Categories
Burwood NSW

Westfield Burwood Indoor Playground Gone MIA

What a sad thing to learn!


Westfield Burwood has removed the big indoor playground! It’s the one that was outside K-Mart. A great place to let little ones play and burn off some energy while mums and dads catch up – especially on cold or rainy days.
But it’s been taken away and replaced with…..yep, you guessed it…..yet another coffee shop.


Where’s the incentive now for parents of little kids to shop at Westfield Burwood?
Yeah it has a good number of parent rooms and there are activity centres in most of those, but you can’t have a proper catch up with other mums and dads in the room where you change nappies.


Indoor playgrounds are fantastic for parents and kids, and you’d think for stores too.
When the safety of our kids is top priority, these soft play style playgrounds provide a feeling of comfort. We’re fairly confident there won’t be any or at least minimal injury and there is virtually no risk of our kids being pecked by magpies or bitten by stray dogs.
Indoor playgrounds, especially in cities like Sydney, are essential. Not just in terms of safety, but also for creating a community atmosphere and building friendships……all while stimulating the economy.


You might be thinking this is a bit of a stretch – it’s just an indoor playground, right? Well, it’s more than that. At face value, it is just a playground. But what it provides is an opportunity for people to get together in a central, easy to find, weather protected location where kids can play happily and parents can connect with others going through the same stages of life. 
In terms of being a convenient location, many parents also do their shopping before/after spending time on the playground. It’s ideal! Regardless of what’s happening outside (hard to tell lately what the weather is going to be like one day to the next), a trip to the playground and the shops can be done in one place. 
Surely this is a good thing for Westfield.


I know for me and my little one, we shop at the places where there’s a decent indoor play area….even if it means travelling past other shopping centres that aren’t as family friendly. And next week we were planning on catching up with a friend and her daughter at Westfield Burwood. We were going to head there because of the playground, and so we could go shopping too! But since finding out this main play area has been removed and replaced with another crappy franchised mass-produced coffee store…….we’re going to go someplace else where the kids can play, and we can spend our money…..in the one place.

Categories
Bondi Junction NSW

Westfield Bondi Junction – Level 5, Harbour Room, Grafton Street, Bondi Junction NSW 2022

Reviewed by B


Overall: Lovely, clean, well equipped and with views of Sydney harbour. Well worth the visit. Nappy change, rest, feed, play.


Good Points: Big open play area. Separate food prep area, including sink and microwave. Change benches opposite private feeding cubicles. Three private feeding cubicles, each with armchair. Lovely views. So nice to have a Parent Room where you can actually see outside! Excellent toilets.


Bad Points: Not much to say really. I’m not a fan of curtains on private feeding cubicles. Much prefer lockable sliding doors. I wasn’t able to check two of the three feeding cubicles, but the one I was able to see did not have extra powerpoints.

Gorgeous views from the Parent Room



Wow! What an incredible view. And all from a Parent Room in Bondi Junction. Makes changing nappies and getting snacks sorted all worthwhile. My little one & I had the pleasure of checking out this lovely Parent Room the other week while catching up with a friend and her little boy. I’d heard about this Parent Room and how great it was, so needed to check it out for myself. I have to admit, it’s pretty darn good.


You’ll find this Room With A View on Level 5, the Harbour Room level. The Parent Room is right next to the food court (and this is no ordinary food court either). It starts off with a lovely push button sliding door, and just gets better once inside.

Fun creative wall in the play area

Wall mounted activity units 

Directly to the right is a massive play area for the kids. The biggest wall is painted a lovely deep pink/maroon and has the alphabet plus loads of cute characters stuck to the wall. On the wall closest to the door, there’s two wall mounted activity centres. While it’s not packed with toys and climbing equipment, there is enough space to keep kids happy. For us parents, there’s a very comfortable large ottoman to rest on. A great idea after all the fabulous shopping you can do in this centre – my feet needed a break!

