Fun down under
Harried university students tired of preparing for the rest of their lives can now indulge their inner child by going deeper underground. Hidden in the basement of the new Warsaw University Library on ulica Dobra is Hulakula, a family entertainment center that opened its doors at the beginning of March and aims at catering to people of all ages.
Pawel Krupinski, alias Kocur, a 27-year-old car racer, dropped by Hulakula with his friends to use the center's biggest attraction its bowling hall. Kocur emerged a bowling champ last Wednesday. He has already become a loyal Hulakula visitor.
"I come here to enjoy myself and my friends," Kocur said. "This place is a peaceful oasis, where you can relax and forget about all your troubles."
Before Hulakula, Kocur used to go to Promenada's bowling hall but said Hulakula is more fun. "There is more space in here, good lighting and the music plays," Kocur said. "Which is very important; after all the rhythm has to work."
Kocur's team occupied one of 34 bowling alleys. Six of them are for children, with lighter bowling balls and bumper-lined lanes. "These bumpers guarantee successful hits for kids (and) cheer them to further games," said Monika Jaromin, PR specialist with Toto-Sport, the company that manages Hulakula.
Toto-Sport is owned by Totalizator Sportowy's capital group, the State Lottery. The group invested about $3 million in the entertainment center, which covers 8,600 square meters rented from the library standing above it.
Although bowling is the center's biggest attraction, "Hulakula offers the whole family a good time," Jaromin said.
The idea of a family center was unique, said Dariusz Zgorzelski, the president of Toto-Sport. "It was the result of an in-depth study of people's needs, and not a copy," Zgorzelski said. "People live very fast now, and they look for a way of spending their free time they can experience together with their relatives."
And Hulakula claims to offer such a way. One section of Hulaland consists of three rooms in which children can exercise their imagination. One of the rooms is designed to look like the bottom of the ocean.
Children seem find the rooms a fun way to unload their limitless energy. "We have to install an hair dryer in their toilet," Zgorzelski said. "The kids are always sweaty."
Zgorzelski also said that Toto-Sport wants to attract clients who would like to spend their time in other pursuits. The center includes two food outlets, Hulabar and Hulasmak, and will feature a shopping arcade containing, among others "a hairdresser, laundry, photo labs, and internet cafe in the center," Jaromin said.
Not satisfied with recreating ocean depths, Hulakula will also soon contain an artificial climbing wall. "Qualified instructors will keep eye on people climbing up the artificial mountain," Jaromin said.
Hulakula opens at 10 a.m. every day and closes at midnight from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, and at 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
