Or is this odd cafe behaviour?

[EightOfHearts]

Husband and I had just taken baby for a walk and stopped off in the cafe which is in the park. We ordered some drinks and cake and sat down. It was about 3.30 and cafe doesn't shut until 5, no one else was sat in the cafe but the softplay section was full with parents coming in and out to buy drinks.

Just after we sat down one of the staff members started hovering, it was quite loud so made it a bit difficult to chat. He got so close he was literally hovering around our table to the point I had to move my feet. After about twenty minutes of this he got the mop out and did the same, noise gone but it smelt quite chemically which didn't feel great with food and baby.

I would of thought they wanted us to leave but they couldn't of closed as softplay was so full. We didn't say anything as we didn't think it was worth it but we did find it really bizarre and had a chuckle about it on the way home. Normal cafe behaviour or a bit strange?

Because the people setting the hours aren't the ones who are out there cleaning up generally, especially in chains!

Is it maybe because it was a soft-play cafe?
I've been to a few where they come out regularly with a hoover/mop.

I guess they just want to keep on top of the mess that children make - children who are thirsty and need a snack but eat it standing up, getting crumbs everywhere before racing back in to play.

The staff probably have to clean the soft play area too. They started on the least crowded area - the restaurant - and would have had to move into the soft play after the last of the kids had cleared out. If they had waited until the door was shut and locked, they might have had to spend an unpaid hour getting the place ship shape.

My pet hate is businesses stating opening times and then shutting down an hour or 30 mins before. I wouldn’t sit in a cafe at 5pm knowing they were closing at 5pm but I wouldn’t expect to be rushed out or hoovered round either if they claimed to shut at 6pm.
Just close earlier or pay your staff appropriately.

Funnily enough I remembered this post and discussion today when I almost went to a local cafe / bakery 50 min. before the advertised closing time. I ended up going to the chain cafe instead which is open longer as I thought we might get kicked out early.