If you get an urge to wallow in a few hotel pools in New York, where would you go? At most hotels, only guests are allowed to use the pool. But there are some that also allow non-guests access to their swimming pools for a nominal fee.

Crowne Plaza Times Square

Crowne Plaza Times Square: Access to Fitness Club & Pool on the 15th floor of the hotel, operated by the New York Sports Club. Facilities include a 50-foot lap pool, as well as steam rooms, saunas, state-of-the-art weight machines and exercise equipment. Charge: $25; Info: 1605 Broadway New York NY 10019; (212) 977-4000

Millennium UN Plaza Hotel: Access to Millenium Health & Racquet Club. Charge: $40; Info: One UN Plaza 44th Street (between 1st and 2nd Ave) New York NY 10017; (212) 758-1234 

Room Mate Grace Hotel: Indoor pool with bar; Charge: $10 (plus two-drink minimum); Info: 125 West 45th Street New York NY 10036; (212) 354-2323

Holiday Inn Midtown: Access to Health & Fitness Center with pool; Charge: $60; Info: 440 West 57th Street New York NY 10019; (212) 581-8100

Golden Gate Motor Inn: Outdoor pool. Charge: $15 ($7 for children under 12); Info: 3867 Shore Parkway Brooklyn NY 11235; (718) 769-1394

New York Marriott World Financial Center: Charge: $20; Info: 85 West Street at Albany Street New York NY 10006; (212) 385-4900

New York Marriott Brooklyn Bridge: Charge: $25; Info: 333 Adams Street Brooklyn NY 11201; (718) 246-7000 

Le Parker Meredien: Access to Gravity Fitness and Spa; Charge: $100; Info:  119 West 56th Street New York NY 10019; (212) 708-7340

Note: Charges mentioned are for non-guests only. Most hotels do not charge guests for use of the pool.

Photos courtesy Crowne Plaza Times Square/IHG Hotels

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Top 10 Family-Friendly Pools in Las Vegas

Schwimming – “To mess around in a pool, but not actually swim.” Here’s a list of 10 good reasons (with hotel suggestions) for schwimming.

1. Adventure - If you’re seeking adventure in a hotel swimming pool, you might find it in The Tank at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

The Tank at Golden Nugget Las Vegas

You can slide through a transparent tunnel inside the shark tank or schwim around outside with the sharks on the other side of the tank.

2. Healing - In Desert Hot Springs, CA, every hotel pool is a natural mineral water pool with healing and rejunevation powers as good as a full body spa treatment. The Desert Hot Springs Spa Hotel has 8 (that’s right – eight) natural hot mineral pools, while the Miracle Springs Resort & Spa offers 110 luxurious rooms and an odorless hot mineral water pool. Read More »

A hotel roof – or for that matter any roof – is no longer just a roof but a valuable asset. Almost every new hotel built now has either a green roof with a garden, or a rooftop bar and lounge, and even swimming pools.

Some of these pools are breathtaking – worth checking in to the hotel just so you can enjoy the rooftop experience and wallow in the water with nothing but the sky above and the earth far below. Take a look.

1. The Joule, Dallas - An incredible vertigo inducing heated infinity pool which sticks out of the building’s roof and into thin air. 

Rooftop Pool at The Joule, Dallas

Closeup - Rooftop Pool at The Joule, Dallas

The Joule Pool sticks 8 feet beyond the structure with a glass window at the end. You’ll find yourself swimming off the building’s edge, which is either terrifying or exhilarating, depending on how adventurous you are. There’s also a rooftop café and pool attendants offering rooftop service.

2. Hotel Gansevoort, New York (Meatpacking) - While the new Gansevoort hotels in New York (Park Avenue) and Miami offer equally splendid rooftop pools, there’s something about the rooftop pool of the Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District in New York that puts it a cut above the rest. Read More »

“I think it looks bigger than it really is,” my son commented as we sat in the front lobby of the Doubletree Guest Suites in Nashville, waiting to check out.

We were nestled into modern sofas inches away from the automatic front doors and a few feet from the hotel restaurant where we’d had a breakfast buffet.  I looked up at the three floors rising above me and reflected on the past night’s stay.

“Yeah,” I nodded my head at him.  “I think you’re right.  It sure feels like a big, fancy hotel, doesn’t it?”

In reality, the Doubletree Guest Suites on Atrium Way in Nashville, Tennesse offers only 138 suites on three easy to navigate floors.  There’s one front door and one back door, accessible by room key, and you can get to any place in the hotel quickly and easily.  But at first glance, you almost expect a sprawling property with winding corridors and banquet rooms.

The Doubletree does an excellent job with the space they have, especially considering their rooms start at just $85 per night.

This is an all suite hotel, meaning each room comes with a bedroom and a well appointed sitting room.  My family of four plus two grandparents spent a night on the sofas and chairs in one of the living rooms, and there was ample space for the two kids under 10 who insisted on running around.  The bedrooms themselves offer comfortable beds in spacious rooms with oversized bathrooms attached.

The bed was fantastically comfortable, right down to the numerous fluffy pillows for both the bed and the pullout couch.

I love a hotel that doesn’t skimp on pillows.

The Doubletree also features an indoor and outdoor pool.  The indoor pool was reserved for a party during our stay, so we were limited to splashing around in the outdoor pool.  The pool ran from 3 feet to 5 feet with wide stairs for my four year old to lounge on in the shallow end.  The pool itself was surrounded by cushioned chaise lounges and umbrella’ed tables.  And while it did takes us three trips to the front desk to convince them that there were, in fact, no towels available poolside – when the hotel employee finally arrived, we were pleased with the large, soft towels we were given.

My only complaint about the hotel was the breakfast situation.  When we booked online, it said that breakfast was included.  However, when we made our way downstairs in the morning, all we saw was an open hot and cold buffet with a gold plaque announcing “$9.95 per person”.  There was no wait staff to question, so we sat down to eat.  Upon finishing our meal, an employee who seemed to be a bartender asked if we had meal coupons – which we did not.  Insist on breakfast coupons when you check in. As far as free breakfast buffet goes, it wasn’t bad – but it’s barely a $10 per person breakfast.

The hotel is located near the airport, and it would make a great pit stop before or after a Nashville flight.  I would also recommend this hotel for family vacations with kids.