The Chicago TreeHouse in Lake Zurich

Reviews 4

ME

Melissa Boos

I have a definite "love-hate" relationship with this place... my kids love it and I hate it. There are good and bad things here, and Ive probably been at least 15 times so hopefully I can cover everything. Good Things- My kids like it. Its way cleaner than McDonalds play place. The food isnt horribly priced and the things Ive had are decent. I actually really enjoy the #11 grilled on sourdough. Some of the staff are ok... just some though. I like that the climbing structure isnt fully enclosed. Those types seem to get WAY hotter (and dirtier) and my kids just like this better. Once in awhile its really fun going down the slides with my kids. My kids always seem to make new friends here, even if its just for the day! I havent had a birthday party here, but they do seem to do a good job with those from what Ive seen. The Cons- Its usually pretty crowded and when it is it REALLY isnt fun being there. Im pretty sure 90% of the parents who bring their children here immediately stop paying attention to them once they walk in the door. The staff dont pay attention to the kids either. They seriously need someone monitoring the play area all the time instead of never like it is right now. They say no outside food or drink but EVERY time I go I see at least one person bring stuff out of their bag to for their kids to eat. Nobody seems to care but me. On that note... a LOT of the staff just dont seem to care. Its hard to describe but its almost a feeling you get talking to them... like somehow your being there is an inconvenience to them. Someone is almost always getting pushed, hit, or in some other way hurt and nobody usually does anything about it until someone is bawling (many times my own child, which is super fun!) It doesnt matter what you get to eat, it will ALWAYS take a long time to get to you. Be prepared to wait. They dont seem to put much CARE into what goes out from their kitchen. At least half the times we get apples I have to re-cut them to ACTUALLY remove the rest of the core. They dont seem open to suggestions. I had a great suggestion that I think would benefit both them AND their customers but I was definitely given the brush off when I tried to talk to a manager. When they have birthday parties in the afternoon, Ive often see them "reserve" seating for the parties starting HOURS before, often taking up EVERY comfortable seat available. The first few times I obeyed the sign but then I realized what they were doing and decided to ignore it. Now I sit where I want and if they complain I tell them Id be HAPPY to move when people arrive for the party. Not once have people come before I left. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of what to expect should you decide to go!

JO

Jonathan Peyravy

Treehouse lake zurich -Went there a few years ago and my how things have changed - awful -- the lady charged us full price with an hour left and then after 15 min they turned the "air" off and started to vacuum. It was already scorching in there and we quickly Looked at the thermostat and it was 80 degrees in there!! It was 94 degrees outside so that means they had it set at 80. Lets just say it got pretty hot pretty quick in there and I could see 2 elderly people complaining but with little resolve... We have an infant and 2 boys under the age of 5. In disbelief we asked why and she said this is what they do in the last hour. We asked for a managers name or owner contact and she said she didnt have it. They refused to refund and I was incredibly disgusted that we spent 21.00 for nothing. The staff is not trained in how to handle formative feedback. So on top of all that craziness I think we made a pretty good suggestion to them which would have prevented patrons from turning away when they realize they still have to pay full price at the last hour. Thats right, you pay full price for those that have already unloaded and committed. Im sickened because Im sure they have lost a ton of business with this model but could care less. . I get that they dont want to offer a discounted rate for people arriving within an hour .. But we suggested give your customers a next day only pass for the day. Still get a full price, people dont turn away and isnt the goal for people to come??? Pretty simple. So from all of that yes we still want small business to thrive but they are hopeless . Never again and they couldnt care less - sadly enough at this rate I give it another year and they are long gone. Standards are gone and owners are completely disconnected - STAY AWAY - oh and for the topper.... They turned their lights off and on as my 3 year old came screaming in fear... grest way to end my experience. If its happening to us its happening to others.

CH

Chris Larson

NOT ACCEPTING OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS I have a five-year-old son with autism, and we had a terrible experience today at the TreeHouse. The facility was quite full today, and that meant that, as is typical with children, there is a lot of little pushing and jostling for position on the equipment. My son does not always understand the social intent of such contact, and he will usually push back. Not in a hurtful or forceful way, and certainly not hard enough to injure anyone, but he doesnt understand why he is being jostled. Today a group of mothers decided to follow my son around and scream at him whenever he had such interactions with other children. When I apologized and informed them of his disability they said "we all have our excuses." When I informed the manager of the mothers bullying behavior, I was offered a pair of socks so that I could take my son and leave. Not a word was said to the bullying mothers. The manager and these mothers were all aware of my sons autism, and they showed no mercy or understanding. We will not be returning to this facility. I will be telling all of my friends in the autism community to avoid this business.

MY

Mylady_casualty

Had a Groupon bought for me as a gift. Im a very busy person so it took me a couple months to get to use it. Made a play date with my girlfriend, kids super excited, only to be accused of stealing and coupon fraud at the door!! Because someone elses name was on the small spaced line where mine shouldve been. This paper was so cluttered, just a list of Barcode numbers. Did they even double check my Groupon order number? No. Did she once even begin to think it was a mistake? No. Even as the teenager working the desk was trying to be helpful she butted in rudely. Nice way of training your employees! I couldnt and still cannot believe it! The manager was so very rude, again, accusing me multiple times in front of many people for coupon fraud with no grounds, THREW OUT the rest of my Groupon (shouldve been able to go twice more) and then proceeded to actually mean mug me as I walked around trying to find an open table! Absolutely Unbelievable! Its too bad really, I used to rave about this place and recommend it, now its gone so downhill over the last couple years even without the terrible nightmare manager.