A family Christmas experience at Menlyn Park, Pretoria · 1–26 December 2026
Christmas starts at Menlyn.
Christmas Starts at Menlyn is a festive family experience where guests meet Santa, write a letter, wrap a gift, collect a Menlyn Pass and discover something new each day.
Santa · Letters · Gift wrapping · Daily discoveries
Family Christmas experience1–26 December
The Christmas House Plan
Menlyn Christmas House Journey.
An 8m × 8m Christmas House footprint. These visualisations allude to the intended atmosphere, wall treatment and station placement; final fabrication follows site measurement and Menlyn approval.
Floor finish
South entryGuest arrival
Entry · South02 · Santa’s Post Office03 · Wrap One. Give One.04 · Today’s Christmas Door05 · Santa’s Portrait Set
8m × 8m footprint. Visualisations indicate intended look and activity placement; final wall detailing, clearances and siting follow site survey and mall approval.
The exterior walls
Outside the Christmas House.
The exterior gives families a reason to pause before they enter. Santa’s room has a dedicated rear façade; the Letter Lodge and Gift Wrap Parlour each have a small peep-hole and a clear LOOK INSIDE invitation.
Rear wall / Santa’s room
Santa’s Sleigh wall.
A full rear-wall sleigh graphic makes the Santa room easy to find. The two clear display windows hold two or three oversized candy canes each and let families look into the portrait set from outside.
West wall / Letter Lodge
Look inside.
A brass-rimmed peep-hole gives a small view into letter-writing.
East wall / Gift Wrap Parlour
Look inside.
A matching peep-hole gives a view toward the wrapping counter.
Buildable antique-gold metal poles · 2.0m high
Station wayfinding
One pole. One clear sign.
Every activity receives the same 2.0m antique-gold North Pole sign pole: a small weighted base, brushed-metal shaft, gold finial and compact hanging sign. Each sits behind or alongside its station, never in the guest circulation route. The Gift Wrapping Station pole sits at the south end of the counter, closest to the entry, in the staff-side strip.
Christmas ConciergeSanta’s Post OfficePaper Ornament Pick-UpGift Wrapping StationDaily Advent CabinetSanta’s First Photo
Christmas House route
The Christmas House journey.
The plan follows the physical route through the House: Concierge first, then letter writing, wrapping, today’s door and Santa as the final moment at the back.
01 · The whole story
The Menlyn Christmas House.
The Menlyn Christmas House is the centrepiece of Christmas Starts at Menlyn: a warm, family-led festive experience that brings Santa, letter writing, gift wrapping, daily Advent discoveries and the Menlyn Pass together in one visit.
Families collect their Pass at the Concierge, move through each activity, discover a daily tenant moment and complete the experience with Santa at the back of the House.
The promiseStep into a complete Christmas world.
The buildOne connected Christmas House with five family moments.
The ritualMake, post, wrap, discover and return.
The memoryA Menlyn Pass, four hunt stickers, and partner vouchers.
The Menlyn Pass
The Christmas Clue Hunt.
Every family receives a sturdy cardboard Menlyn Pass booklet at the Concierge, then spots four printed North Pole clues around the Christmas House.
How the hunt works
Find a printed clue, take its matching peel-and-stick star from the small bucket, add it to the Pass, then return a full Pass to the Concierge for participating-store vouchers.
Find the StarCollect the red stickerFind the ElfCollect the green stickerFind the SleighCollect the gold stickerFind the Candy CaneCollect the berry sticker
Issued at the ConciergeFour hunt stickers unlock participating-store vouchers.
The Welcome Desk
Christmas Concierge.
The Concierge is the first person a family meets. The role is warm, practical and recognisable: welcoming guests, giving directions and helping every child find the next part of the Christmas House. The Menlyn Pass is issued here, and the hunt is explained here.
North PoleChristmas Concierge
The Concierge look
The Concierge team.
Two Hosts work from the entry desk: welcoming families, giving directions, explaining Santa times and keeping the Christmas House route simple. The Menlyn Pass gives every family a simple hunt through the House, then a reason to return to the Concierge.
TailoringOxblood jacket with an easy, tailored fitDetailsForest green, ivory, aged brass and a small bellhop capIn the momentWelcoming families, giving directions and setting the route
North Pole Hosts
Welcome HostMenlyn Passes, hunt clues, directions, Santa times, and gift-guide QR codes.Santa HostPortrait access and side-queue flow.Letter HostsPaper ornaments, letters, postbox, display, and nearby hunt-sticker buckets.Wrapping HostsOne long wrapping counter, giving point and collection shelf.Door HostToday’s tenant door and Cabinet reveal.
Letters to SantaNorth PoleSanta’s Post Office
West Room / Write a Wish
The Letter Lodge
The Letter Lodge gives children a practical space to choose a card, write or draw their message and post it to Santa.
One full-height communal writing table provides fourteen upholstered chairs in total, with seven chairs on each side. The wall behind holds cards, pens and envelopes, while the adjacent paper-ornament pick-up lets children make a quick Christmas keepsake on the same table. A vintage postbox receives every letter; a Letter Host keeps both activities stocked and easy to use.
