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Around the pool, gatherings take on a celebratory energy: a reception dinner lined with striped umbrellas, an after-party that shifts from black-tie to bikini, a birthday weekend where everyone rotates between swims and slices of pineapple. Families scatter into their own poolside rituals; one with a paperback, another calling "Marco Polo", and friends returning again and again to the water as the unofficial headquarters of the trip. The season’s final call for sunscreen comes with an invitation: gather the friends, stake out the loungers, and let the pool do the entertaining. From the salt-air glamour of Gurney’s Montauk to Aperol-hued afternoons at Soho Farmhouse Ibiza, these 33 pools remind us that summer’s best chapters unfold in chlorine and salt, in meals carried outdoors (or burgers nabbed from the pool bar), and in the ecstasy of not checking the time until the sun has finally clocked out. So sit back, recline your chaise, and bookmark this roundup as your global directory to the world’s most sought-after pools.  

If you haven’t spotted one of our crew frolicking around town spreading holiday cheer and rocking a sassy holiday sweater or accessory, consider this the electronic equivalent. We’ve got all the best travel deals and biggest events you won’t want to miss this December, delivered right here to your fingertips just in time for the holidays. Looking for a good excuse to head out of town for Christmas? There’s a really good deal at a new luxury hotel in hotspot Baja California Sur. Thinking of taking up baking this holiday season but not sure where to start? Learn cookie basics from the pros in Brooklyn. Hoping to have your best New Year’s Eve of all time? Head to Rio’s Copacabana Beach for the ultimate fireworks show. All these things and more, that’s what sharing the holiday spirit means to us, my friends. Reporter: Alyssa Brown