Active Monkeys Play Centre

Recently booked for son's 5th birthday party, after a fab party for my daughter 4 years prior. However, my wife and I were left feeling very disappointed 2nd time round - to start, the heating was on, not great on a hot day - one of the staff asked if we would like the air con on, which we said yes - which was just a small unit up by a window, so not much use. Upon heading to the party room, were told we could bring his homemade cake upstairs, which my wife spent a lot of time making, only to be informed we weren't allowed to light the candles - this meant nobody got to see the effort made, instead they used there own fake cake to light then proceeded to cut a 20 slice cake into 10 huge slices leaving none left! The website contradicts this and states you can bring your own cake with candles. Also, the 2 girls who were left in charge, did not greet parents on entry plus no squash was given to the party of 10 children, only water, again, different from the website. When I asked for water for the kids, the girl who had headphones on pointed to the counter and said it's there. They couldn't get the bubble machine to work and we had to ask one of them to put the music back on after it had randomly stopped. Not the girls fault, but they seemed somewhat out of their depth somewhat at times, with a lot of the time on their phones and headphones on and no interaction at all. We were also made to leave early - whilst we were gathering our belongings, the owners walked in, seemingly with bags from a shopping trip and made no engagement at all. Lastly, people were waiting outside to enter for a play session, and my wife had to apologise to them that we were finishing from a party - totally unacceptable and should have come from the venue staff themselves, quite embarrassing. I'm aware this place has new ownership, but unlike previously, there was just no added personal touches at all. It's a shame as had we known, we would not have rebooked again. My son said he had a good time, but then again, he is 5 and would say that. As parents, we felt it was definitely, not value for money 2nd time round at £275 and would not recommend a party here on our experience. Owners have been contacted by email expressing our disappointment, but they have ignored any reply. Such a shame as the previous owners were fantastic and the new ones could learn a thing or two.

· via Google

Very disappointed. Went today and the door was locked. So went away and came back an hour later still locked. Tried to call and no answer. Totally understand you can book online but this was not a planned day out and thought why not. Could have at least had a notice on the door as to when and if it would be open again. Having read through the other reviews don’t think we will bother again. Such a shame as this has happened once before. And thought we would give it another go.

· via Google

We celebrated my daughter’s 4th birthday party here a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely fantastic. Everything was so well-organised and the kids had a great time. It was worth every penny to have everything done for us, even down to the party bags and decorations! Thanks so much for an stress-free, fun party.

· via Google

Good soft play for children. Children aged 6 and 4 loved it. Young staff member seemed very disinterested in her job. Toilet was dirty and shabby. Loud disco style music being played. Odd choice for a children venue. There is no parking onsite although there is a public car park close by.

· via Google