Get out and do stuff: Langham Hotel Pool Day

The Langham Hotel at Southbank in Melbourne is beautiful.

It has a divine staircase up the middle that is always filled with a flower display that makes you stop and take notice. The hotel is also well known for their high teas and cuisine.

But there is also a swimming pool and spa area on Level 9 of the hotel with beautiful views across the city, and you don't have to stay at the hotel to use them.

A few weeks ago Miss 9 became Miss 10. With her birthday falling in the summer school holidays it's always a tricky event to schedule and get invites out etc. This year, we decided that we would make all the decisions about her birthday and it would be a surprise day for her.

Mr H and I decided a day in the city was the perfect option and so we headed straight to The Langham, paid for a day pass for us all and that gave us the pool, spa, sauna, steam room and ALL the towels that we wanted.  We invited two other little girls to join us, so together we had four kids and two adults.

We ordered room service and had it delivered to the roof top balcony and the girls sat and ate hot chips and dumplings from a silver tray.

More swimming, more checking out of the snail shower, and steam room and then we dried off and went for a walk to Federation Square. There is always something to check out there, but for the birthday girl we went straight to ACMI, joined in on a make your own gif workshop and then went for ice cream.

Mr H then surprised them all again with tickets to the giant slip n slide and even though the weather was cool, they all still run straight on (again and again) until their 45 minutes was up.

A quick walk back to the Langham and we settled down for hot chocolates in the lounge area, then went straight back to the pool.

By the early afternoon there were a few guests sitting in the spa sipping on their champagne, but still none using the heated swimming pool, perhaps four squealing girls kept them out.

As I swam around I chatted with a lady who had just arrived from Canada and pointed out all the buildings that you can see from the pool.

Eventually we dragged the girls out of the pool, they went to get changed and found delight in the smallest of things - hair dryers, shampoos and hotel shower caps.

A day in a Five Star hotel isn't how they spend their usual summer holidays so it was a really fantastic way to spend the day for the newly Miss 10. It was highly enjoyable for parents too.

If you're looking for something a bit different to do in the city, head to The Langham, right up to Level 9 and grab yourself a day pass at the pool. You can also book in for massages and all that jazz and order dumplings and champagne...there sure are worse ways to spend your day!