One of the two bathrooms


Something this Parent Room has that I haven’t found elsewhere is two toilet rooms! Most just have the one room containing two loos, but this Parent Room has two rooms and each has two loos in it. Very good to see. Both are well looked after. Very clean and tidy with loads of room. There’s a big loo and little loo in each toilet room, each with it’s own toilet paper dispenser. And as always I’m very happy to report the sanitary bin is between the big loo and the wall. The only downside to the toilets is there’s just one sink for handwashing. It’s not an ideal height for little people, so it would be good to see an extra lower sink in these toilets. But at least there is soap and paper towels to make sure little hands are cleaned properly.

Separate food prep area

Again, the lovely view from the food prep area

After checking out the play area and toilets, I headed to the back of the Parent Room to the massive window with views of the harbour. Wow! What a great thing to see. And just to the right of this gorgeous sight is the food prep area.. The bench has a clean and working microwave plus separate sink and soap dispenser. The wall has loads of cute characters stuck on it. It’s just a nice corner of the room. Being separate from the nappy change area is a big plus.

Inside a feeding cubicle

Opposite the food prep space is the private feeding cubicles and nappy change area. Again, this is incredibly clean and well looked after but it could do with a couple of extra features to really make it shine. There’s three private feeding cubicles, each with a comfy armchair and a colourful curtain at the front for privacy. I was only able to check one of the cubicles, as the other two were in use, but the one I checked didn’t have additional powerpoints. Bit of a bummer for those mums needing to express with an electric pump. The cubicle didn’t have a side table either, so adding that in at some point would be handy. 

Right opposite the feeding cubicles is the nappy change area. This is super convenient! The cubicles aren’t really big enough to have a change table in them, but being positioned just one step away from the change bench is perfect. It’s a long bench with three change bays built in. Nappy bins are underneath the bench in pull-out draws and there are sinks between the change bays for washing hands. Soap and papertowels are within reach, making the nappy change process a cinch.

I’ve got to say, while it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the incredible Parent Rooms created by Stockland, this particular Westfield creation is pretty great. It’s super clean, has almost everything you need……..with the added bonus of views of Sydney Harbour. Go check it out, if for no other reason than the amazing views.

Categories
Burwood NSW

Westfield Burwood – Greater Union, Ground Floor, Victoria Street Burwood NSW

Reviewed by C


Overall: Basic stand alone room with dated fitout. At least it is quiet. Nappy change, feed, rest.


Good Points: It’s a stand alone room, which was surprising. Baby change bench. Two sinks, one next to the change bench. Paper towel and soap dispenser within hands reach of the change bench.


Bad points: Nappy bin against the wall on the opposite side of the room – fine if you want to practice your aim shooting hoops. A single chair for feeding – not comfortable or practical. 

The entry to the Parent Room

This is another great shopping centre in terms of catering for kids. There’s Parent Rooms on most floors, some having more than one. And a few indoor playgrounds too! It’s rare to find a cinema with a stand alone Parent Room, so when I saw Greater Union at Burwood had one we had definitely had to check it out.
Just follow the signs for the toilets, follow the narrow hallway around until you see the door with the above Parent Room sign.

Lots of room

The room is pretty big. Can definitely fit a few prams in here but can only change one baby at a time. There’s just one change bench. Two sinks, which is good to see – one for use after changing nappies, the other for food prep I guess. There’s a paper towel and soap dispenser, a single chair so you can have a rest. One bin for nappies and general rubbish. Oh and a loo – just the one.

Change bench, two sinks, very basic

So decorating wise, it’s not that flash. But this room is more for a quick change before or after the movies. If you’re after a room where you can rest, bubby can play, and just some place with a few more extras then head upstairs into the shopping levels and check out those rooms.

A single office chair for feeding – do it in the movies instead


For feeding, it’s not well equipped at all. Just a single office chair next to the bin. I’d recommend feeding bubs in the darkness of the cinema – you’ll have more privacy there with the lights down than you will in this room. The upside of feeding in the cinema is you can watch whatever movie at the same time – win win!!

So for a cinema Parent Room, it’s okay. I had imagined it would just be a fold out table in a disabled toilet. Finding a stand alone room was quite a surprise. It needs a bit of work, but at least it is roomy and you can do what you need to in here. Just remember there are other rooms which are alot nicer and better equipped on the other levels of Westfield.