9 hotels with pools you’ll want to linger at

Visit the pool at this luxury hotel in Darling Harbour and you will be spoiled for all other places to swim. The infinity pool – exclusively for use by hotel guests – has views for days, extending over the water and the buzzing Darling Harbour precinct, toward the city. Pick your pace: the pool is long enough to do laps and burn off some energy. But there are also plenty of places to recline in sun lounges and make the most of Le Rivage (‘the shore’) poolside bar. Order a glass of champagne or a cocktail, perhaps paired with a gourmet bite, and live your best life. Then return to your elegant room to enjoy your room’s comforts – some feature unbroken views over the Harbour City.

The three towers of this Gold Coast hotel are fitted with sun-kissed, self-contained one-to three-bedroom apartments, each featuring everything you need for a comfortable stay. And while the epic beaches of Surfers Paradise are just a few steps away, it’s hard to beat the hotel’s pools (yes, there are two!). The outdoor, lagoon-style pool is surrounded by palm trees and sandy shores and more than 600 square metres of turquoise water. It’s the perfect place for families to swim and enjoy, and it’s steps from a playground area so kids can exhaust themselves between each. There are also plenty of places to lounge about in the shade. Meanwhile, there’s also an indoor-outdoor lap pool where you can get serious about swimming… before retreating to the bar for a cocktail.

Hotel pool with a view? You’ve come to the right place. Peppers Soul Surfers Paradise overlooks the Gold Coast beachfront, its stunning one- to four-bedroom apartments offering unbroken vistas up and down the coast or over the hinterland. Look out for whales breaching offshore during migration (May to November). You enjoy the same outlook from the outdoor pool, which curves along the coast and comes with plenty of dreamy nooks and a spa to recline and enjoy the action of the area. As an added bonus, it’s open until 10pm, so is a great place for an evening swim and spa above the hustle and bustle of Surfers Paradise. There’s more inside, where you can do laps (or just loll about) in a calming green-tiled pool with a sauna and spa, when you want to turn up the heat.

Check in here and you’re in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD. And yet when you’re on the hotel’s wellness deck, replete with a 50-metre outdoor pool that’s perfect for doing laps or just lounging beside, you feel like you’re at a coastal resort. This Art Series hotel is dedicated to the works of Australian abstract artist, Michael Johnson. And its rooms and public spaces come decorated with eye-popping works. The pool is the icing on the cake, lined with sun lounges that are the perfect perch from which to contemplate how to spend your evening in the vibrant district that surrounds.

This iconic hotel on Hastings Street in Noosa is the epitome of beachside class, from its elegant Parisian-style interior design to its serene day spa, where you can indulge in aqua therapy. Because when in Noosa… The hotel’s lagoon pool is the ultimate place to hang out when you’re not at the beach, ringed with blue-and-white striped sun umbrellas that give the space a Greek-chic vibe. There are also cabanas draped in flowy white curtains, where you can lounge, poolside, in privacy while enjoying cocktails and snacks.

When warm weather beckons, it’s hard to beat a break in Tropical North Queensland. Welcome to Peppers Beach Club and Spa Palm Cove, a white beauty overlooking a string of palm trees along the beach. When it’s time to cool off, the lagoon-style pool is surrounded by lush gardens, with plenty of sun lounges to relax on after your swim. And when cocktail hour calls, adults can make the most of the swim-up bar. If you book the three-bedroom Grand Ocean Penthouse, you’ll even get your own plunge pool to gaze at the sea from.

A sanctuary of style, Hotel Chadstone Melbourne occupies a prime position amid one of the city’s largest shopping and dining precincts. Rooms and public spaces are decorated in glorious jewel tones – think azure, gold, indigo and midnight blue. The indoor heated pool, meanwhile, will take your breath away. Located on level 12 of the hotel, the curved space is ensconced by floor-to-ceiling windows, offering enviable views of Port Philip Bay and the Melbourne city skyline. Find a reclining lounge chair to bliss out in, order a cocktail and let the day’s dramas fade away.