The Local Foreigner team maintains a lively group text - swapping tips, experiences, stories, and photos from every corner of the globe and at all hours. Hive Mind is a peek inside the group think.

Much of the Local Foreigner team is based in the northeast, which has been enduring a particularly snowy winter. And while the fresh powder is charming at first, within hours it’s piled on sidewalks in dirty mounds and melted into slush swamps at every curb. But what better way is there to escape winter in the city than with a destination dip? Pack your bikini and turn on your out of office - it’s time for a pool party.

North Island

North Island, The Seychelles

“The very smallest of the eleven thatch-roofed villas at North Island is almost 5,000 square feet and they all have their own plunge pools, but even the most reclusive beach bum will be tempted out of their private paradise by the promise of the meanderingly beautiful main pool. At over 150 feet long, it weaves organically between granite boulders, is surrounded by lush hanging gardens, and overlooks the impossibly vibrant ocean beyond. With so few guests on the island at any time, chances are you’ll have the whole thing to yourself, so you can goldilocks your way through every lounger until you find the one that’s just right.”

-Barkley Hickox

Hotel du Cap Eden Roc

Antibes, France

“I understand if taking F. Scott Fitzgerald’s advice on pools might give you pause, but fortunately he’s far from the only glittering name to have indulged in and around what may be the world’s most iconic swim spot. The author based his Hôtel des Etrangers from Tender is the Night on Hotel du Cap, and since it was blasted from the basalt cliffside by dynamite in 1914, the saltwater infinity pool has drawn not just the the beautiful and damned, but everyone who’s anyone in between.”

-Alexandra Hanover

Cala di Volpe

Costa Smeralda, Sardinia

“The Costa Smeralda, or Emerald Coast, on Sardinia, is a summer playground for the international jet set. Sprawling, low-slung buildings in pale peaches and pinks abut endless stretches of beach, and out at sea, a metropolis of mega yachts grows as the season rolls on. There are several romantic, classic hotel options on this coastline, but the Cala di Volpe is the queen bee, not least because of her epic saltwater pool. It’s one of the biggest in Europe, and from a perch on one of the surrounding loungers, seems large enough a yacht or two could sail right in for a cocktail.”

-Lauren Dru, Escapades

Aman Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

“The Aman Tokyo is known as one of the best city hotels in the world, a designation that might not make you think about your swimming plans. But the 90-foot pool should not be missed - with its floor-to-ceiling windows and incredible views over the skyline, the architecture draws on cultural references of both vast temples and serene onsens, recontextualizes the experience of the sprawling metropolis, and elevates a morning dip into a meditative experience.”

-Haley Bornstein, The Born Travelers

Playa Vik

José Ignacio, Uruguay

“Travelers looking for palm trees and palapas should look elsewhere, but for those who love a jaw-dropping engineering marvel, you can’t beat the pool at Playa Vik. Sure, you’ve seen manicured green lawns rolling down to a windswept beach before, but what about a 75-foot, cantilevered black granite swimming pool hovering above it all, looking a bit like a gangway into an alien spacecraft? Oh, and there’s a fiber optic map of the southern hemisphere’s starscape on the pool floor, because of course there is."

-Cally Pirrung

Monteverdi

Castiglioncello del Trinoro, Italy

“When someone with impeccable taste lovingly restores (and improves) a Medieval village overlooking one of the most beautiful valleys in Italy, you are already on the road to success. Monteverdi is a place where every sensory experience is taken into loving consideration, and the small and perfect infinity pool is no exception. Watching clouds drift lazily across vineyards while surrounded by rustling lavender and twisting olive trees is enough to convince any die-hard beach lover that things are better under the Tuscan sun.”

-Emily Pariseau

Le Bristol

paris, France

“There’s a lot that’s improbable about the pool at Le Bristol - it’s floating in a sun-soaked salon on the top floor instead of embedded in the basement; it looks like the deck of a ship, but it’s landlocked in the middle of one of the world’s best cities; you’re wearing a bathing suit in a place known for its endless parade of sweets and breads; you can see Sacré Coeur while you’re swimming, as opposed to the usual case of NOT seeing Sacré Coeur while you’re swimming - and that’s exactly the sort of beautiful whimsy and pourquoi-pas perspective that draws me to Paris again and again.”

-Jordy Lievers-Eaton

Amanyara

Providenciales, turks + caicos

“Send your friends and family a “Wish You Were Here!” postcard from Amanyara, and they are not going to believe you only flew three hours to get there. The pavilions are built from teak imported from Indonesia, and the day beds are swathed in Jim Thompson silks. The only way folks at home will know you haven’t jetted off to Southeast Asia is that your sunset Instagrams of the pristine, reflective pool (and neighboring rotunda-style bar) will still be posted in Eastern Standard Time.”

-Meg Nolan, Friend of a Friend Luxury Travel Consulting

Hive Mind: Hotel Pools