Can soft-play ever be upmarket? (Gambado (Watford))

Member Name: NizPerson

Product:	Gambado (Watford)
Date:	27/11/08 (1945 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty of fun for the kids, pleasing and well kept surroundings

Disadvantages: Expensive

Gambado is a chain of children's softplay and activity centres and they recently opened a brand new branch in Watford. So I took my kids, aged 6 and 2, and away we went to check it out last Friday. It was a holiday at my eldest's school, so we were banking on it being nice and quiet as it was a holiday specific only to their school.


Location and Entry
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The centre is located inside Woodside Leisure Park, right next to the Vue Cinema. As anyone who has been here knows, parking is plentiful and convenient. We entered through the doors, to be greeted by a loud sound of applause as we walked in. The speakers near the door get activated and produce that sound, the kids were certainly fascinated!

We took the escalator as we did not take a buggy. I'd think a place like that would have an elevator too though, but can't say for sure as I obviously didn't think to look for one.

Just before you enter through the doors to the centre itself there's a big poster explaining the registration process. You can either pay for admission on a visit-by-visit basis, or you can have an annual family pass. We opted for the former. You fill out a form at the table outside (probably to spam you with junk mail!) and take it to the reception with the payment. Prices are, £7.95 for 1-12 year olds and £4.95 for adults, under 1s go free. As an introductory offer a family of upto 4 can go for £15 so that's how much we paid for myself and the two kids. So pretty expensive for this kind of place. They give you plastic tickets to be held on to for the duration of your visit.


First Impressions
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The place looked LARGE, bright and attractive. Everything was well spaced out, not your usual cluttered up soft-play cum cafe experience. Since everything was spanking new it was all squeaky clean and, well, sparkly. There are lockers you can use free of charge, you only need a £1 coin if you want to lock it, many people just had theirs unlocked. It was nice being able to walk around without holding on to all your belongings, you don't even need your handbag etc. as you don't have to pay for anything unless you use the cafe.


Attractions for children
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There is a massive playframe with huge wavy slides, spiral slides, rope bridges and the works. Next to it was the wall climb, a big attraction for most of the children there. Because it was very quiet as expected my daughter got to have several gos on it. The staff there were very good with the kids, helping and encouraging them on. There was also a fairly large dodgem car track, the biggest and nicest I've seen at this type of place.

There is a seperate softplay area for the under 2s, with cafe-style seating around it so that you can have a snack or drink while watching the kids. They had giant building blocks in addition to the usual ball pits, slides and so on.

There were also giant chalkboards for children to scribble on and have a bit of fun with. My kids spent ages drawing themselves.

There was an area for musical experimenting - different types of "instruments" that you could bash on and create a cacophony of sound. My 2 year old seemed a bit hesitant, as if she was telling me "Are we allowed to do THAT?"

Next to that was an area for magnetic play. On the floor were slabs of glass under which were pins, clips, magnetic shavings etc. and there were magnets outside that you could slide over the glass, creating patterns underneath.

There was also some kind of a "show" area, perhaps they use them on weekends? There was a raised, round platform and in front in a semi circle were two tiers of seating. I'm guessing they may have some kinds of acts performing on busy days or if there's a birthday party.


For adults there was a seperate lounge, with comfortable seating and computers. A sign said that it was for adults only, and it was a completely seperate room where the main activity areas couldn't be seen. I don't know how good an idea that is, too many parents these days seem to think that their kids are old enough and angelic enough to be left unsupervised while they're nowhere to be found and this seems to encourage it.

We saw some party rooms for birthday parties, they looked fantastic. Very spacious.

There didn't seem to be a maximum stay in force, though I don't know if it was simply because it was a quiet day.


The Cafe
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We had lunch a bit late so I don't know if it was for that reason but all they seemed to have was toasties and pizza if you wanted a hot meal. Serving staff were polite and helpful. The cafe too, like the rest of the place, is bright and well spaced. The chairs are round and transparent, in different pastel colours. There is a bar running along one side of it, overlooking the whole place, so you can have or finish your meal there while still keeping an eye on the children. Meals are a little on the pricey side too.


Conclusion
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Although the price puts me off I would still go back as the place was so enjoyable to the children and I felt that the price was a bit justified considering how well kept it was.

Summary: A nice place to take the kids when you have a little cash to spare.