The Chelsea Treehouse

Took my 16 month old daughter there and she loved it! They have a section for less the 2 years, toddlers-​kindergarten and for the bigger kids. It looked decently clean, the food was alright nothing special like it sounds if you go to their website. I give it a ⁴⁄₅ stars because I think they need a larger location the seating is pretty packed. Also it would be nice if they had lockers because one of us had to sit outside with our diaper bags.

This place is in every possible way superior to Jungle Java. Clean, charming, comfortable, more play equipment, better coffee, and a posted rule against screaming. Other indoor play places are closer, but The Tree House is so worth the drive. Oh and they allow re-​entry!

Dirty.
Abusive staff.
No supervision, staff exists to sell *really bad* coffee.
So dirty.

Kids love it BUT! Can’t bring food in. It’s dusty. And the staff is very militant. Fun and much better then Java jungle I guess.

The Chelsea treehouse is great for so many different reasons. I always bring my nieces to the treehouse to play, it is cleaned often and you can come and go as you please all day for one price. The food they make is absolutely amazing. I work in the same plaza and my coworkers and I are here every day picking up lunch or breakfast.

I have taken my kids here for years, even when it was in the Clocktower Commons building. It was a great place to go when my kids were getting stir crazy during the Winter. When it comes to cleanliness I have never had a problem and prefer it over Jungle Java. I prefer it over Jungle Java in a lot of areas actually. They do enforce the rules here. I’m actually very good with and prefer that. My kids aren’t angels but, again, we have never had a problem here. There isn’t always a staff person right at the entrance but they come pretty quickly when they see you. Of course the staff and owner should be treated with respect when they enforce their well posted rules. I don’t really know the owner but she is a mother herself and is a giving community member. To a previous poster; why would you demand they provide you with more pizza after the meal is served, when the power is out, and complain when they don’t? If it is out at the treehouse it is likely out at Thompson’s also.

I love that this place exists! You never know when the weather will turn or your kids just need an indoor air conditioned place to expend energy and it is great to have the Treehouse a short drive away. I love coming here to meet up with friends and let the kids run around doing their own thing. There is tasty food/​coffee, fantastic kid-​friendly bathrooms, and loads of seating that lets you keep one eye on your wild offspring while you finally catch up with your friends. It is very clean and allergy-​friendly, which I also appreciate.

Absolutely wonderful place! We recently had our daughter’s birthday party here and all of the party guests ranging from age 1 to 8 had an absolute blast. The structure itself was clean and in great condition, as was the rest of the place, including the bathrooms. The play areas and structure are plenty large enough for a parent to go through if they need or want to. Plenty of very comfortable seating. The staff was extremely attentive and friendly. The pizza was delicious. I felt like the party pricing was very reasonable and I felt like they really took care of every single detail to make everything wonderful and the day could not have been more perfect. We will definitely be going back!

I love this place. Kids can burn off steam and play with other kids while the grown ups relax in home like seating. Snacks are reasonably priced and staff is friendly and helpful. We visit a couple times a month. My 5 and 6 year old love it.

While I agree the owner can be … high strung? She does a great job at organizing the parties, and making sure her business is taken care of.
#1. it’s always clean. I never worry about my kid only having socks on, because there’s not a bunch of crumbs laying everywhere, and small messes are cleaned up quickly.
#2. We recently had my son’s 4^th birthday party there, with 12 kids, ranging in age from 1.5 to 12. All of them had fun, and thought it was great… the best part — the staff took total control… and i’m a «in control» kinda person. It was Ah-​Mazing. I didnt’ have to clean my house, I didn’t have to buy plates or forks, or the 47 other things you need for something like that. it was pricey, but everything (except the cake) was included, and i did order snacks and coffee for our adults. Good vibes all around.
The only minus for me is that when it’s too packed, it’s loud (screaming kids), and people — other parents, mostly, are really rude.
For a great place for your kid to burn off some energy, head to the Tree House in Chelsea~!

