HIPPO Playground & Cafe

Very mixed reviews. First time and enjoy my time here with my grand daughter. She had so much fun. The cost was ok but it can get very busy and I’m not to sure if there is a cap on how many kids should be in the playground area. The one service staff was amazing.

don’t waste your money here. Very expensive. looks pretty from the outside but is actually run down, the under 5 year old play area has ripped and stained mats and slide. Overcrowded and no one cleaning. The tables had crumbs and stains all over it we had to clean it ourselves. The tables the chairs felt sticky obviously no one cleaning it. The cafe furniture looks pretty but the service was absolutely HORRIBLE. The woman serving at the counter was rude tried to rush us through our order never smiled once! Spent $90+ on 2 pizzas and 1 seafood platter. The fried food was as overcooked but worse of all was the pizza they didn’t even cut it properly for us. I took a photo of what was supposed to be a “pepperoni” pizza which was more just tomato paste covered in cheese. These “pizzas” cost almost $20! The quality is just shocking!! Never going back again.

I just had the best time at my birthday photoshoot today! Hippo is the perfect place to celebrate a birthday. The staff there are so nice and helpful.

I took my 2 year old boy here for a couple of hours on Sunday, it was our first visit. The playgrounds were pretty cool as it catered for kids of all ages, even if the under 5's area was very small in comparison to the over 5's areas and the staff were relatively friendly. The reason I have rated this a 1 star is because of a serious safety concern. There is an entry gate into the playground area which has a child safety latch installed so younger children can't open it. A child safety latch is only effective when the gate is closed and works in tandem with a gate spring, which automatically closes the gate in the event the gate is opened but not closed. This particular entry gate doesn't have a gate spring installed. Across the course of the 2 hours I was there, I witnessed 70%-80% of people open this gate and leave it wide open. There were a few kids tall enough to open this gate, where they get the benefit of the doubt as are kids, but alarmingly the majority of this number were irresponsible 'adults' who were providing an opportunity for other peoples kids to simply just exit as they please through the entrance into a very busy carpark. After discussing my concerns with a staff member, they advised they have received complaints about this before, but nothing ever gets done about it. The staff members working behind the counter have to keep closing the gate after these irresponsible 'adults' keep leaving the gate open every few minutes. I am attaching a couple of photos of a product that will fix this problem once an for all as when people leave the gate open, it will close automatically behind them. To the owner, don't put your trust in others who obviously never learnt the basics of how to close a gate if you open it. Do yourself a favour and get a gate spring asap, it's costs about $30 from Bunnings which is literally a 2 min drive away on Ti-Rakau Dr, it's the least you can do given we are being charged a $23 entry fee. This is cheaper than risking someone else's kid exiting the building, due to someone else's irresponsible actions, then getting run over by a car, you will get blamed and will be liable, make no mistake. In an earlier review I was reading, you said you took safety seriously. If this in fact is the case, let's see you follow through on this.

So pleased with our visit to Hippo! The playground was clean and entertaining. My daughter loved the claw game! And the coffee from the cafe was the best coffee I’ve ever had - yum! The food was fresh and great portions sizes too! We will be back for sure.

Directions to HIPPO Playground & Cafe with public transportation

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