Chipmunks Playland and Cafe Lyall Bay 113 Tirangi Road, Lyall Bay, Wellington 6022

"I hadn't been to chipmunks Lyall bay for almost 4 years and I was appalled at the state of it. A friend and I bought our under 1s hoping to find a space were our bubs could safely explore and have some fun however we were constantly picking up small pieces of plastic off the floor before they tried to eat them, the play area floors were dusty and grubby. I get the idea of trying to reuse and recycle old baby toys and playmats but they were all dirty with stains or ripped and many toys didn't work. There was a powerpoint with cables right next to the touch screen tv easily within reaching distance of any crawling baby. The baby change room was gross, bin over flowing with dirty nappies. There was only one staff member popping in and out and unable to attend to customers. After feeling like this place wasnt an ideal space for our little ones we decided to leave, I was waiting on a hot drink but was waiting for over 10minutes for the staff member to enquire about this so we left, having to reach right over the counter to buzz open the gate. I feel this isnt just a staffing issue. The baby area and toilets needs a real over haul especially the health and safety aspects."

"Disappointed, this place needs some TLC. Very unorganized & lacking play options. Lots of missing pieces. My 17month old played in the 2- 5 zone because the under 2s was tiny with very little to do. The one at Brewton is far better, would recommend."

"I’m surprised at all the positive reviews! I came here with a friend and our babies (8 and 11 months) and we didn’t have a great experience. Main issues: 1) The under two area was so dirty, there was rubbish all I’ve the floor and the toys were all old and shabby. We spent the whole time trying to stop our babies from eating the rubbish off the floor… it was so unhygienic and lots of choking hazards. 2) The changing area was disgusting and really inadequate. For a place geared at young children you’d expect a proper change table and more than one. They just had a single fold out table in the disabled bathrooms and the nappy bin was literally overflowing onto the floor. There were no other babies at the centre so I can only assume they don’t even empty the bin daily. It was horrible… 3) It was seriously understaffed. There was only one staff member there and she was struggling to keep on top of everything and was often prioritising work other than customers. There were only three groups there, including us, but it took ages to get her attention and order anything, we never got the chai we ordered, and it was even hard to leave at the end as she had to buzz people out. People ended up leaning over the counter to buzz themselves out… We won’t come back, it was super disappointing! Edit to respond: We absolutely did not receive the chai, I’ll give your staff member the benefit of the doubt that she isn’t lying but is instead confusing us with another table… (let’s hope). But I have to say, I really can’t imagine how you might think that accusing me of lying within your apology for the state of the playground would help the situation?"

"We hired a room for a birthday party starting at the opening time of 9:30am. The venue was not open when we arrived and the staff member with keys arrived 20 minutes after the opening time. As it was raining, 12 kids and their parents had to take shelter in the pet shop next door. Chipmunks staff were totally disorganised - and while the kids still had a good time, we were really disappointed with the experience."

"A very clean tidy and fun place to take the kids. Lots of different spaces for the kids to play in from the jumpy slide to the large climbing frames. There were only a dozen or so kids here when we went (after a visit to the outlet village) but it was plenty of fun for a couple of hours."