The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong is the tallest hotel in the world but it’s also home to the highest pool in the world (and also a pretty amazing gym). From the 118th floor, both the pool and the gym boast sweeping views of Hong Kong that make you feel like you’re working out in the clouds (because sometimes you are). Here’s my full Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong Pool and gym review.
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong pool and gym (fitness center)
The pool and the gym are located on the 118th floor, which is the top of the hotel and the ICC Tower.
There’s a small lobby area outside of the elevators on 118th floor with a check-in desk. Be ready to give the staff at the deck your room number and possibly a signature when you visit. If there’s nobody at the deck, chances are a staff members will eventually track you down and ask for your information.
The 118th floor is also the floor that the world’s highest bar, OZONE, is located on (though you take a separate elevator from the lobby to get there). OZONE is a spectacle and serves us some fantastic cocktails and is home to their popular Dom Perignon brunch.
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The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong Pool
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong pool is newly remodeled. The giant LCD screens that used to stretch across the pool’s ceiling were just recently replaced with large mirror panels. Mirrors are found everywhere within the hotel so the remodeling made a lot of sense to me but I think both looks are equally stunning.
You can enter the pool via the gym or through the outdoor terrace that also is connected to the gym. As soon as you enter, you’ll be asked to take off your tennis shoes and put on some slippers issued by the hotel. If you have flip-flops or their equivalent already on, you might not be asked to change your shoes.
We visited the pool right after it opened up at 6am (it closes at 10pm) which was before the sunrise.
As soon as we walked into the pool area, I was pretty blown away by it. While the hotel replaced the screens on the ceiling, they still have a large screen on the other end of the pool which is very bright and high definition.
The images shown on the screen are of various destinations and while the screen is bright, I found that the reflections off the mirrors and water sort of had a hypnotic effect at night when going for a relaxing swim. It’s just an overall relaxing vibe in that pool area. The Marina Bay Sands is still my favorite hotel pool but this pool ranks very high with me.
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Right by the entrance to the pool, there’s a lounging area with a number of cushioned seats and pillows up on a platform.
Along the side of the pool, there’s a number of comfortable chaise lounge chairs.
On the other side of the pool there are larger sofas to relax on.
I really liked the lounge chairs that were placed right next to the floor to ceiling windows. We caught the view around sunrise and it looked pretty stunning to see all of the mountains and buildings coming into view below the purple sky.
Taking a dip in the pool was fun and it was funny seeing yourself swim in the ceiling of the pool. At least for me it was. I don’t think I’d ever personally witnessed just how horrible my form was when swimming.
I also really liked the “starry sky” lighting built into the walls which you can see in the photo below.
The Ritz-Carlton also has a hot tub, a “warm” hot tub, and cold tub.
The warm tub and the cold rub are two large soaking tubs, located right next to the pool. The warm pool felt just a bit cooler than what you’d expect to feel in a true hot tub, but I imagine that if you were to settle in there it would feel much cooler than the hot tub.
Meanwhile, the cold tub was very cold.
I wanted to jump in (and then jump right out) just to try it out but they were in the process of adding chemicals into it and I didn’t want to interfere. But I did dip my arm in the pool and it felt freezing cold since we’d just exited the hot tub.
The actual hot tub is located in a more secluded area that is part of the outdoor terrace. The walls are so high I didn’t even realize I was outdoors until I looked up and saw the sky. I really like the way the hot tub is off to the corner as it offers real privacy to couples or just people who want to relax with a phenomenal view.
The outdoor terrace leads you through an open rooftop lounge area. The views aren’t quite as good as they are on the other side of the tower but it’s still something nice to look at. This is also just a fresh area that’s nice to relax in after a good workout.
But the rooftop terrace isn’t open 24 hours so you can’t always make your way out there.
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong gym
The gym is well-equipped overall. You’ll find a hand full of treadmills, a few ellipticals, one zero-runner machine, and a couple of bikes for cardio. Each machine is pre-loaded with a thick Ritz-Carlton towel and bottle of water and has a monitor on it that you can use to browse the web/watch TV and other things.
The weight machines are high quality, too.
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And there’s a great free weight area with a couple of benches and plenty of space and dumbbells (all in kgs of course).
Most of our workouts took place very early in the morning which was great because we had the entire gym to ourselves. However, the drawback to working out at night is that you lose the views. Since you look out to an outdoor terrace that also has thick window panes, you really can’t see much at night.
Here’s what the gym looked like during day hours.
The floor to ceiling windows allow in plenty of natural light.
As you can see, you can actually see the view, which spans out very far.
Even though the view isn’t as good as the one from the other side of the building (where you can see the heart of the Hong Kong skyline), I still loved looking out to the view during a workout. There’s just something about working out with a great hotel view that makes you feel extra energized and motivated.
After checking out the pool and gym, we headed to the men’s locker room, which was very nice.
There are a couple sink areas with large mirrors for you to freshen up.
There were three fully private toilets in these cool pod-like stalls.
I really liked the sauna.
There’s also a little area full of lockers.
Final word
Taking a dip in the highest pool in the world was a cool experience. But it also helps that the pool facilities are beautiful and come with breathtaking views of Hong Kong. The gym is full of high quality machines and is a great place to workout while taking in a pretty magnificent view. These facilities would be solid on their own but you throw the view in the mix, it makes the pool and gym experience at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong extra special.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.