Thirteen floors above the Central Business District, The Pool Club is the rooftop at Virgin Hotels New Orleans, where a red-lit pool and a half-covered bar look out over the skyline toward Uptown.
Published September 27, 2025 · By Daniel Okafor
The Pool Club crowns Virgin Hotels New Orleans at 550 Baronne Street, in the Central Business District a few blocks off Canal Street. The Rooftop Guide ranks it among the city's best rooftop bars, and neworleans.com lists it as a pool, patio, and bar perched well above the surrounding rooftops.
The draw is the height and the light. The pool glows a deep red after dark, the patio is half covered against the heat, and the views stretch past the downtown towers toward the river and Uptown. It works as a daytime swim club and a night-time drinking rooftop in the same footprint.
The room
The space wraps a rooftop pool with a covered bar on one side and open patio seating on the other. Lounge furniture and cabanas ring the water, and the cover keeps part of the deck usable through a passing afternoon shower. Capacity tightens on warm weekends, when pool reservations and table service take over much of the deck. The rail along the edge is the prize seat, since that is where the skyline opens up, and the covered bar stays comfortable even when the open deck bakes in the afternoon sun.
What to order
Stick to the highballs and frozen drinks that suit a pool deck rather than the labor-heavy classics. The smart move is timing: Golden Hour, the rooftop's happy hour, runs Monday through Friday from 4pm to 6pm with some of the better deals in the area, per Where Y'at's rooftop guide. Expect $$$ rooftop pricing outside those hours, which is the cost of the view.
The crowd and best time to go
Hotel guests, downtown after-work groups, and visitors there for the skyline fill the deck. Weekdays at Golden Hour are the calm, good-value window; weekends lean toward pool-party energy and can require a reservation for a lounger. Sunset is the photograph everyone comes for, so arrive before it if a rail seat matters.
What regulars say
Reviewers consistently flag the view and the red pool as the highlights, with the Rooftop Guide calling the outlook over Uptown one of the best in the city. The repeated caution is price and crowding on weekend afternoons, when the swim-club side dominates and the bar gets busy. On a weekday evening the same deck reads as calm and unhurried.
Getting there
The entrance is through Virgin Hotels New Orleans at 550 Baronne Street in the Central Business District, two blocks from the Canal Street streetcars, with a dedicated elevator running to the 13th floor. Drivers use the hotel valet or the garages along Baronne and O'Keefe, and the rooftop is a short walk from the Warehouse District galleries and the convention center. On a weekend the smart move is to arrive before the deck fills, since the elevator line and the reservation list both lengthen as the afternoon turns to evening.
Who it is for
This is for the view-seeker, the after-work group, and anyone touring New Orleans rooftop bars who wants height over history. Skip it if you came for a quiet cocktail den. For the full picture, see the New Orleans bar guide.
The verdict
The Pool Club wins on elevation and atmosphere, best caught at Golden Hour before the weekend crowds arrive. For other rooftops with a view, compare Hot Tin at the Pontchartrain and The Jaxson. Our rooftop bars guide covers the rest of the skyline.
