The Pool at Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows

"The guests-only pool has a full-service menu and is usually packed with families soaking in the Santa Monica sun"

"For the ultimate in luxury, book a poolside garden bungalow"

"Swanky hotel that’s a fixture near the north end of the Promenade, with designer-furnished suites and tropical-flavoured bungalows (upwards of $500), plus a pool, salon, spa and fitness centre, and fine views over the Pacific"

"Snob appeal is blissfully absent here: service is warm rather than white-gloved; the scene around the pool and at the Exhale spa is laid-back; and the cuisine at the inventive, farm-to-table FIG restaurant is unfussy"

"Pool, spa and glorious seclusion in rooms from two towers or private bungalows—some with ocean-hanging balconies"