DBarras,
Perhaps a bit of constructive criticism would assist in improving the service over all in what is an excellent concept and should be an enjoyable day out with your child.
We entered on Sunday to find the place covered in dirty plates which is now the 3rd time we have been and every time the same story.
The door kiosk was unmanned which is a bit worrying considering our visits have been 4 weeks apart and the door catch on the exit remains unrepaired. Our 4 year old opened this with no assistance as we left.
We then cleared our plates by moving them onto another table and wiped our own table with baby wipes while the 4 staff 2 male 2 female stood idle at the counter.
Perhaps if there were adequate litter facilities we could have got rid of the rubbish but sadly the only option was to move it along to be someone elses problem.
We then owing to your signs stating not to consume food from outside which given the limited menu takes away from the experience, to brave having a panini.
I was alarmed to say the least to see the staff member swanning back with dirty plates which eventually she had managed to retrieve from another table, she deposited these in front of the chiller cabinet and began preparing a sandwich without so much as a rinse of the hands.
There doesnt seem to be any sort of experienced food handler present.
We ordered our paninis and were handed a huge plastic number covered in bits of salad and mayonaise from wherever it had been previously.
They arrived quickly, however I was a bit concerned with the panini coming complete with a layer of burnt food deposit on the outside of the non toasted bread and the room temperature chicken. The salad mentioned as included in the £4.95 price was 3 shreds of lettuce, a tea spoon of grated carrot and a single cherry tomato.
The staff member who brought us these swanned past the cutlery, dropped them on the table and left us to our own devices to retrieve the cutlery, which again was not clean.
We decided not to bother eating these, we left these with the cutlery and napkin on them to signify they were finished. These sat beside us for over 45 minutes.
I had the misfortune to need to visit the toilet which I entered to find the floor soaked, no toilet roll in 2 cubicles, the towels for drying your hands on were also exhausted. But perhaps the most worrying was that there was no soap to be found anywhere.
The play experience for the kids while seeming to be positive I would argue the case that the areas for the children are clearly visible, infact there are several areas of the aparatus secluded from view.
There does not seem to be any steward to supervise the equipment or the correct usage there of. I appreciate that the parents all pitch in however given the lack of physical access to the higher areas for those of us who are not as fit as our children.
There is also a limit and the chance of conflict between parents as it should not fall to other parents to prevent larger children from being in the toddlers ball pool etc. I noted twice in our visit that this had become an issue between sets of parents. Also noteably, your clientelle cannot read signs and do need assistance and guidance !
All in if there was any sort of manager present they were not doing an adequate job on any level. Perhaps on the grounds you have mentioned you pay above the minimum wage you should perhaps give this to someone more deserving of the salary.
While the concept and facility is excellent the entire experience is let down by the lack of hygeine and management.
To sum up constructively
A. Fix the door.
B. Clear the plates
C. Get some more bins.
D. Some food hygeine training or enforement
E. Any sort of a manager
F. Although you have stated parent supervision, clearly 7 of 10 review point to the need for a chaperone.