I've been to madhatters over the ast year with my 4 year old, and never had a problem. The staff are fantastic, the food is nice and the play area is great. Also the toilet facilities are better than half the ones ive seen in restaurants. They are modern and have baby changing facilities. I believe in the two hours i was there(july'10), they were monitered 3 times to check cleanliness. I strongly feel if there's any problems with health and safety, it's down to parents keeping the children under-wraps...eg. watching their behaviour, and what they pick up. It's not soley down to the staff! Overall i highly rate Madhatters, and will soon be booking a party here.
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Review by: hollie
Date: 9th October 2010 - 19:48
I visited Madhatters on a regular basis, but with the kids at school now, our chances to go are quite limited, they do close early at 3pm on Mon, Tues and Weds (for private parties). Weekends do seem to be extreamly busy sometimes too. However the opening hours turned in my favour as i now use any visits as a treat or a reward for the kids, and they seem to enjoy it alot more (as we dont go as often as we used to). The children's menu is great the kids love them and the price is quit resonable, i don't really rate the meals designed for the parents as i find them a little over priced, as with most of the cold drinks. There is many healthy options on offer as well as not so healthy ones, but thats down to persoal choice and what you prefer your children to eat.On very busy periods, food orders do take a lot longer but thats to be expected. The kitchen is always clean and tidy, top mark there. I have noticed Madhatters display a sign asking visiters not consume their own food, but i do take fruit with me (as its cheaper) and when the kids where younger i did take my own food for them, the staff didn't seem to mind at all. The Play area does sometimes have wrappers, bits of food etc, i feel thats down to the parents not to allow it!! The staff are pleasent enough towards the children, but lack interaction, again thats down to the parents, the staff are not there to babysit our kids so no staff child ratio is needed, thats our job. I've been to a few party's the entertainment is great, the food avarage, but again i find it overpriced for what is on offer, especially if there is a whole class to pay for. As for the general cleaness of all puplic areas, its to be expected, the staff do clean and tidy around children and parents, but again, we do hold a responsability to clean up after our children....on many times iv'e noticed parents leave spilt drinks and not even attempted to clean it up or notified the staff, kids have threw there rubbibh on the floor, dropped food whilst eating, again as a parent i would pick up what i can,and if MY children (and they do sometimes) leave their rubbish on the floor i insist they pick it up! As for the toilets, i expect them to be of a high standard, and most of the time they are, however use them as you would in your own home, soiled nappies, paper towels, and un-cleaned potties!! Would we do this at home?, i for sure wouldn't.
Overall Madhatters is a good place for your children to have fun and let off some steam, but on busy days not so good if us parents want to relax, I would recommend to all, and wether you enjoy it or not the kids sure will :)
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Review by: kate
Date: 11th May 2010 - 09:44
Hi... I have been going to Mad Hatters for two years and I have to say that the standard has certainly slipped. The play equipment has begun to look both tired and grubby. The food is more expensive and not as nice as it was. The ratio of staff to customers has gone down and consequently the service can be poor at times. The baby toys are in a poor state. Also there appears to be little restrictions on the number of customers admitted at any one time. On rainy days the place can be very busy with not enough chairs to sit on, poor food/drink service and toilets left not as they should be. I think that Mad Hatters has had its day and in future will be taking my two boys to other play centres recently opened up.
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Review by: Sarah C
Date: 27th March 2010 - 12:36
we have been going to madhatters for 6 years now and we still love it. During every visit it has been clean (both the toilets and the kitchen). During busy times, the place is in chaos but with lots of pre school children laughing and running around excited you could only take this as a positive. !! my second child is having her 3rd party there soon as this will be the 3rd birthday party which our family have hired madhatters for. I accept that sometimes it may be cool (air conditioning for the children), or may be busy but this is purely because of the nature the business.
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Review by: mel
Date: 6th February 2010 - 19:53
Hi Madhatters i think you are the safest, friendliest and cleaness play area around. All my 5 children thoroughly enjoy coming to play at Madhatters and never want to leave. Thankyou for all the parties we have had and all the hours of enjoyment my children have and will carry on having.
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Review by: Jo
Date: 13th April 2009 - 17:03
I think Madhatters is the best play area ever. The rest are not as good and i really enjoy myself when i go there. All my brothers and sister also enjoy themselves. Thanks Madhatters for being the best.
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Review by: Kizzy
Date: 13th April 2009 - 16:58
I go to Madhatters every week with my 10 month old and her friends. We love it. The special area for babies is great and we also venture on the other area. The staff are friendly and the food is great especially the homemade soups. There is a good choice of food for kids and adults. I take food for my daughter which staff are happy to warm up. I would recommend this to anyone.
