If I am going to call the blog ‘Poolside, Somewhere’ then it’s a must that I feature shaped pools. Sure, all mid-century modern fans love a kidney-shaped pool, and if it has a slide and a diving board, all the better. But my favourite artificial swimming hole of all-time is the Fountainbleu Hotel’s cat-shaped pool captured here by the great photographer, Slim Aarons back in 1955. The hotel is still there on the beach in Miami but sadly the pool is now long and generic. How dull!
Fountainbleu Hotel Miami 1955 by Slim Aarons
Once I was so into staying at a hotel with a guitar-shaped pool I booked myself into the Ramada Inn in Nashville. The breakfast was stale, rooms were of the floral comforter variety (easy for them to hide any nasty stains) and the location a little out of the way, the guitar was truncated too - neckless, unplayable.
Ramada Inn Nashville
Frank Sinatra’s Palm Springs abode designed by architect E. Stewart Williams is said to have a piano-shaped pool, it’s kinda piano shaped I guess, the house looks amazing, we pulled up in front of it once on a modernism tour, you can book to stay there.
Sinatra's Palm Springs estate
and here’s a selection of the rest…
Broken-hearted lovers bathe in the pool at Heartbreak Hotel pool opposite Graceland
Buffalo-shaped pool at Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino, Nevada
Airplane-shaped pool at Flying W Airport Resort, New Jersey
Footprint-shaped private pool
Turtle-shaped pool Pachira Lodge Costa Rica
Texas map-shaped pool at Big Texan Steak Ranch
Bone-shaped pool at Country Inn Pet Resort, Florida
The aptly named Aussie Resort at Burleigh Heads
Heart-shaped pool at Royal Palms Inn, Phoenix, Arizona
