The Adventure Barn — Attraction in Winchester

I love the soft play. It is great for children and so much fun. The food is very good. No rubbishy, processed chicken goujons- they are home-made and decent pieces of chicken. However, the staff are awful. On entering the premises for a party with my child, I had to wait for the four members of staff to finish their chit- chat before they acknowleged me. I explained I was there for a party. "Whos?", someone said bluntly. Then "Name?" (as in, my childs name). Then someone held out a wristband for my child to wear. I instinctively went to take the wristband from the staff member, but she avoided my hand and insisted on putting it on my child. Wierd. There was no interaction with my child whatsoever. I have noticed that the staff have no idea how to talk to children. Parties that I have been to have all been the same- the children are herded from one area to another. There is no interaction between staff and any of the children. The staff seem to be there just to run through the motions; take a group photo, give out the food, do the music for pass-the-parcel, cut the cake. I am a childcare professional and have also worked doing parties for children, at a leisure centre. If I had done parties the way they do at The Adventure Barn, I would have lost my job. Children love fun, happy, interactive adults and the staff at The AB are none of those things. They obviously have no training whatsoever- they have no clue. The party room upstairs is like an oven. It is ridiculously hot. All the parents and children stripped off, it was unbareable. There is a window that was open a crack, but it's pointless. There was a large fan on the side, but it got unplugged so that the music for pass-the-parcel could be played!!!! Seriously, have they not heard of extention cables?- you can get them from cheap shops!! As a result, the temperature rose sharply and everyone was even more uncomfortable than they were before. Why is this allowed to happen, especially when the children have been running riot in the soft play and are dripping with sweat. I have two children and never once have I ever wanted to have a party at the AB. Never! I will never pay stupid amounts of money, for a party to be held by staff, who are so uninterested in...

4 stars to the staff and the overall set up, amenities are still better then at other play places, nicer setting and location and also the actual soft play area is better then at other places.

But...

1 star for the play supervision arrangements - I am not the only one mentioning the problem... the toddler area is simply not safe for little once, as older children seem to be uncontrollable and unsupervised by their parents, and clearly not well mannered or taught to avoid certain areas as not the whole area is designated for their age group. Even whilst playing in toddler area they are completely oblivious to the fact they can unwillingly hurt the little ones as either their legs or arms are flying around etc. whilst using the equipment provided.

Some older children just don’t bother taking their shoes off, or decide it’s a good idea to carry them in their hands (?), which is clearly their parents oversight, but still, they’re left to their own devices...

I must say that staff members, encountered during our brief stay, were pleasant, however when approached with above problem, simply said that the rules are clearly stated and children must be accompanied at all times.... It’s not a rule if there is no one to enforce or police it, and the establishment simply relies on all the parents to control their children.

Also struggled finding baby feeding chair, which seems strange as they must be aware of their requirements in peak hours...

So will have to try school hours and see how...

I had been recommended this soft play a few times so took my 7 month old and almost 2 year old. Unfortunately it wasn’t what I imagined.

The layout is that of a large room and all of the soft play is in one area. The way that it’s all situated means that you can’t see your children from the tables so I was trying to go around the whole thing with my toddler but some of the areas are too small for adults to fit through or adults aren’t allowed (on the bouncy castle for example). There’s a ‘baby area’ for under 24 months by the tables which is a very small square with some items of soft play in it but it’s not big enough to let a little one crawl around and too small for toddlers. The cafe is attached to the room but again, you can’t see your children from there - they also didn’t have any milk alternatives or vegan options which was really disappointing in this day and age.

Don’t get me wrong there are lots of pros; The staff were so friendly (especially the girl on reception with the FANTASTIC eyebrows) Everything was really clean and looked after The soft play area equipment itself was great and what my toddler did go on he loved as it’s really different from other soft plays!

I would say it’s definitely catered towards older kids and my friends 4 year old loved it but I wouldn’t recommend for younger ones, it’s a really large area and could be something amazing so hopefully there will be some changes...