The kids absolutely LOVE staying in hotels and to be honest, we don’t really get to do it that often, so when their birthdays rolled around, I thought why not surprise them with a staycation in the city that we live in and love! I tend to really favour experiences rather than “things”, so a little weekend away in a spot filled with activities, markets and heaps of things to do was the perfect idea for their birthday.

Now when it comes to choosing a hotel that is kid-friendly, there’s a few boxes that I like to tick off as I like to make sure that there are options for rainy days, lazier afternoons, keeping the kids occupied and enough space to house the five of us without being on top of each other. In Brisbane, there’s one place that absolutely nails the brief when it comes to keeping kids in mind and that place is Novotel South Bank.

From the absolute get-go, the staff were so friendly and amazing, which is something I always appreciate no matter where we go and that was before we even saw the rooms. Once up there, I made sure everything was set to go for the kid’s surprise (they had no idea this was coming), some wonderful staff set up Coopy’s cot for me as I still to this day have no idea how to set up a portacot and then last of all, the kid’s room had an amazing Lightyear installation (just mention my name if you’d like to add this one in for your stay!) going on with stars lit up all across the ceiling. To say the least, the kids were absolutely STOKED.

Now there are many things that just kept blowing me away when it comes to what this hotel has to offer for families and kids and one of those is The Lego Butler. It’s literally a butler service that comes to your room with Lego on a platter. You schedule it to a time suited to you and then boom, a knock at the door and lego arrives on a silver platter.
Safe to say that blew the minds of both Madi and Max and was worth the small fee to again surprise them, as they both love Lego.

Next up the kids wanted to head down to the outdoor play area that they spotted from their bedroom window, so we headed downstairs to where the kids could honestly spend all day if we could have. This area boasts a small playground with swings, table tennis, trampoline, basketball hoop AND pedal cars! Chris and I obviously had to shoot some hoops as we’re both quite competitive in nature against each other while the kids rode around in pedal cars (even Coop) and we spent quite a bit of time down there.

After popping out to get some dinner (which was only a short walk away down at South Bank), we headed back to the hotel for a movie night and Madi made a little phone call to the Kids Mini Bar line to order herself and Max some movies snacks. Yes, a kids mini bar with the likes of little chocolates, chips and snacks. Literally the coolest thing that Madi took full advantage of during our stay (reasonable prices too, so it was my shout of course).

When it comes to things to do outside of the hotel, Novotel is in an amazing part of South Bank where you’re a close walk to the markets, food, river and parks - there’s always something to do! In terms of places to take the kids, you’ve got options such as:

• Sparklab (where we went!)

• Queensland Museum

• GOMA

• South Bank Parklands + Waterparks

• Cinemas

• Wheel of Brisbane

• South Bank Markets (on the weekends!)

And then when it comes to food, Spice Central in the hotel is absolutely amazing (this is also the room service menu, SO GOOD!), otherwise you’ve got so many options around the area such as:

• Southbeach Social (where we had dinner one of the nights and it was AMAZING!)

• Mucho Mexicano (where we had lunch with the whole fam)

• The Spaghetti House

• The Plough Inn

• Denim Co. Cafe

• And for your sweet tooths, Cowch!

Okay, so let’s sum up what this amazingly family friendly hotel has to offer for you and your family during your stay:

• Play area that the kids can play in for hours with basketball hoop, trampoline, pedal cars and playground

• A lego butler that comes straight to your door with lego

• Swimming pool with a fridge packed with FREE Zooper Doopers!

• Kids Mini Bar

• Followers can enquire for the Galaxy Room directly via email or phone (just mention my name!)

• During the school holidays, the hotel offers many activities!

• Hotel offers kids activities every Saturday and Sunday

• Close to so many amazing activities

• Fully decked out gymnasium (which the kids wouldn’t let me do a session in, understandably, haha)

• Plus a park right across the road, which you can also borrow equipment from the hotel to use there!

It’s incredibly obvious that this was the best birthday present decision I’ve made so far and the kids had the absolute best time (we did too!).

What topped it off was getting to have brekky two mornings in a row right across from Cam Merchant (the only season of MAFS I ever watched) who was so friendly and has the most welcoming smile ever so that was a nice little addition to our stay. I was far too nervous to introduce myself but managed to bump into him while helping the kids get their brekky. Haha.

When you’re booking your next family friendly stay in Brisbane, I cannot recommend Novotel South Bank more highly than I do.

Absolute LEGENDS!