Best Rooftop Pool Hotel in Santiago, Chile
A rooftop pool in Santiago means trading garden space for skyline and Andes views, and Nest Collection El Golf is the property carrying that trade on this list. The aparthotel sits in the El Golf district a short walk from Costanera Center, pairing its rooftop deck with self-catering kitchenettes rather than a full-service restaurant. That combination suits travellers who want the view without the five-star price tag attached to hotels like The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago, which also runs a rooftop pool but as one part of a larger wellness offering rather than the headline amenity.
Santiago's rooftop scene reads differently than the city's ground-level bar and restaurant culture in Bellavista or Lastarria, since a rooftop here is chosen for the Andes and skyline view first and the social scene second. On clear days, especially in the shoulder seasons between the smog-prone winter and the hazier peak of summer, a rooftop deck in El Golf or Las Condes catches the mountain wall to the east better than almost any ground-floor courtyard in the city, which is exactly what draws travellers to pay for the extra floor.
Rooftop pool · Santiago in numbers
Where to stay
Trading Garden Space for Andes Views
Choosing a rooftop pool over a ground-floor garden pool in Santiago comes down to what a traveller wants from the view. Nest Collection El Golf sets its deck above the El Golf business district, close enough to Costanera Center and San Cristóbal Hill that guests get genuine city panoramas rather than a partial glimpse between buildings. The trade-off against a ground-floor pool is space: a rooftop deck here runs smaller than the garden-set pools found in Providencia or Vitacura, better suited to a quiet evening swim than an afternoon of lounging.
Nest Collection El Golf built its aparthotel around the rooftop deck rather than treating it as an afterthought, adding a terrace and 24-hour front desk alongside kitchenette-equipped units roughly 1.9 kilometres from Costanera Center. That location puts Parque Araucano and San Cristóbal Hill within reach as well, so the rooftop pool becomes one stop in a day that can include shopping, a hike and an evening swim without a car. Reviewers rate the location highly enough that it stands out even among the well-placed towers nearby, with guests scoring the two-person trip experience close to a perfect ten.
The self-catering format changes what a rooftop stay feels like here compared with a full-service hotel. Guests at Nest Collection El Golf get a dining area, sofa bed and streaming services alongside the rooftop pool, better suited to a longer stay or a small group splitting costs than a one-night business trip. That trade-off means no on-site restaurant to pair with the rooftop view, so evening plans typically mean walking into El Golf or Las Condes for dinner, both a short walk from the front door of the aparthotel and well lit after dark.
The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago also runs a rooftop swimming pool, but bundles it with an indoor pool, spa and wellness centre rather than positioning the rooftop as the standalone draw. Travellers deciding between the two properties are really choosing between Nest Collection El Golf's dedicated rooftop-and-view focus at a lower price point, or The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago's broader five-star facilities where the rooftop pool is one amenity among several rather than the reason to book a stay in the first place at all, alongside an indoor pool and sauna reserved for the colder months of the year.
Views aside, a rooftop pool in Santiago carries the same seasonal caveats as a ground-floor one: the open-air setting means cooler months bring cooler water and less use overall. Nest Collection El Golf's rooftop works best from spring through early autumn, roughly October to April, when Santiago's dry heat makes an elevated pool genuinely appealing rather than an amenity better admired than used from the terrace below, wrapped in a jacket instead of swimwear on a cool winter evening with the Andes still faintly visible in the fading late-afternoon distance.
A traveler's takeI watched the sun set from Nest Collection El Golf's rooftop pool after a day spent walking between Costanera Center and Parque Araucano, and the Andes stayed visible right up until the light dropped. Cooking dinner in the kitchenette afterward instead of heading out kept the evening simple, which suited the slower pace I wanted after a busy sightseeing day.
Local tips
- 1Book Nest Collection El Golf specifically for the rooftop view; the aparthotel format means no restaurant, so plan dinner out or cook in.
- 2Time your rooftop swim for late afternoon or early evening, when the Andes light is clearest and the day's heat has softened.
- 3Compare Nest Collection El Golf against The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago if you want a broader spa and wellness package alongside the rooftop pool.
- 4Visit between October and April for the best rooftop pool weather; Santiago's cooler months reduce how much use an open-air deck gets.
- 5Walk to San Cristóbal Hill earlier in the day, then return for a rooftop swim once the funicular crowds and midday heat have passed.
- 6Confirm kitchenette equipment ahead of arrival if you're planning to cook rather than eat out near the El Golf business district.