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Review by: Kath
Date: 16th February 2009 - 20:29
My son has had a few very good parties here, generally very well organised. However we have just spent an hour there, the place was very cold, our feet and hands where freezing. Also sign at the door stated Christmas closing times where six pm. We where asked to leave at 4pm as a private party had been booked. I think we should of been told this before we paid for entry and several hot drinks to combat the very cold temperatures. I will only be visiting during the summer in the future as the heating equipment is clearly not up to standard. The staff where very friendly and the drinks warming. The play facilities are very good and the kids do enjoy them. Toilets looked clean. I did not eat anything but the food looked and smealt very nice.
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Review by: David
Date: 30th December 2008 - 16:28
on a recent visit, we found the place to be over busy, no tables available until a party left to use the party room , all the tables were dirty,we eventually foun a table at the front,claered and cleaned it ourselves and then a member of staff came from behind the counter in the ktchen and threw a laminated a4 pice of paper with the words reserved on it, no explanation was offered to us at this time so we stayed put, then fie minutes later another member of staff came to our table to explain that this table was reserved for a party and that we had to move, this young lady said she would see her supervisor who in the mean time arrived again with the attitude that we were moving to another table and again told us that this table was reserved, at no tme was there a sign on this table until aftr we had sat down and cleaned and cleared the table .we also found the supervisors atitude to be vry obnoxious and patronising . we are a large family made up of professional people and had on the day several children with us and i would not recommend this place to anyone i know and because i feel so stongly i will be lodging complaints with all the relevnt agencies i.e trading standards,enviro-health health & safety exe etc etc please do not use this dirty unfriendly venue as i would hate you to e as disappionted as i was
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Review by: kiely
Date: 27th October 2008 - 13:40
i have always found Mad Hatters fine for the kids and I have been to loads of parties.The food has always been ok no problem.
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Review by: liz
Date: 4th August 2008 - 07:18
I think that the complaints of this place are a little harsh, I have been to many parties here and have also held parties here for my kids. THe staff have been pleasent, friendly and patient. They were constantly cleaning and seemed busy. The toilets were clean and the food was great. Even though my kids are getting older now, they still seen to enjoy it!
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Review by: nik
Date: 17th July 2008 - 09:14
I've been many times, for parties- including my own childrens and think its great. Pretty sure if Annon was that snnoyed surely they would put their name to it. Overall, loads of room, good seletion of food- adults and children. Decent staff, clean and lots of close by parking, un like others in the area.
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Review by: Ian
Date: 26th January 2008 - 19:51
After reading some of your reviews I was quite apprehensive about my daughters forthcoming birthday party.However I think that I must have gone to a different Mad Hatters than the brave ANON!! I found the staff very helpful and the toilets clean. Surely it is the responsibility of the parents to make sure that soiled nappies are disposed of correctly and to make sure that their children do not take food and drinks on to the play area. I think that ANON should look closer to home before critisising the staff at Mad Hatters! One of the other childrens parents was so impressed that she too is booking a party at Mad Hatters.
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Review by: Michelle
Date: 14th January 2008 - 16:05
I think some of these views are a bit harsh, my kids love it. It's not as flashy or as big as Thingamajigz, sure, but i've never found it dirty. Have been to loads of parties there and they've been great, esp for pre school kids!
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Review by: Paddy
Date: 4th January 2008 - 17:09
I think Dawn must be Managing Director of the place. unrealistic review......its all true, its crap. Dont take your kids its a health and safety nightmare.
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Review by: ian
Date: 20th December 2007 - 09:25
What a play area, I've been visiting this for about 1 year regulary and Although this is a great play area, don't count on the staff being child friendly, or even the area being safe! - On a recent visit, (july 07) we had to wait 1 hour for our food, There was rubbish in the play area, (chocolate wrappers, bits of carrot, bread crusts etc...) There were also bottle lids (from fruit shoots - nice choking size) - left on the floor along with food remains and other rubbish. Then the incident to top all incidents - As I was putting my 6 year olds shoes on, my 1 year old daughter had managed to get a bottle of spray detergent and was walking across the floor with it in her mouth!!!! Good to know these things are left at a height and within easy reach that a child can gain access too!!! -And if they have a party coming in you can count on the public being pushed aside, tables were moved around us as we tried to get the kids to eat, although the food only arrived allowing 20 minutes to eat before closing time! When I made a complaint about the whole visit, especially teh detergent incident and the hygiene issues, I got NO response at all. No apology, not even the time of day. To call this place child friendly is disgusting. To this day there has still been no response, or apology. Oh and the toilets! - well dirty nappies on the floor topped it all!!
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Review by: anon
Date: 24th October 2007 - 08:04
This fantstic building has been adapted to accommodate a 4-tier soft play system and a cafe serving a great variety of food for adults and children. Children can play whilst the parents can watch and relax. Parties are a speciality! All areas are carpeted making it ideal for young children and reducing the noise! There are always special offers especially during school times so savings can be made. Breasfeeding welcome stickers are displayed. There is a full selection of baby essential on sale so you can turn up without your changing bag! There are special seats on the toilets for those just learning and nappy changing areas in both male and female toilets.
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Review by: Dawn
Date: 8th October 2006 - 18:48
