IceArenA — Attraction in Adelaide

If there was any other competition this place would be out of business! But, as the only ice rink in SA, they seem to be getting away with substandard business.

Reason for visit- my daughters 14th birthday party. I had read the reviews so I was well prepared.

My review:

BOOKING PROCESS- Unprofessional. When I called up the young (& inexperienced) staff member could not only answer the phone properly- ie "welcome to the Ice Arena you are speaking with..." but she could also not give me much info about party bookings. She was incredibly vague & it didn't help the website was down. I decided I did not want my daughter to have her party there but she really had her heart set on ice skating.

PARTY PRICING - Reasonable. Under $40 per child which included admission, skate hire, meal, drink, party table decorated with balloons etc & a lolly bag (to be honest teenagers are much too old for a lolly bag but it is included). The light box they put on the table with my daughter's name had run out of batteries & was not lit up- little things like that add to my disappointment. They also got the drinks wrong. One jug was meant to be Fanta but instead it was orange juice. I asked for them to change it but they refused saying that someone (at the Ice Arena) had wrote down juice so that's what they served- unbelievably I had to argue with them to change it! Please be advised that you will pay premium prices if you want a party room and/or a party host.

SERVICE- When we arrived, no one greeted us. When I went up to the cafe the lovely lady (Christine) did come out & give me a hand to find someone to help us but all in all- very disorganized. No one gave me any indication on how the evening would run (time the food would be brought out etc).

PARTY FOOD- no options. Just nuggets & fries. Although the serving size was adequate. Why are there no other options? As an add-on you can also order extra (overpriced) platters - BUT these are a bunch of things the standard child wouldn't even eat- cheese/vegetable platters, curry puff/spring roll platter. I assume these are more for attending parents. Because apart from the spring rolls what children would enjoy eating these platters?! What about a party pie/sausage roll platter? On the website you give the option of a hotdog & chips meal (instead of nuggets & chips) but yet we were not offered that?! In fact, when I went to purchase a hotdog for myself- you had sold out!! When the food came out the staff member just plonked the tray of food on the table. No one came to inform me it was there. It was not served to the kids. Food was not hot. No one once came out to clear the tables and we had to clear the table to put the cake down!! Where are your staff? And management?!

GENERAL FOOD AND DRINKS- Overpriced. And no healthy options. The coffees were $7 each!! I don't even pay that for a Cibo coffee!! I also had to pay $15 for a BYO cake fee! This fee is usually charged by cafes & restaurants as they cut and plate the cake. It costs them money to clean those dishes and also patrons are less likely to buy dessert so the cake fee helps to counteract all that. But no one cut the cake for us and the plates were little cardboard boxes! And there are no dessert options to buy from the Ice Arena. This fee is therefore absolutely ludicrous & only a way to profit.

FACILITIES- where do I begin? The place needs demolishing or massively renovating. Old, tired, run down, dirty. Toilets unclean; soap dispensers broken, toilet seats hanging off toilets. Cobwebs everywhere. Mould up walls. As per others reviews on here.

THE ICE NOT SMOOTH! Really dangerous in fact. One rink in particular was very bumpy & not level. The skates are also old & worn with some falling apart.

Back in the 80s & 90s this place was great with its ski slopes, tobogganing, cafeteria & party rooms. There used to be a disco feel with a DJ and activities. None of that is here now. Now it is a complete mess; an absolute joke.

My daughter also did not receive her free return pass- however I am not sure I want her to...

Booking the Party – A Six-Month Effort I first contacted the venue in January for my son’s early January birthday, hoping to hold his party in February. Unfortunately, despite my son being insistent on having an ice skating party (and very upset at the thought of anything else), we couldn’t hold the party until July — more than six months later — purely due to how difficult it was to get in touch with the venue and secure a booking.

During that time, I called almost every second or third day, left countless voicemails and multiple emails, and even drove to the venue repeatedly to try to speak to someone in person — only to find the reception door shuttered or to be told by other staff that I had to “speak to reception,” which was unreachable.

When I finally got through, I was told, quite casually, that “we don’t really check or get back to people on voicemail.” They later explained that they’d had a system changeover which apparently affected their ability to receive or respond to messages and emails — but this did not explain why repeated in-person attempts to speak with someone were so difficult or why there was no proactive communication to let customers know about the issue.

