The Best Rooftop Pools in NYC for 2024

March 18, 2024

New York City's rooftop pools supply a reliable escape from street-level stresses, whether you seek a pocket of calm or rollicking party vibes (after all, day drinking is its own kind of escape). Even if you're only going to be in the city for a limited time, it's worth ascending skyward to take a refreshing dip, survey the scenery, and survey the scene. 

Herewith, Frommer's presents the best spots to find aquatic solace and sociability on rooftops and elevated terraces in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and beyond. 

Pictured above: Gansevoort Rooftop and Somewhere Nowhere

Somewhere Nowhere

Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel, 112 W. 25th St.

The self-described highest rooftop pool and lounge in New York City sits on the 38th and 39th floors of the Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel, offering a relatively up-close look at Manhattan’s most famous skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building. The indoor lounge has a kind of magical garden motif, with gnome statues, sprays of flowers in vivid hues, and some disco balls thrown in for good measure. DJs and live entertainment kick things up a notch after dark. 

• Who can visit? Guests 21 and older who pay a hefty cover charge (reservations recommended but not required)
• When? Summer, starting in late May (rooftop igloos take over the space in winter)
• What’s on view? Skyscrapers in the heart of Manhattan
• Food and drink? Light bites and craft cocktails in the lounge; poolside service also available
• Where to learn more: SomewhereNowhereNYC.com

Dream Beach

Dream Downtown, 355 W. 16th St.

The 5,000-square-foot pool deck at this high-design Chelsea hotel is billed as a beach, and, sure enough, there is some actual sand up there—800 square feet worth, purportedly imported from the Hamptons, the affluent New Yorker’s summertime Shangri-La. Stationed around the water are about 30 rentable loungers and a pair of private cabanas; a full bar and grill sustain a party vibe all day and well into the evening on weekends. The pool itself has a glass bottom overlooking the hotel lobby. 

• Who can visit? Hotel guests and visitors who purchase day passes 
• When? Summer and early fall
• What’s on view? Trendy revelers and the hotel lobby through the glass-bottom pool
• Food and drink? Full bar and seasonal dishes from the Dream Beach Bar & Grill
• Where to learn more: DreamHotels.com/Downtown

Margaritaville Resort Times Square

560 7th Ave.

New York City's first Parrot Head resort is the only hotel in the Times Square area to have an outdoor pool. It’s technically on a terrace rather than a rooftop, but you’re up so high you can’t tell the difference. Look northward and you’ll see all the madness of Times Square—and when the sun is out and temps are high, things can get pretty crowded around the pool, too. The LandShark Bar & Grill, which has one wall open to the pool (weather permitting), provides libations and snacks. Along with swimming, families will appreciate the cornhole games flanking the water. 

• Who can visit? Hotel guests and outside visitors who purchase day passes
• When? Year-round (the pool is heated but not enclosed)
• What’s on view? Surrounding Midtown buildings and the lights of Times Square to the north
• Food and drink? The LandShark Bar & Grill adjoins the pool deck.
• Where to learn more: MargaritavilleResorts.com

The Empire Hotel

44 W. 63rd St.

The Empire’s biggest draw is its location. The hotel is the only one in the city that overlooks both Central Park and Lincoln Center, so the views are not only swell but also different from what you'll see at the other urban swimming holes on this list. Hotel guests can order light bites and cocktails from the onsite bar, and laze on loungers without paying extra fees—two perks that help make up for the pool's postage-stamp size and the decor's need for a refresh. 

• Who can visit? Hotel guests only
• When? Memorial Day through Labor Day 
• What’s on view? Upper West Side buildings, Central Park, Lincoln Center
• Food and drink? Cocktails and snacks from the adjoining lounge
• Where to learn more: EmpireHotelNYC.com

Gansevoort Meatpacking 

18 Ninth Ave.

Renovated in 2023, the rooftop at the Gansevoort Meatpacking hotel combines a lounge suggesting a lush fairy-tale garden (complete with frescoes abounding with fruit trees and wisteria) and a sleek dining room meant to evoke an industrial loft, with chevron-patterned floors, beamed ceilings, and hints of pink marble and rose-tinted velvet. But all those design flourishes take a back seat to the unobstructed Manhattan and Hudson River panorama on display from the adjacent pool, a 45-foot stretch of water on the 15th floor that’s reserved exclusively for hotel guests. Poolside cocktails and all-day snacks provide more excuses for not stirring from your daybed. 

• Who can visit? Hotel guests (though anyone can dine at the rooftop restaurant) and members of Seven24 Collective, a membership club located onsite
• When? Year-round
• What’s on view? West side of the Manhattan skyline and the Hudson River
• Food and drink? Poolside service for hotel guests
• Where to learn more: GansevoortHotelGroup.com/Gansevoort-Meatpacking-NYC

The Pool Club, Virgin Hotels New York City

1227 Broadway

Because it’s on a third-floor patio rather than atop the roof, this pool isn’t as rich in views as the other locations on this list, though you can get an up-close look at the Empire State Building and admire the handsome mansard roofs of surrounding Gilded Age structures. The pool itself is nothing to write home about—Michael Phelps could traverse the small rectangle in about two strokes. But since this is a Virgin hotel, that doesn’t much matter. When the sun is out, the party is on. Expect crowds of people carrying fruity cocktails, doing a lot of flirting, and displaying no cause for feeling bashful about parading around in swimwear. Note that while there’s no charge to swim, use of a lounger or one of the two palapas carries a fee (and it's higher for outsiders than hotel guests).