01Choose a card + pen
→
02Write or draw a letter
→
03Post it at the Letter Box
A quick Christmas activity
Christmas Ornament Decorating.
Children choose a paper ornament, decorate it at the Letter Lodge, write their name on the back, and place it in the lucky draw for a Christmas prize.
West room / beside the Letter LodgePaper Ornament DisplayActivity mechanismChoose · colour · enter
North PoleGift Wrap Counter
East Room / Gift Wrapping
The Gift Wrap Parlour
One continuous wrapping counter sits along the right-hand Workshop wall, exactly as shown on the floor plan. Three Wrapping Hosts work behind the counter, while guests queue in front and finished gifts collect at the side.
The counter never moves into the central floor. Wrap One. Give One. invites shoppers to have Menlyn purchases wrapped and support Child Welfare Tshwane, subject to Menlyn approval; the centre remains clear for family circulation between Santa, the Letter Lodge, the Advent wall and the exit.
01Wrapping Station02Wrapping Station03Wrapping Station
North PoleDaily Advent Cabinet
North-East Room / Advent + Giving
The Daily Advent Cabinet
The 24-door Advent + Giving Cabinet is positioned on the north-east Christmas House wall. One door opens each day from 1 to 24 December, revealing a daily Menlyn offer, partner moment or festive surprise.
The Door Host opens one numbered door each day and explains the day’s tenant reveal. The Advent + Giving Cabinet also provides the visible donation point for Wrap One. Give One. and is designed as a Menlyn asset to keep beyond the season.
The daily mix is confirmed with participating Menlyn retailers, so every reveal gives families something new to discover.
North Room / Meet Santa
Santa’s First Photo
Santa’s First Photo is the final portrait moment at the back of the Christmas House. Families complete the route before following the marked path to Santa, take their photograph, receive a shareable digital portrait through the Photography Partner and then continue to the next activity.
A Santa Host manages the photo moment and side queue. The portrait wall, chair, lighting and signage sit against the rear wall; two transparent candy-cane viewing windows flank the set so passersby can peep into the room. Three discreet brass-rimmed peep-holes across the outer facades offer further glimpses without disrupting the House. Access is unlocked by a qualifying same-day receipt from a participating retailer or a contribution to Menlyn’s approved CSI partner.
✦
Hunt clue
Spot the candy cane, and collect its gold star sticker.
North PoleSanta’s First Photo
Menlyn Christmas Discoveries
24 days. 24 reasons to discover Menlyn.
Eight decorated Christmas trees, each paired with a vintage directional signboard, will be installed at eight separate Menlyn Park mall entrances. Every sign points families to the Christmas House, before that day’s tenant discovery continues across the centre.
Follow the treesEight mall entrances · Christmas House →
The wider Menlyn journey
From arrival to reward.
These four touchpoints take families from one of eight mall entrances to the Christmas House, through participating store moments, and back to the Concierge for their Menlyn Pass voucher reward.
01
Directional signage
Eight decorated Christmas trees and matching directional signboards sit at eight different mall entrances. Each points families directly to the Christmas House, then onward to daily discoveries.
02
Tenant moments
One tenant takes a daily Advent door, with a reason, offer or story that is curated within Menlyn’s campaign identity.
03
The Gift Guide
A 12-page, mobile-first gift guide is accessed by QR at the Concierge, connecting gift ideas to participating Menlyn stores.
04
Menlyn Pass reward
Participating stores provide vouchers once a family returns a completed Menlyn Pass to the Concierge.
Partners in the experience
PhotographySanta portraits, photographer kit and shareable content.GiftingWrapping materials and participating-store vouchers.StationeryPaper ornaments, letter paper, markers and envelopes.HospitalityParticipating-store Menlyn Pass vouchers.CSIChild Welfare Tshwane, care packs and giving.Optional live momentsCarols, choirs or music for launch and closing days.
Return reasons + season plan
More Christmas. More Menlyn.
The Christmas House gives families a simple way to come back: a new Advent door each day, a Menlyn Pass reward once four hunt stickers are collected, and a participating-store reason to continue the visit.
01
Today’s Advent door
One Menlyn offer, tenant moment or festive surprise opens daily from 1–24 December.
02
Complete the Menlyn Pass
Four gold hunt stickers complete the Menlyn Pass.
03
Return to the Concierge
Completed Menlyn Passes are exchanged here for participating-store vouchers, subject to terms.
Season schedule
NovemberFirst signsTeaser + directional signage1 DecemberLaunchChristmas House opens1–24 DecemberDaily AdventA new tenant moment each day26 DecemberFinal dayThe Christmas House closes
Mid-November run-through · Installation 28–30 November after hours · Strike 26–27 December after hours
Find the StarCollect the red sticker
Find the ElfCollect the green sticker
Find the SleighCollect the gold sticker
Find the Candy CaneCollect the berry sticker
