Travel Trends: Hotel Pools as Hot Destinations

All this talk about travel trends for 2010 when December ain't over yet! Looking back on 2009-- generally a lousy year for the travel industry-- we can see why there's a rush to look forward and anticipate what's next. But we'd also like to take a minute to reflect on everything fabulous and cool in 2009's travel world. Namely, hotel pools as destinations in themselves. Some of our favorites: the hedonist's playground at the Gansevoort South in Miami, the pool that overhangs the sidewalk at the Hotel Joule in Dallas, the newly-renovated pool at The Peninsula New York, the pool at the W Hotel Ft. Lauderdale where a stairway of glass allows views of swimmers from below, and the indoor pool at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in downtown Chicago, which is "set against a backdrop of soaring windows with view of the Chicago River and the city skyline"- to quote The New York Times.