbed.

There’s a German-style biergarten and even a dance floor, which gives you some clue as to what this place is really all about: the party. After-dark, and sometimes in broad daylight, the area comes to life with music – often pumped out by renowned DJs – as people dance, in and out of the water.

Romance isn’t dead. It has simply decided to take up residence at Hotel Mr C Beverly Hills – and who can blame it? At least, that’s how it feels when you step onto the enormous pool deck at this ultra-glamorous hotel in LA’s most exclusive, upscale neighborhood. It has that hidden-away feel that just feels so rare and wonderful.

And it truly is huge. This is 4,500 square feet of secluded, sunny, lushly landscaped luxury. It’s hard to fault, really, from the teak decking boards and outdoor bar area to the range of seating (or lying down) options, each more comfortable than the next. The decor is gorgeously chic: bright white walls, manicured hedging, and plump gray cushions. You may as well order a cheese plate, or perhaps a platter of oozy burrata with heirloom tomatoes, because you’ll want to stay awhile.

The timeless elegance of the pool deck flows throughout the hotel. The rooms have an air of Italian chic, each one the accommodation equivalent of a beautifully restored vintage Vespa. Leather armchairs, cushioned headboards, framed black-and-white photos, and marble bathrooms lend the glamour of Rome or Monaco – although great views of Rodeo Drive or the Hollywood hills bring you happily back to La La Land.