Overall: A nice cosy break from the shops. Nappy change, feed, rest and play.
Good Points: Separate food prep area. Separate sink for nappy change area. Two cosy feeding cubicles. Play area for kids including television. Push button auto sliding doors. Adult and child size toilets with child size sink. Very clean and decent space.
Bad Points: No additional powerpoints in feeding cubicles. Curtains for privacy, where lockable doors would be nicer, or at least emergency buttons in the cubicles. Microwave is way up high!
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| Cosy armchair in each feeding cubicle |
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| Imaginative play area |
Top Ryde City Shopping Centre is newly refurbed and, for the most part, it doesn’t disappoint. There’s lovely long travelators linking all floors, making it super friendly for those of us pushing prams or with toddlers who like a bit of independence.
This particular Parent Room is on Level LG1. You know, I wish there was some uniformity in the naming of levels across shopping centres. How about just 1,2,3 etc instead of LG1, G, 1,2,3 and so on. There must be some wonderful reasoning behind the system, I suppose.
Anyway! Back to where it is 🙂 Coming from the Food Court end of the floor, the Parent Room is down a small corridor of shops to the left, just past the Information Kiosk. Push the big green button and the frosted auto-slide door opens for you.
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| Food prep area |
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| Nappy change area |
The inside of this room is very cosy and inviting. The blue, grey and green colours make it seem more homey to me. I like it and so did my little angel.
There are two feeding cubicles. Each with a comfortable wicker armchair and soft cushions. Makes a nice change from the usual office reception furniture. Privacy is provided by curtains at the front, allowing you to keep them open if you wish so you can still watch the television or keep an eye on older children playing with the funky toys. Usually I don’t like curtained feeding cubicles, as they don’t really give you the privacy and feeling of security you need. And while I’m not a huge fan of it here either, it does seem to work given their positioning. Perfect if you have older children who want to play while you feed the younger one.
Another huge plus is having separate areas for nappy change and food prep. The nappy change bench is along the right wall as you come in the room. There’s three change bays, a sink built into the bench with paper towels and soap well within reach. Nappy bins are underneath the bench in pull out drawers. Facing opposite the feeding cubicles is the food prep area. It also has a decent size bench, separate sink and soap, and a microwave. Now I didn’t get to see how clean this microwave is or even if it’s working because it’s up so high! Seriously, I think if you’re less than 5″5, you’ll need to get way up on your tippy toes or even climb up on the bench to reach the microwave. Maybe the centre is worried if it’s too easily accessible it might disappear. No chance of that even being a thought in this room. Crazy.
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| Adult and child size toilets |
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| Cute child size sink in the toilets |
The toilets here are very clean. A big big plus! Especially considering this visit was during school holidays. There’s an adult and child size toilet. For hand washing there’s just the one child size sink, but I think most adults will be fine with that. It’s a good chance for little ones to show just how good they are at washing their hands. The little sink even has a soap dispenser at the right height too. Very important and well done to Top Ryde for remembering it. For hand drying it’s good to see there are two options available – paper towel and hand-dryer. My little one detests hand dryers because of the noise, so I’m very happy to have paper towel available here.
In the end, of the two Parent Rooms I’ve checked out so far at Top Ryde City, this is the best one. It has a much calmer feeling, thanks to a more soothing interior (not retina burning orange!), comfortable furnishings and being delightfully clean. So if you’re at Top Ryde City and on the Food Court level (ie LG1) go check it out and let me know what you think.
