Deluxe vs Pavilion Pools

Book the Pavilion Pools if everyone in your group is 12 or over and you want the most pools for your money. Book the Deluxe Lake Spa if you are bringing younger children, or if you want towels, a locker, toiletries, heated recliners and a lounge without paying extra for each. The Pavilion Pools ticket starts at $31 per person and rates 4.4 from 447 reviews; the Deluxe Lake Spa starts at $48 and rates 4.6 from 409 reviews. Both are areas of the same spa on the Rotorua lakefront, with the same hours, so the choice comes down to who is coming and what you want included.

Side by side

What the Pavilion Pools give you

The Pavilion is the larger of the two areas by pool count. Its three Priest Spring pools run at 39–41°C and carry the slightly acidic water the spa’s history began with. Three cascading Rachel Spring pools sit at 38–40°C, a fourth Rachel Spring pool overlooks Lake Rotorua at 40°C, and a deep stand-up pool at 38°C is 1.3 metres deep, built for stretching and slow movement. A stone reflexology path rounds it off.

With eight pools across a three-degree range, you can move around for an evening without sitting in the same water twice. The 12+ rule also shapes the mood: no toddlers, and teenagers only with an adult. Changing rooms have private cubicles. You bring or hire your own towel.

What the Deluxe Lake Spa adds

The Deluxe Lake Spa has fewer pools but more around them. Its four Rachel Spring pools are shallow, 0.7 metres deep, and held between 38°C and 41°C. One Priest Spring pool and a cold plunge pool complete the set. Of the five hot pools, one is covered and one is partly covered, and the rest are open to the sky among rocks and gardens at the lake edge.

Out of the water there are ten geothermally heated recliners and a large indoor lounge looking over the lake and gardens. The changing rooms supply towels, secure lockers, hairdryers and toiletries, so you can arrive with only a swimsuit. The area takes all ages, but the spa asks children to keep the noise down to protect the calm. The listing gives a maximum of 80 people in the area.

What the price gap really buys

On ticket price alone the Pavilion is $17 cheaper. That gap shrinks once you add what the Deluxe includes: towels, a secure locker, hairdryers and toiletries. At the Pavilion you bring your own towel or hire one on site, and lockers are extra too, with free storage tubs if you do not need a lock. The hire charges are paid at the spa, so check them at reception.

So if you would hire both, pay the extra for the Deluxe and take the recliners, lounge and lake-edge pools with it. If you are travelling light with your own towel and do not need a lock, the Pavilion gives you more pools for less.

Which to choose

Choose the Pavilion Pools if:

• everyone is 12 or older;
• you want variety, with eight pools and three of them Priest Spring water;
• you like to move in the water, using the deep stand-up pool;
• you are bringing your own towel and want the lower ticket price.

Choose the Deluxe Lake Spa if:

• you have children under 12, or babies (under 2s go free);
• you want towels, a locker and toiletries included;
• you want somewhere warm to rest between soaks, on the heated recliners or in the lounge;
• you want hot and cold contrast with the cold plunge;
• the lake-edge setting matters more than the number of pools.

Booking for two? Our romantic hot springs page looks at the Deluxe beside Rotorua’s private tubs and pools.

The same in both areas

Both areas keep the spa’s hours, 9am to 11pm daily with last entry at 10pm, and both tickets refund in full if you cancel up to 24 hours ahead. The same rules apply: purpose-made swimwear only, jewellery off because the water can tarnish silver and some gold, no alcohol or glass, and no more than about fifteen minutes at a time in the hotter pools. If you are pregnant or have a heart condition, check with your doctor first. For an evening visit, our Rotorua hot pools at night page compares late closing times across town.

The other two areas

Polynesian Spa has two more bathing areas, and neither is part of this choice. The Family Pools have a freshwater pool with a hydroslide and two mineral pools, from $19 per person; our family hot pools page covers them. The Lake View and Sky View private pools are 45-minute private soaks booked with the spa, and our private hot pools guide compares them with Rotorua’s other private options. For everything else about the spa, from parking to opening hours, see our Polynesian Spa guide. If you are weighing up the newer spa down the lakefront, the Polynesian Spa vs Wai Ariki page covers that decision.

Read our Pavilion Pools review or our Deluxe Lake Spa review, then check Pavilion Pools availability.