I hardly write reviews, and have never actually written a one star review before. But here it goes...
I had my son's 3 year old birthday party at Smart Kids this weekend.
The gym space is beautiful. If they had called it a "space rental" that would be one thing, but they called it a birthday party. They have a whole section on their site for parties http://smartkidsmiami.com/birthday-parties. They did NOT host a birthday party.
The grumpy lady literally unlocked the door and took me to an HOT (no A/C) ugly back room (light years away from the play area) with tables and folded chairs and left us. She didn't even offer to help us set up our decorations or unfold the chairs.
Because the food space was so terrible and soooo far from the gym, I requested that we put up our refreshments and decorations in the lobby which she agreed to. I even told her directly that I was disappointed that she wasn't even offering to help us and she told me she was only told to let us in.
The "entertainment/class" was not age appropriate, which I clearly requested. There were only 2 coaches, when I was quoted 3. There were no props, nothing fun, interesting or entertaining - just a lady attempting to get kids to do neck rolls and frog hops, which lasted about 5 minutes. At least she tried, and then moderately engaged with the kids while they had free play, but the other guy was useless, literally stood around, even after I requested that he engage with the kids.
Coincidentally I had another party planned the following day (for school friends) at My Gym on Biscayne Blvd...same price, same deal - I provide my own food and decorations, and they provide the space and class/entertainment.
It was like night and day. They had requested that I drop off the decorations the day before, they called in advance to find out what my kid liked, what his favorite songs were etc. They didn't even take the 2nd payment until after the party (the only calls I got from Smart Kids were to collect my credit card payment).
At My Gym, when we arrived they were ready for us: the music was pumping, bubble machine going, balloons around, my decorations were put up, table was set, and the animated engaged staff were happy and excited to see us and our 3 year old son. The staff managed the parents, entertained the kids and cleaned up everything after we were done. SAME PRICE/SAME DEAL.
After our party at Smart Kids it took all of my energy not to go post a terrible review right away. I waiting until today (Monday) to speak with the woman with whom I had organized the party. I told her what happened and how I felt about it. She was kind and acknowledged my frustration and disappointment with the party, she asked her manager if I could get any money refunded and was told no.
So here I am...waste of time and money. read more