Is this the biggest luxury family hotel room in NZ?

Excitement levels were at their absolute peak leading up to our stay in Auckland’s “pointy tower”.

Drained from answering questions all week about when we’d be visiting the hotel, we ended up leaving the house at 9.30am, five and a half hours ahead of the advised check-in time.

Time-killing distractions like the waterfront playground and fish market were short-lived and we decided to head to SkyCity Hotel early in the hope that we could use the complimentary Sky Tower passes that come with booking the Premium Family Suite. Luckily we could.

It wasn’t long until we were being shown to our room on level four. Going off the promotional pictures of the suite, I was expecting it to be big, but not big. At 56 square metres, room 404 has to be the most generously sized family suite in the country.

The entrance opens up to one living area complete with a single bunk bed elevated above a double – the biggest highlight for our four-year-old – plus another single bed tucked up against the window overlooking the base of the tower and Sky Jump landing zone.

There is a massive 65-inch TV loaded with childrens’ movies and a shelf stocked with books, blocks and games. Booking the room also comes with kid’s welcome bags, complete with a cup and water bottle, colouring in books and pencils.

As the conversation moved from whose pencils were whose to sleeping arrangements, and the generous carpeted space became a walking hazard with scattered blocks, it sunk in that we hadn’t yet seen where Mum and Dad will sleep. And where on earth was the bathroom?

Behind two sliding doors is the second living area, where you honestly won’t believe the size of the master bed – a Californian king impossible to fall off no matter the level of jumping. There’s another giant TV here and two lounge chairs by the window, plus space for a desk, the portable cot we requested for our 18-month-old, and enough elbowroom to swing a kid.

Elsewhere, another door leads to what is essentially a walk-in wardrobe complete with shelving, drawers and space to store your luggage, while just beyond brings you to the bathroom, a long passageway extending the length of the two spaces.

The bath and its spa jets had a good blast before bedtime, and the young ones came out smelling like the provided honey bath bomb. The shower was also a novelty for the kids with its multiple squirting outlets and miniature soaps.

Sleeping anywhere new with children can have its challenges but ours were both fast asleep by 7.30pm – and in stroke of luck stayed that way the entire night. You’d expect some street noise being right in the middle of the city, but there was only one car alarm that I heard in the small hours.

We agreed that a couple of things would make the space even better; somewhere to eat if you dine in like we did and a cosy little place for the kids to sit and watch TV.

I‘d anticipated that the novelty of the room would wear off quickly, but considering we only ever left once proved that it is not only well appointed, but an attraction in itself if you’d rather stay in and avoid the city altogether.

The Premium Family Suite at SkyCity Hotel starts from $679 per night. See:

The room has a guest capacity of two adults and up to four children (aged 2-14).