Categories
NSW Winston Hills

Winston Hills Mall Shopping Centre, Food Court Parent Room – Cnr Caroline Chisholm Drive & Langdon Rd, Winston Hills NSW

Overall: Definitely the best of what’s available at this shopping centre. Handy location and easy to find, in a corner hallway of the food court. Nappy change, rest, feed and play. To get the best parking for this Parent Room, follow the signs for Coles in the car park and get as close to the travelator as possible.


Good Points: Very handy location. Bright interior. Separate nappy change and food prep areas. Television and working microwave. Wall mounted activity centre. Two feeding cubicles. Adult and child size toilets. Auto-slide push-button door makes for easier access into the Parent Room.

Bad Points: If there is air conditioning in this Parent Room, it doesn’t seem to work too well. No additional powerpoints in the feeding cubicles. No front curtains or doors to the feeding cubicles. Wall mounted activity centre is missing a few parts.

Christmas tree in the centre of the food court

Just at the end of the corridor to the left

This is the best Parent Room available at Winston Hills Shopping Centre. After discovering this one, I would not use the other one near Big W unless in an absolute emergency. This one is clean, easy to find and is fitted out with the essentials. 

This room gets the thumbs up firstly because of it’s location, right next to the Food Court and indoor playground. This is the best place to have a Parent Room, so it’s great to see one here. It’s at the end of the small hallway in the corner of the Food Court. It’s not the best Parent Room I’ve come across, but for what’s available in this centre it is the best you will find here.

The main part of the room

The doorway

I love a Parent Room that has an auto-slide push-button door. I feel confident even before I get inside that this room is going to be okay. Most of the time, I’m right. The inside of this room is very brightly decorated. It’s blue all the way through with loads of underwater scenes painted on the walls. Both my little one and I enjoyed looking at all the different fish.

At the far end of the room is the food prep area, television, wall mounted activity centre and armchair. Just having the food prep area separate to the nappy change area makes this room better than the other one near Big W. Much more hygienic keeping the two functional spaces separate. There’s a microwave, hand towels and soap dispenser too. 

Nappy change area

Feeding cubicles and toilets

Now directly to the right, just inside the door, is the nappy change area. This is actually a pretty good place to put it. Changing bottoms if the main reason these rooms are here, so having the nappy change area right inside the door is great. It’s a bench with two change bays, and the nappy bins are right underneath it. The only major negative about the nappy change bench is there’s no sink for washing hands, except for the one in the food prep area.
 Just past the nappy change area are the two feeding cubicles and the toilets. 

Adult and child size toilets

Armchair and bench in feeding cubicle

The feeding cubicles are very basic, but still better than the other parent room. At least there are semi-private cubicles in this one. There’s no curtain or door for privacy, but there are two sectioned off spaces for feeding. Each cubicle has an armchair and a bench, that’s it. 

Past the feeding cubicles are the toilets. There’s an adult and child size toilet, but space is quite limited as the two toilets have a dividing wall between them. Odd but what can ya do. It’s still better than the other room which only has one toilet in a very tiny space. 

If you are going to Winston Hills Shopping Centre and need a Parent Room, do make sure you visit this one first. It honestly is the best of the two available. It’s easy to find, clean, with all the essentials. Go check it out and let me know what you think of it.


Categories
NSW Winston Hills

Winston Hills Mall Shopping Centre – Cnr Caroline Chisholm Drive & Langdon Rd, Winston Hills NSW

Reviewed by B


Overall: Ok. Needs some TLC and a working aircon. I wouldn’t be comfortable breastfeeding in here as there is no privacy at all, just depends on the individual. Nappy change, food prep, rest and play.


Good Points: It has what you need. Change bays, sinks, microwave, wall mounted play unit, toilet, armchairs, television. 


Bad Points: The aircon wasn’t working during this visit, the yellow walls are not that inviting even with the mural, and it’s tucked away down a corridor. No additional powerpoints. Stained and torn armchairs. One sink for the food prep and baby change area – not very hygienic. No papertowel in the toilet.

Working microwave and television



We’ve seen Winston Hills Mall Shopping Centre many times from the car as we’ve driven by on the M2. For ages I’d been meaning to go and check it out, and recently it finally happened. I was expecting the Parent Rooms to be a bit more modern. The thing I liked most about this place is the great indoor play area next to the food court. It’s fabulous! 


There are two Parent Rooms here, but we only reviewed the one opposite Big W during this visit. Opposite Big W, just follow the signs for the toilets down a corridor and you’ll find the Parent Room. Personally, I’m not a big fan of Parent Rooms tucked away like this. Just doesn’t feel that safe to me.
This Parent Room has yellow walls with a nature themed mural all over. To the right is the food prep area and nappy change bench, plus television.

Just the one sink for food prep and nappy changes

Two change bays, bins underneath bench

You know, I’m really not a fan one bit of only having one sink to cater for the needs of both the food prep and nappy change area. It’s just not healthy. Especially when the soap is at the opposite end of the bench to the nappy change area, the place where you most need it. I’d much rather prep any bottles or food for my little one at the indoor playground near the foodcourt, or even in the car. 
That aside, at least there are a couple of change bays along the bench. And the nappy bins are easily accessible underneath the bench of each bay. 

One wall mounted activity centre

Two stained and torn armchairs for rest/feeding

I was a bit disappointed to find the only place to feed your little one is in a corner where there’s a couple of comfy but ratty armchairs. No privacy at all. So if you’re heading out to the Mall, remember to bring a wrap or blanket to cover you and baby if you intend on feeding. 
If you’re happy to just have a rest on the chairs though, your little one can have a bit of play time with the wall mounted activity centre. Some of the pieces are missing, but most of it is intact and should keep little ones entertained while you rest and recharge the internal batteries.

One toilet

Sink, soap and hand-dryer in the toilet cubicle

The last thing to check out during this visit was the toilet. There’s just the one toilet. Nothing special about it. Not much room in there, so you’ll need to keep the pram/stroller outside the loo. There’s a sink, soap dispenser and hand-dryer. The toilet paper dispenser seems a little out of reach for little ones, so you may need to be close by in case your little ones need some help.

I know I don’t seem very excited about this Parent Room. It’s just that it’s not at all exciting. It’s tired, warm, worn out, lacking important things like private feeding areas and a separation between the nappy change and food prep areas. These may seem like little things, but to those of us with little people to look after…these things take on a whole new level of importance. Hygienic, convenient, comfortable facilities are what we want most. It’s not a huge ask really.

Next time we visit Winston Hills, we’ll check out the other Parent Room near the Food Court. This one is blue! But it’s right next to the indoor playground and food court, which is super handy. That gives me hope already.