Rooftop lap-pool with glass floor!
First rooftop pool on the list - and the first pool with a glass bottom looking down eight floors into the hotel lobby!
This is a one-lane, 25m lap pool which is most certainly intended as an ornamental centrepiece to the classy rooftop CUBA bar than a swim training pool! The sun beds are way too close to the edge, plus they have a proper lap pool downstairs - which I added to the list several years ago (See pool number 24).
I’ve stayed at this hotel many times and always intended to complete this pool for the list at some point, but I never managed to find a quiet time - you literally need the entire lane (pool), an empty bar and not too many sunbathers to attempt any sort of swim!
This is a very relaxed location with a great blues soundtrack on the sound system and spectacular far-reaching views of the Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai - and bar service! But the one defining feature of the pool is the clear glass/acrylic walls and floor at one end, which juts out a couple of meters into the vast hotel lobby eight floors below.
The pool is open 10am - 6pm. I went up for a quick look after breakfast this morning, it was empty, but for the lifeguard, this would have been the ideal time to jump in and do my swim, but I was stuffed from breakfast and had work to do! A quick chat with the lifeguard and checked it was 25m, then told him I’ll be back later to swim 1km… he laughed, but I think he understood what I said!
Return at 5pm, just before the happy hour in the Club Lounge. There are a few people on the loungers around the pool, but no one actually in it, so there is no better time than now to get it done!
This is definitely a numbers pool and not a regular swim session, but it does add some variety to the list. This needs to be a slow, smooth swim, I want to avoid creating waves and empty the pool over the edge of the building! Nor do I want to splash the sunbathers just inches from the pool edge!
Jump in mid-pool, wade over to the solid (non-glass floor) end, and make a start. As I complete the first lap and approach the clear perspex box forming the walls and floor of the far end, it’s not the 8-floor drop that catches me but the surprisingly clear end panel which made it difficult to gauge how far out I was from the wall/window! At this point, I start thinking, what if I push off the wall too hard and crack the acrylic, frame or both? It all looks sturdy, and the acrylic must be at least 100mm (4”) thick, but I spend the next 40 laps checking for leaks and making gentle turns. I save my one flip over the glass turn for the last lap.
I’m acutely aware of the several sunbathers along the pool edge, keeping an eye out on each of the 40 laps for anyone seemingly annoyed! But all seem fine; probably just impressed anyone is actually using the pool! I’m reasonably confident this is the first swim I could count laps by the number of cigarettes and beers being consumed by someone watching inches from the edge!
Finish up and get a thumbs up from the lifeguard (although he can’t be that impressed as he denied me a second bottle of water from the complimentary poolside cooler!).
As I jump out and get dry in the 30’ Dubai heat, I think I’ve broken the ice! A pool that I’ve never seen anyone use is suddenly filled with half a dozen people that I think secretly always fancied a swim!
Time to see what they’re serving tonight in the complimentary Club Lounge Buffett; I’m hoping it’s mini burgers! (It was!).
Swim Stats
- 1000 meters total swim
- 1:39 pace / 100m
- Garmin Swim 2 Watch
Review
(90/100)
Fantastic rooftop pool with spectacular views - super clean, great staff and brilliant hotel (I definitly recommend Club Room access for nightly buffett!).
Pool Details
- Length 25 meters
- 1-lane pool
- Outdoor
CUBA Jumeirah Creekside Hotel
Rebat Street, Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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