The spa was an afterthought.
I'd spent weeks planning our pool project, measuring and researching and designing. The 9m x 4m pool was deliberate. The spa? That came from watching my kids at a family resort, jumping between the pool and spa for hours.
I figured it might be nice to have.
What I discovered changed everything about how we use our outdoor space.
The Pattern That Started It All
At that resort, I watched my kids play Marco Polo in the pool with their friends. When they got cold, they'd all run and jump in the spa for five or ten minutes to warm up. Then back to the pool.
Over and over again.
Instead of swimming for an hour and getting out because they were cold, they stayed in the water for hours. You couldn't get them out.
The spa eliminated the one thing that always ended pool time: getting cold.
Wagtail Retreat
When our pool was finished, the exact same magic happened immediately. Even now in July, middle of winter, my kids still do it.
But something else happened that I never expected.
A week after completion, my wife and I spent an evening in the pool, then moved to the spa as the sun went down. We listened to kookaburras in the trees around us. We live right on the edge of a rainforest, and suddenly we were experiencing it in a completely different way.
My wife looked around and said, "Our house is now Wagtail Retreat."
She felt like our home had become a resort.
The Distraction-Free Zone
We now use the spa four or five nights a week as a whole family.
What happens in there is different from any other family time we have. We're all sitting in a circle, looking at each other. No phones in sight. No screens. No chores calling from inside the house.
Being in the spa is the activity, but you end up having these incredible conversations as a result of just being there.
Inside the house, there's always something else demanding attention. The phone rings. You notice something that needs doing. Those meaningful moments get interrupted before they can develop.
In the spa, that doesn't happen.
Our oldest child opens up more when we're out there. We play math games and spelling games where the loser has to jump in the cold pool. We talk about our days, make family plans, discuss holidays.
The kids sleep better on spa nights too.
The Multiplier Effect
The spa didn't just add another feature to our backyard. It transformed how we use everything.
All the kids want to come to our house now. Parents end up in the spa after dinner while kids watch movies inside. We have drinks under the stars, surrounded by landscape lighting that illuminates the trees around us.
We're getting so much more value from the money we invested in our entire outdoor space.
I think the spa has increased our overall outdoor usage by a factor of 5 to 10 over what we would have had with just the pool. There's no doubt in my mind.
It's chalk and cheese.
What Most Families Miss
When I talk to families considering pool projects now, I share this story. The response is always the same: they hadn't thought about the family togetherness aspect.
I've had customers call me after building their spa to say they experienced exactly the same transformation. The gratitude in their voices tells me everything.
A spa adds $15,000 to $30,000 to a project, so it's not always in budget. But if it is, I think every family should seriously consider it.
The practical benefits are obvious: year-round use, quick heating, extended pool time. But the real magic is what happens when you create a space that naturally brings families together without distractions.
You can't manufacture those moments. But you can design spaces that make them more likely to happen.
Sometimes the best investments are the ones you never planned.
Ready to design your own outdoor retreat? If you're considering a pool project and want to explore how a spa could transform your backyard into a year-round family haven, our EasyBuild service can help you plan the perfect outdoor space. We'll create a detailed 3D design that shows exactly how a pool and spa combination could work in your backyard, then connect you with vetted builders who can make it happen. Learn more about EasyBuild and start planning your family's retreat today.
