The Ark Reviews Summary

Customer Service

Pros:

• "Visited today for coffee and cake, staff were ever so nice."
• "The staff were extremely helpful and went above and beyond helping me settle my 2 young children down."
• "The staff was ever so friendly and very organised n helpful."
• "Friendly staff and helpful."
• "The staff are friendly!"
• "The staff (Maddy) are really friendly and couldn’t be any more helpful."
• "Lots of friendly staff and great food."

Cons:

• "Rude receptionist while visiting tonight for my grandsons 4th birthday."
• "Extremely poor and slow service, only interested in taking your money up front."
• "Could see staff messing around in the kitchen though and heard a few members swearing."
• "The staff just seemed to ignore the fact that they were in there."
• "Zero hygiene and unbelievably rude female at the desk today."
• "It was very expensive and the rude attitude of the older supervisor had not one child friendly response to our visit."
• "Terrible experience with the manager and staff."

Facilities & Cleanliness

Pros:

• "Clean toilets, refreshments and lovely parent seating overlooking the water front, with outside seating courtyard."
• "The cafe and play area are both new and look well maintained."
• "Their rest rooms are kept to a high standard."
• "Toilets are always clean."
• "I have mostly found the venue to be clean and tidy on my visits."

Cons:

• "Parking is pathetic, total gridlock, cars even on grass abandoned almost."
• "Chairs not clean (sticky) also noticed a fly enjoying the cakes as this area isn't sealed at the back."
• "The 'dining' area is a complete mess."
• "The smell when you walk in makes you immediately gag. It smells incredibly strong of old urine."
• "In the ball play area none of the machines worked and it smelled of wee."
• "Very unclean and dirty tissues everywhere in the loos especially."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Great service and good value, child friendly with soft play and pottery painting on site."
• "Also there is a free loyalty card available to save 10% on entrance fee and food."
• "They have a great breakfast menu, also a children's breakfast, which I found was good value for money."
• "We had the deluxe hot chocolate and my goodness was it incredible! All prices were fine."

Cons:

• "A bit pricey for what you get in terms of food etc."
• "You just come away feeling slightly ripped off."
• "Prices are ridiculous. £1.50 per adult even when 2 of you per child."
• "It's just a bit overpriced for me, especially the food."
• "One child, two hot drinks and a fruitshoot drink over £17.00."
• "Ended up costing an extra £6 on top if the £15 for two pieces of pottery."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food was also impressive. I recommend the nachos and chillie."
• "Yummy cakes with coffee/tea."
• "Cafe does lovely food too."
• "Great views and food too!"

Cons:

• "Food took ages to arrive and they had run out of lots of things on the menu."
• "The food is extremely over priced and inedible."
• "Food was at very poor standard cooked food wasn't even hot was cold."
• "Visited the ark today the food was honestly horrible."
• "Terrible food at high prices. The sauces are left all day under the sun, completely off."
• "I was disappointed with my burger and chips. The chips were cold and I considered the burgers to be poor."
• "Soft play often dirty and food overpriced."

Child-Friendliness

Pros:

• "You have just got to love the Ark, it's a place for the whole family to enjoy."
• "Love bringing my son here for the soft play."
• "Always a good place to visit with the little one. A few things to play in, swings, sandpit, slide attached to a climbing rig."
• "Our children always enjoy a visit here, the play area is great fun, we can also sit close enough to keep an eye on them without having to follow them around."
• "Great soft play. You know it's good when ur kids keep asking to go back."
• "Despite hating soft play centres myself, this is a great one! The kids love it, it's safe, pleasant and the staff are friendly! Pretty rare in these kinda places!"
• "My Daughter loves this soft play so do I, its clean, presentable and the team are super friendly."