Poor Communication, Wrong Booking Details & No Certainty Once we did manage to secure a date, the time was later reconfirmed incorrectly. I called and emailed daily in the lead-up to the party to clarify the right details — again, no response. In the end, I had to leave final voicemails confirming we were coming at 12pm, knowing it was too late to change anything. Even then, when we arrived, they were still blowing up balloons and setting up 15 minutes after the agreed start time.

To make it worse, I genuinely had no idea what I would be walking into on the day. Because no one would confirm any details in the days leading up to the party, I didn’t know whether we would have a room ready, if the food would be organised, or if the party would even be properly set up at all. This made an already stressful situation even more nerve-wracking.

The Day of the Party – Disorganisation and Clean-Up On arrival, we were told we could put our things in the party room and pay at the counter. I made it clear I would not be paying in full upfront because we still hadn’t finalised all the details due to their poor communication. I was asked two or three more times to come up and pay even though the issues were unresolved.

When we got into the party room, it hadn’t been cleaned properly from the previous booking. My daughter and I picked up lolly wrappers off seats, a used and also an unsmoked cigarette from the floor in the kids party room!!!, and rearranged the chairs ourselves.

There was no dedicated party host or clear point of contact. We had to keep going to the counter to ask what was happening, when food would come out, and how to get the kids’ skates. I asked for an extra kids’ chicken nugget serve for two older kids, but they tried to charge me as if another child was attending, including skate hire.

When it came time for the cake, we again had to ask for basic things like a knife, plates, napkins, and a lighter — things that should be part of a hosted party package.

The One Highlight – The Skating Itself Despite the frustrations, my son and his friends had a wonderful time on the ice. Seeing him happy made the effort worthwhile. We loved skating together as a family and with his friends. That part is a credit to the ice itself and the kids’ excitement, not to the venue’s organisation. Billing and Follow-Up
At the end of the party, my son’s dad and I went to settle the bill, which was nearly $500. They asked if I’d paid the $300 deposit (I had, months ago) and again pushed for us to pay immediately. I made it clear I would not finalise the full payment until I’d discussed the whole experience properly. They promised a note would be left for reception to email me on Monday — I insisted on a phone call given the six-month communication problems we’d...

I've held off on reviewing the ice arena because unfortunately, it is the only ice rink in south australia, and I don't have any good things to say about it. Today was my last straw. There was a 190 person school group booking this morning that was on the ice prior to the public session starting as well as during it. When I arrived at the beginning of the session, the ice was already unbearable to skate on. the sessions last four hours, and they did not resurface the large ice. I did not get to skate on fresh ice until over two hours into the session, when only the small ice was resurfaced. People pay for this.

In comparison to other rinks nation wide, this one falls short, to put it lightly. I'm concerned for the public's safety, having hockey on at the same time as public skate when the netting around the small ice is full of holes, meaning pucks can and do come flying through onto the other rink. It's insanely dangerous for all skaters but especially for children as it's possible for them to get hit in the head. Management does not seem bothered as the holes have been there forever. Is it going to take someone getting seriously injured for them to replace the netting, or put a proper barrier in place? come on.

They do not resurface the large ice during weekday public sessions no matter how many people are there. When there is a school group, the large ice is split between public session and hockey and the small ice is used for snow play. the ice gets very rough very quickly. Aside from being unpleasant, this is blatantly unsafe - it is much harder to skate on and hurts more to fall on. If you have bare arms or legs and you fall on it, it can scrape hard enough to draw blood and it certainly bruises. It can also rip your clothes. People pay $25 to skate here. Can they seriously not afford to resurface the ice? Or is it pure laziness? The zamboni operator is present the entire session even though the ice doesn't get resurfaced. It's just not good enough. Other rinks in australia resurface every hour, or every two hours if it's not so busy. This is the bare minimum to expect from an ice rink, and customers are not receiving it.

It's a real shame the marion ice rink was scrapped. It's unfortunate that skaters have to put up with this shithole. The ice quality is less of a problem for those that can attend figure or stick and puck specific sessions, but at $20 for one hour plus coaching fees (lessons REQUIRED) for figure sessions, it is more inaccessible than other rinks across the country, many of which are cheaper and only require having your own skates OR being in lessons on rentals. It also seems that management is looking to cut back on figure sessions following a recent survery of session popularity.

I don't want to discourage customers because at the end of the day this is the only place for ice sports in the state, and it needs to stay in business. It's just a real shame that those attending public sessions get ripped off. Even perth has it better than adelaide, that's how bad it is. The price is far too high for the quality you receive. The only positive thing I have to say is thankfully they got rid of most of the mould. For...