The Westin Melbourne
A heated 20-metre indoor lap pool on Collins Street
About this hotel
At 205 Collins Street, The Westin Melbourne keeps a 20-metre lap pool indoors and heated all year, with a bubble pool beside it, a sauna and a steam room. That matters in a city where winter highs from June to August hover around 14 °C and spring weather changes by the hour: outdoor swimming is a summer-only plan, while this basin works in any month. Federation Square is about two minutes away on foot, the Melbourne Cricket Ground about twenty, and Collins Street sits inside the Free Tram Zone, so trams across the centre cost nothing. Guests give it a 9.1 average across 1,371 reviews, a large and steady sample.
- Heated 20-metre indoor lap pool
- Bubble pool, sauna and steam room
- About two minutes on foot to Federation Square
- Inside Melbourne's Free Tram Zone
Our take
Twenty metres of heated indoor water make The Westin Melbourne the hotel I would pick in the city centre for actual lengths, not just a dip. The bubble pool, sauna and steam room next to it turn a cold June evening into a proper recovery session, and Collins Street puts Federation Square two minutes away. It suits swimmers, business travellers and sports fans walking to the MCG in about twenty minutes. Families with toddlers should know there is no separate children's pool published, and a lap pool is not a play pool. Light sleepers should ask for a room away from Collins Street, where trams run late.
- ✓Swim at the end of the afternoon in winter: from June to August, Melbourne's highs sit around 14 °C, and the heated pool, sauna and steam room are the best place to warm up.
- ✓Use the Free Tram Zone: Collins Street trams in front of the hotel cross the city centre at no cost, as far as Docklands and the Queen Victoria Market.
- ✓Walk to the MCG for a match in about twenty minutes along Flinders Street and Yarra Park rather than queueing for a tram after the final siren.
- ✓In late January, Melbourne Park, beside the MCG, hosts the Australian Open: book early nights and a morning swim before the walk to the courts.
Why we love it
- A proper lap pool in the city centre
- Federation Square on the doorstep
- 1,371 reviews averaging 9.1
Why guests love itThe heated 20-metre indoor lap pool makes The Westin Melbourne work for families with children who already swim, in any season, which counts in a city where outdoor pools are a summer affair. No separate children's pool is published, and the bubble pool, sauna and steam room are adult spaces, so toddlers will find little designed for them. What helps families is position: Federation Square two minutes away, the Free Tram Zone at the door, and the MCG and Melbourne Park about twenty minutes on foot for sport-mad older children. The 9.1 average across 1,371 reviews is consistent. I would book it for a city break with school-age swimmers, not for a pool holiday with small children.