By day, Zen is a pool with a menu spanning a dozen sections and a hundred dishes: a meat kaleidoscope, an assortment of cold- and hot-smoked fish, a meze set, a crab roll, filet mignon and ribeye, a local take on tom yum in the form of a crispy seafood set, king prawns, woks, and pizza for any craving. This is the place for a long lunch: there’s enough food for the whole group, with plenty left to argue about. At night, Zen turns into a completely different venue. The loungers are cleared away, the lighting changes, and the terrace — on the top floor — becomes an open-air club. From here you get the best view of Yerevan you can get without a helicopter, and the parties here aren’t about whispering in a corner — they’re about noise and brightness: a DJ, spotlights, and guests who arrive at sunset and aren’t in a hurry to go home.
A couple of steps from Zen stands Lanj — a neighbor in address and in view, but the opposite in pace. If Zen is about the party, Lanj is about calm. By day, the grounds feel like a private villa spanning several thousand square meters: loungers, quiet, palm trees, and lavish views. In the evenings, things change: weddings happen here regularly, and videos often surface online of newlyweds saying «I do» by the pool with the city as a backdrop (and typically ending the party in the water). The food here isn’t just poolside snacks like fries and fruit plates — there’s also grilled sterlet, filet mignon, duck breast, and Thai soup. The bar menu is a discipline of its own: single malt whisky aged 12 to 25 years, rum straight from Havana, a gin collection substantial enough for a whole tasting night, and all the cocktail classics — from negroni and daiquiri to espresso martini and whiskey sour.
If your plane brings you to Zvartnots in the middle of the August heat, you have a legitimate excuse not to rush into the city center: Jellyfish is literally a couple of minutes from the airport. The place calls itself a tropical island inside the city, and it’s not exaggerating: a pool with a beach entry, music that keeps things lively, and an atmosphere guests keep comparing to Mykonos. But the main secret of Jellyfish is that this island has two floors. Besides the open-air area, there’s an indoor restaurant here — in case the sun decides to overdo it and you’re not ready to leave yet. The food here sits at the intersection of Asia and the Mediterranean, where spicy seasonings meet European refinement, and carbonara sits next to an Alaska roll. Bartenders put together cocktails with the same care that goes into the island’s playlist: an Old Fashioned or an Aperol Spritz fits any hour. In short, you can sit either in the sun or in the shade.
N7 at the Seven Visions hotel holds its own with an undeniable advantage — a 360-degree panoramic view taking in five of Yerevan’s historic landmarks and, of course, Mount Ararat. The pool here is no ordinary one either: the fourth-largest infinity pool in the world, lined with sand from Mykonos, with water that stays cool even under the blazing sun. While you’re sunbathing with a view of the horizon, dancers are already warming up by the bar nearby: this place loves shows with its parties, and your cocktail sometimes arrives to a booming soundtrack. The food, meanwhile, is quite serious: Mediterranean dishes like grilled shrimp, watermelon and feta salad, salmon steak, club sandwiches, and burgers. The bar menu matches the ambition: cognacs ranging from French to Armenian legends, champagne, and cocktails with names that are reason enough to order: Barbie Mimosa, Deadpool, Kyoto.
Another Seven Visions project, simply and plainly named The Pool, is a 33-meter infinity pool on the hotel’s roof with one of the most photographed views of the city. By day, a resident DJ plays, and on weekends the lineup includes live music and dancing. The menu features carbonara and arrabbiata pasta, grilled salmon and beef steak, burgers and mini hot dogs for those in a hurry to get back to the pool, and a separate kids' menu — in case the only thing the whole family can’t agree on is which lounger to take.
This is also one of the venues that yoga and pilates studios occasionally drop by for morning sessions. After stretching, it’s only logical to end up on a lounger — the pool isn’t going anywhere. From there, it’s the usual lineup: chicken or shrimp wok, pizza for any taste, burgers, and a sausage set to go with beer. The bar menu features signature cocktails like Rumshine and Pineapple Panic, clearly dreamed up by people missing their vacation before it had even started.
San Marco is one of those places where the pool occasionally makes room for a yoga mat: summer collaborations with local studios happen regularly, and morning practice comes with a view of the water. The kitchen keeps its Italian roots: carbonara, alfredo, margherita, and quattro formaggi sit alongside Asian bao and tacos, and in the evening signature cocktails like Tropical Tango and La Dolce Anguria come into play — and you can order them without leaving the water: stools are hidden right under the bar counter in the pool, so you sit down on them, and your cocktail is brought straight to you there.
