Royal Adelaide Hospital – Playground & Amenities Review

Review by Susannah Marks

We visit the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and discover some child-friendly amenities.

A while back we had an appointment at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital (or RAH as it’s often called) and when my childcare arrangements fell through at the last minute I was a bit nervous about how I was going to keep my small person occupied for what might be quite a long morning. It turns out that I needn’t have worried – she enjoyed visiting the hospital and found it really stimulating. She loved little things like riding up and down in the lifts, which I wasn’t expecting. (We did quite a lot of going up and down in the lifts as my sense of direction – never great at the best of times – meant that I became disorientated and took a while to find my way back to our carpark).

It occurred to me that sometimes the things that, as an adult with the parking meter ticking away and jobs awaiting you at home, seem like a bit of a drag can turn out to be quite entertaining for a child. Case in point: getting a bit lost and then having to ride up and down in the lifts trying to find the correct carpark. Lots of opportunity for counting the floors and identifying the numbers on the buttons inside the lift. Lots of opportunities for engaging with fellow lift passengers and friendly ambulance officers.

So when we had a rainy day with nothing planned, and my little person asked if we could take the tram along North Terrace to the hospital, I jumped at the opportunity to leave the car behind and add on a trip to the RAH to our trip into the city to do jobs.

The entrance to the RAH is just across the road from a tram stop – not too far for little legs to walk. You can bring a pram on the tram, however you’ll need to take your pram off backwards when you disembark.

Hand hygiene and visiting etiquette

There are hand sanitiser dispensers everywhere throughout the hospital – probably a good thing in light of the fact that my little person touched nearly every surface on board the tram. It’s probably also a good idea to stay at home if you have a cough or a cold.

Eating options at the Royal Adelaide Hospital

There are a couple of different dining areas at the RAH. There are cafes on Level 2 and 4, and the main retail and eating area on Level 3. If you walk in the main entrance off North Terrace you’ll come across the main foodcourt area which includes the following options:

• Cibo
• Sushi Sushi
• Agency
• EKC Kitchen Cafe

We didn’t eat at EKC Kitchen Cafe as it had quite a queue, but there was a mix of hot and cold options including some healthy looking salads.

The sushi selection at Sushi Sushi was calling to us and my small person spotted the brightly coloured “Kids’ Packs” which come with free child-friendly chopsticks. As at March 2019 they cost $6.90 and include 8 mini sushi rolls and a choice of either vege sticks or Panda biscuits.

On our way to check out the play area which came across a nail salon. They offer kids’ manicures for $5, if you’re having your own nails done at the same time.

Finding your way around

The new RAH is big. Luckily there is signage everywhere and we kept bumping into friendly volunteers who were eager to help guide us in the right direction. The signs use a combination of letters and numbers, and the different sections are also colour coded with their own artwork theme. There are also touchscreen kiosks where you can find maps and even print out directions – or you can find an interactive hospital map online.

Royal Adelaide Hospital play area

You’ll not find grass or nature play elements here, but you will find a fenced play area with a rubberised floor surface.

There’s a slide, a basket or birds-nest swing, a slightly futuristic seesaw, a couple of springers and one main climbing structure which was a bit too challenging for my small person. Also if you have a child who like trains then the play area at Royal Adelaide Hospital has a wonderful view.

The play area is on Level 3 of the hospital which is essentially at street level – towards the River Torrens. You can access it directly from the exterior of the hospital by walking past the EFM Health Club.

Things to consider:

• It took us an age to find a carpark the last few times we visited the RAH – we recommend arriving with plenty of time to spare – or doing as we did and catching public transport
• There is no shade over the play area

This review was written and photographed by Susannah Marks. Originally from New Zealand, she now calls Adelaide home and loves getting out and about and exploring all the fabulous things for families to do in Adelaide. See her blog Seesaws & Cellar Doors for more of her work.

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For more information and all enquiries please visit the Royal Adelaide Hospital website.

What: Royal Adelaide Hospital – Playground & Amenities Review (March 2019)

When: Refer to RAH website above for visiting hours

Where: Corner of North Terrace & West Terrace, Adelaide

Who: Everyone

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Susannah Marks for Play & Go. See her blog Seesaws & Cellar Doors for more of her photographs.

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