Swim, Gym, Sauna & Shower at Melbourne Airport for $25

Got a few hours to spare at Melbourne Airport? Rather than sitting in the terminal or a lounge, you could get some exercise and freshen up for just $25. That’s less than half of what you’d pay to access most airport lounges!

The PARKROYAL Melbourne Airport hotel, located right across the road from all four Tullamarine terminals, offers a Lounge and Swim Package that costs $25. This gives you access to the hotel’s gym, swimming pool, sauna and shower facilities for up to three hours. During your stay, you can also access the hotel’s Bar Airo lounge, where you can use the free Wi-Fi and get a 15% discount off food & drinks.

The hotel also offers a month pass for $70. If you’re a regular visitor to Melbourne Airport and want to access the hotel’s fitness & health facilities at least three times within a month, that could be a good value option.

PARKROYAL, which uses the GHA Discovery loyalty program, happens to be one of the best hotels at Melbourne Airport.

What you get for your $25

I recently had a few hours to spare at Melbourne Airport, so I decided to give this a try.

The gym isn’t huge, but it has a reasonable range of cardio machines and strength training equipment. I was happy with the equipment available.

Beside the gym is a small heated indoor pool, along with a jacuzzi.

Plus, there’s a sauna and steam room. The steam room was out of order during my visit, but the sauna was working. I’d suggest switching it on at least 20 minutes before you want to use it, rather than the suggested five minutes, as it took a bit of time to heat up. But the sauna was great once it did.

Changing room facilities including toilets and showers are available, and towels are provided. Just note that there’s no hairdryer, and I didn’t find any sort of spin dryer to help dry my wet swimming gear. This could mean that you end up having to take a damp swimsuit with you onto your flight if you’ve used the pool.

How to buy this package

Admittedly, this package is not advertised well. There are flyers promoting it inside the hotel, but I’ve never seen a single advertisement for it in Melbourne Airport. I only knew it existed because I happened to stumble across it when browsing the hotel’s website.

The PARKROYAL website says to contact the hotel by phone or email to “book your Refresh and Recharge access”, but my email to the hotel went unanswered. This didn’t matter in the end, because the staff at reception knew about the package and simply let me pay on the spot.

If you would like to use this deal, simply head to the PARKROYAL Melbourne Airport reception on level 4 and ask for the Lounge & Swim package. You’ll need to fill out a “Fitness Centre Membership Form”, which asks for details like your name, age, address and whether you’ve used a gym before.

You can pay on the spot, and you’ll receive a keycard to access the facilities, as well as a physical key for a changing room locker where you can store your bag.

This is a great deal

After a good workout, a swim, a solid sauna session and a shower, I felt really refreshed when I boarded my flight!

The PARKROYAL Melbourne Airport Lounge & Swim Package isn’t well known. I only saw a few other people using the facilities during my visit, and they seemed to be hotel guests. But for $25, I think this is a pretty good deal – and one I would definitely use again if I have a few hours to kill at the airport (or even if I just want to have a shower and get some exercise after a long flight). I found it a nice change, compared to sitting in an airport lounge where I’m not active at all.

Sure, food & drinks aren’t included in the price – other than water, which is available in the gym. But this isn’t trying to be an airport lounge – it’s something a bit different. If you’re hungry, you can still purchase food and drinks at Bar Airo with the 15% discount.

Would you use this deal? Let us know on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum!