Why This Stunning Rooftop Has the Best Sunset in Dallas

Nineteen floors above downtown, a rooftop pool turns into a skyline lounge after dark. Here is how to do Waterproof at The Statler without overpaying for a bad seat.

Downtown Dallas does not have many rooftops that actually deliver, and Waterproof is the one most worth your time. It sits on the 19th floor of The Statler, the restored mid-century hotel on Commerce Street, and it pulls a neat trick: pool bar by day, skyline lounge by night, same stunning view either way.

By afternoon it is loungers, cabanas and a pool deck with the whole downtown skyline as a backdrop. By night the DJs come on, the lights drop, and the same deck turns into one of the better see-and-be-seen spots in the city center.

It is 21-and-up, it is summer-perfect, and it rewards a little planning. Show up wrong and you are paying a lot to stand in a crowd. Show up right and it is the best seat downtown.

The Layout

Waterproof is an indoor-outdoor space built around a rooftop pool, with a pool deck, loungers and cabanas wrapping the edge. The sightlines are the whole pitch: panoramic, open-air views straight across the downtown skyline, which is exactly the kind of thing Dallas tends to hide and this place puts front and center.

The food runs to easy, shareable bar bites, sliders, flatbreads and platters, the kind of thing you graze on between drinks rather than a sit-down dinner. Pull the current hours and any event nights on the official Waterproof site before you commit.

Day Pool vs. Night Lounge

This is the key decision, because Waterproof is genuinely two different venues. Daytime is the pool scene: loungers, swimwear, frozen drinks and a slower, sunnier energy. It is open from 8am, so you can roll in early and claim the calm before the crowd.

After dark it flips. The DJs spin Friday and Saturday, the crowd dresses up, and it becomes a proper rooftop nightlife spot with the city lit up below. Weekdays stay mellow, weekends get loud, so pick your night based on which version you actually want.

The Cabana Math

Here is the part to plan. Cabanas and prime poolside loungers require reservations and a minimum spend, so they are a commitment, not a walk-up. If you are coming with a group and you want a guaranteed home base, the minimum is worth splitting and it solves the seating problem for the whole afternoon.

If it is just two of you, skip the cabana, grab seats at the bar or a high-top, and put that money into drinks instead. The cocktail list runs signature drinks plus wine, beer and bubbles, available by the glass or as buckets and bottle service for bigger tables.

When to Go

For the pool, a weekday or an early weekend afternoon gets you the deck before it fills. For the nightlife, Friday and Saturday after sunset is the move, when the DJs are on and the skyline does its thing. Sunset itself is the sweet spot either way, the short window when day pool quietly becomes night lounge.

Reserve ahead for weekends no matter which version you are after, because this is a small footprint with a big reputation and it fills. Walk-ups can work on a quiet weekday, but never bet on it for a Saturday.

Make It a Downtown Night

Waterproof works best as the opener or the nightcap of a bigger downtown run, not the whole evening. Start here for sunset drinks and the view, then take the energy somewhere with a dance floor, or come up here to cap a night that started elsewhere.

If you want to keep the night going with live music and more bars after, Deep Ellum, the district built for a Dallas night out, is a short ride east and the natural next stop. Waterproof sets the tone, Deep Ellum carries it home.

Up on Nineteen

Waterproof is the rare downtown rooftop that earns the hype, as long as you decide up front whether you came for the pool or the party and plan the seat to match. Book the cabana if you are rolling deep, grab the bar if you are not, and time it for sunset. The view does the rest.