UPark on Rundle Street

I don’t think many people think to write reviews on car parks. But it is really something that all of us use when going into the CBD. We all have our favourites; I know I only go to a couple of car parks in the CBD. But these are the ones that I go to on a casual basis and not for reserved carparking.
My first choice for car parks in Adelaide is the Rundle Street U-​Park. I find that it is the most cost effective one on the weekend. Although car park prices change all the time, you will generally find that U-​parks have a special or flat rate for evenings or weekends, which is great! Whether or not it changes in the future, I do not know? Currently you can get $ 6 flat rate parks on Friday evenings & Saturdays. I like this car park, as it is centrally located. I generally go to a lot of restaurants and stores on the East End of town. So it is my first car park of choice.
There are always a lot of car parks available. Even during peak times like the Fringe. The first couple of floors are reserved for 3-​hour parks; I think that this impacts on the availability of parks. Which is a great idea by the Council. The parks themselves are well spaced and there is not any concrete poles/​supports to navigate around (which a lot of car parks have).
Also, good to mention is that the traffic directions are easily understood. So you are not left thinking, «how do I get our of here?» There are six floors in this car park and it is decorated on the outside with the LED lit panels at night. It’s funny that this caused a massive buzz and attention in Adelaide when it was first installed. Looks cool though!

Ample parking, great location, easy to navigate, simple ticketing system and stacks of lifts, what more do you want in your car park? Well… the parking bays are tighter than other UParks, the pricing per hour is more than other UParks in the vicinity but there is the awesome night rates which apply after 6pm (except Fridays) where there is a flat fee of $ 6, perfect for those dining on Rundle Street. Keep an eye on the closing time, they do change at odd times.

FYI, U-​Park is currently on a trial. Up to three hours is a measly $ 6, no matter time of day. Huzzah for mid-​week shopping! However, there are no longer night rates, and as the friendly, but somewhat fed up cashier told us, 1 minute past your 3 hours and you’ll be hit for $ 25.
As a car park it is brilliant and accessible, but with new price rises the poor old place is looking, well, rather deserted.

Convenience factor: high.
If I’m heading into the CBD and need to do a dash down Rundle Mall/​Rundle St, I’ll usually hit up Rundle Upark. The reason: it’s so close and convenient and central, you can be in and out in a flash.
Being the huge space it is, you can grab a park pretty quickly — then you’re pretty much in the most convenient and central spot in the CBD.
Cost is about $ 4 per hour which is OK; I for one can’t be bothered looking for a free park most of the time, so am happy to pay a bit more for convenience!

I cannot tell you how many times this parking complex has saved me from driving around and around in circles trying to find free parking. I can afford to park here for a few hours, isn’t that lovely everyone? and I always seems to find a park on the first or second level which is ultra lucky because driving out can be a dizzy experience.
It’s very colourful here at night, but a little boring I have to admit. there are screens lining the entire curner of the building which do colour waves in the evening, fun to look at for a bout 20 seconds. Unless you’re on lsd — I would imagine.

It’s not expensive. Melbourne and Sydney parking has desensitised me to the price of parking in or near the CBD in Adelaide. It’s convenient most of the time, and it’s easy to find your car (if you’re good at remembering what damn level you’re on).
It is most definitely an ugly building, but there are many, many ugly buildings around town. It helps me to really value the beautiful buildings standing beside them. Not so much this one though. It’s ugly, largely surrounded by ugly.

Right up against the main shopping area of the city, U Park on the corner of Rundle and Pultney is large and nowhere near as ugly as it was for so many years. It started out ugly because it was originally without barriers on each level, so someone threw herself off one level to her death below; the council decided barriers would fix that problem from happening again. The next this was the general ugliness of the building which after decades was covered with the silver metal fish scales it now has. At night that surface is coloured with computer generated animations — no big deal really — better looking than just a big silver monster.
Car parking costs money, not really expensive. The great news is, free, undercover bike racks are also available.

Cheap is elsewhere. But then I guess the prices here are similar to everywhere else in Australia, I’m just not quite used to them yet. The big pro of this car park is that it’s probably the handiest location you will find in the city if you can’t find a parking on the street. It’s a very short walk from Rundle Mall, Pulteney Street and North Terrace. Oh, and I never came here and the car park was full. So heaps of capacity, which is great. The con’s are, apart from the fact that it’s bloody expensive, that it really doesn’t smell, nor look nice. It’s a little bit dodgy if you have to walk around here by yourself at night and encounter the odd crazy homeless person. But well, after all it’s a car park and not a hotel.