We're in the beginning of Ew Season in New Orleans, when it's a million degrees every day and spending time as much time as possible submerged in cool water seems to be the only away to avoid dying. But where to swim? If you're not lucky enough to have access to a pool, the options are slim. You could swim at gyms and recreation centers, but those pools are often overrun by children doing cannonballs, playing Sharks and Minnows and — let's just face it — peeing in the water sometimes. There's the Country Club, which is gorgeous, but public nudity isn't for everyone.

Faced with these options, many resort to sneaking into the rooftop pools at hotels. However, the energy invested into inventing a not-too-fictitious-sounding room number to have handy if approached by hotel staff takes all the fun out of summertime leisure.

Thankfully, the W Hotel on Poydras Street is making guilt-free pooltime possible for us commoners and non-tourists. It's opening its tony roof top pool area on Sundays in June, July and August starting this Sunday, June 3, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Access is free, but the hotel is offering all sorts of club-like amenities such as bottle service, cabana rental and flatscreen TV access (you can call 525-9444 to inquire about that). It seems like they'll also stop letting people in once the pool area reaches capacity.

Also during some the open-pool days, the hotel hosts fashion shows with local designers and boutiques as part of a collaboration with Fashion Week New Orleans. This Sunday's fashion show features designer Jolie and Elizabeth, boutiques Hemline and Swim 'n' Sport and Niki Walker Salon. The other poolside fashion show dates are July 1 and Aug. 5.

Visit the hotel's pool site for more information.