• Who can visit? Hotel guests and outside visitors
• When? Spring to early fall
• What’s on view? The Empire State Building and other surrounding icons
• Food and drink? A restaurant right off the pool terrace has a full menu of cocktails, light bites, and more substantial fare.
• Where to learn more: VirginHotels.com/New-York

QC NY Spa

112 Andes Rd., Governors Island

Okay, this one isn’t on a rooftop, but we’re including it here anyway ‘cause the skyline views from the spa’s pair of outdoor pools rival what you’ll find at any lofty perch in the city. Located on Governors Island (accessed via a quick ferry ride from Lower Manhattan), QC NY occupies a onetime army barracks turned wellness retreat with several saunas, foot baths, infrared beds, Vichy showers, massage and beauty treatment rooms, and, the pièce de résistance, two heated outdoor pools showcasing dazzling views of Manhattan. Massaging hydro-jets and even underwater music further enhance the experience. 

• Who can visit? Guests who buy a day pass or massage
• When? Year-round
• What’s on view? Lower Manhattan, New York Harbor
• Food and drink? Salads, sandwiches, and snacks, as well as beer, wine, and cocktails from the onsite bistro
• Where to learn more: QCNY.com

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge Park, 60 Furman St.

A major selling point of the rooftop pool at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is right there in the name of the property, set along the East River and pointed at the famous cable-stayed span connecting Brooklyn with Lower Manhattan. Besides being treated to elevated views of the sparkling skyline, pool-goers can enjoy cocktails and light bites (or weekend brunch) at Harriet’s Rooftop, an open-air lounge decorated with furnishings made from reclaimed wood, in keeping with the hotel’s sustainable ethos and the neighborhood’s industrial past. 

• Who can visit? Hotel guests only
• When? Spring to early fall
• What’s on view? The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan skyline, the East River
• Food and drink? Apps, sandwiches, desserts, and cocktails in the adjoining restaurant 
• Where to learn more: 1Hotels.com/Brooklyn-Bridge

The William Vale

111 N. 12th St., Williamsburg

On this hotel's fourth-floor pool terrace, sunbathers get fab views of Manhattan across the river. And since this is an unusually long pool by NYC standards, you can actually swim laps in the water—provided you arrive early enough in the day. Hotel guests and neighborhood residents alike frequent the spot, so it tends to get crowded during the peak of summer. Don't be surprised to find people simply standing in the water with their cocktails. Outsiders must purchase a pricey day pass and pay an additional fee to sit down; loungers are reserved for hotel guests and cabanas are costly. Still, this is one of the best places to catch some rays in hip Williamsburg.

• Who can visit? Hotel guests and outside visitors who purchase day passes
• When? May into early October
• What’s on view? Surrounding Brooklyn buildings and Manhattan in the distance
• Food and drink? Cocktails and small plates from the rooftop restaurant
• Where to learn more: TheWilliamVale.com

TWA Hotel

John F. Kennedy International Airport

Paradise for plane spotters, the pool atop the swinging ‘60s–inspired TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport overlooks one of the facility’s longest runways, letting sunbathers survey the dizzying logistical operation—but not from a vantage so close to the engines as to put eardrums in danger. The hotel’s infinity pool and observation deck are easy to get to via airport transit, and the pool stays open year-round, with water temps rising to a steamy 95 degrees in the winter months. Whether or not you’re staying at the hotel, you can book a (pricey) day pass to lounge by the water, noshing on nachos and sipping aviation-themed cocktails such as the Jet Fuel, made with cucumber mint vodka, Aperol, lemon juice, and muddled watermelon. Sounds like a nice way to spend a long layover—just don’t miss your flight. 

• Who can visit? Hotel guests and outside visitors who purchase day passes 
• When? Year-round (reservations recommended in summer and fall)
• What’s on view? Planes taking off at JFK and distant glimpses of Jamaica Bay
• Food and drink? Apps, salads, and plane-themed cocktails from the Pool Bar
• Where to learn more: TWAHotel.com

The Summer Club

Ravel Hotel, 8-08 Queens Plaza, Long Island City

For an atmosphere more in line with the high-octane energy of a poolside day club in Las Vegas, there’s the Summer Club on the third-floor terrace of Ravel Hotel in Long Island City, located in Queens just across the East River from Manhattan. Tickets reserved in advance are required to access the palm-dotted, pink-umbrella’d club, where a lively atmosphere is cultivated by a roster of DJs and numerous cocktails of the fizzy, frozen, and coconut-encased variety. If you’re looking for a calm and quiet retreat, this isn’t it.

• Who can visit? Partygoers who purchase day passes and reserve loungers or private cabanas (extra charges)
• When? Summer
• What’s on view? The Manhattan skyline, trendy fun seekers
• Food and drink? Poolside cocktails and a menu of sushi, salads, and grilled fare
• Where to learn more: TheSummerClubNYC.com