We went to a birthday party here and had a blast. Lots of seating (and couches! Real couches!). Zingerman’s coffee (I had a real –and delicious– Americano here). All kinds of food options. My elementary aged boys loved it here, as did the younger party guests.

Fun, reasonable cost, healthy snacks and comfortable places for parents to relax.

I absolutely love this place. Great space for the kids AND adults to spend a great couple of hours. Food choices are healthy and reasonable priced and they have an amazing coffee as well ;).

I’ve been here a couple of times. It’s ok but I would tend to agree with some of the other reviews here that the staff, owner, and just the whole overall atmosphere can be somewhat unwelcoming. The place itself is fine and pretty much on par with the Java Gym in Ann Arbor or the Bounce Castle in Jackson. Not a bad option for a rainy afternoon but their customer service skills could use some work. I’d rate it a 2.5

This was our first visit to The Chelsea Treehouse. We wanted something different than Jungle Java and the drive from Ann Arbor is pretty short.
Check in was easy — sign in just like Jungle Java and they pumped some anti bacterial gel into my child’s hand (without asking, which is a bit annoying. who knows if my child has an allergy to any of the ingredients?)
The place is large, but mostly holds seating, and lots and lots and lots of it. Worn sofas and chairs that could use some cleaning and maybe reupholstering. The floors were dirty and overall it felt like it could use a good scrubbing, but so do most of these children’s jungle gym places.
The play structure itself is big, but not as big as Jungle Java and my daughter, who is 8, was ready to leave after about an hour and a half.
They serve food, including Zingermans items and Barry’s Bagels. I also saw baggies of cucumber slices, cheese sticks and yogurt tubes. We ordered a grilled cheese and it was okay, nothing special. They did cut a star shape into it and it was brought to our table on a paper plate.
Bathrooms are cleaner than JJ and have brightly painted murals on the walls.
It would be a much better experience if they closed for a weekend and cleaned the place up, removed and rearranged the furniture.
The magazine rack wasa nice touch, but most mags were old (some from 2008!) and grimy, so… no thanks.
We will probably go back, but not soon. Maybe on a day when there is nothing else to do.

The customer is always right? You must have us confused with someone who cares!
First off, we were really excited about this place going in. The location is ideal, on a well-​trafficked road close to Ann Arbor, & it IS decorated so that it’s fun for kids. Our party was scheduled from 1 – 3 PM at a cost of $ 15.50/child (8 child min., 15% gratuity automatically added), which is almost 3x as much as the «walk-​in» price of $ 7/​child for those who don’t have space reserved (we had 7 kids total show up, so it would have been $ 49 vs. $ 142.60). A little pricey, but OK.
However, things quickly went south. The power went out about 10 min. after we got there and stayed out til our party time was almost over. OK, it happens. What was really frustrating was the response of «management».
Food:
Our party package included 1 pizza for 8 kids (1 slice per child!), along w/​pink lemonade. No food for the adults, only the option to order from the menu. When the pizza ran out, we asked if their ovens were still running so we could order more. We were told they order their pizza from Thompson’s Pizzeria down the street, and we would be unable to get more. If we DID want any, we should have ordered before the party started. Huh?! Since THEY order their pizzas from Thompson’s, could WE order from them & bring it back, given the circumstances? Nope. «Can’t have any outside food brought in», which made me think, «but that’s what YOU do! I order pizza from you, you call a place down the street, then charge me extra for driving to get it! And I can’t just pick it up myself given the outage?» Our inquiries were met with a puzzled look from our party host.
Okay, so no pizza. Maybe a warm bagel, cool salad, a popsicle?! No, nuh-​uh and nope. Bagel toasters were down, and coolers/​freezers couldn’t be opened cuz it would have let the cold air out, spoiling any food in them.
So​.no more pizza, no bagels, no popsicles, no salads, no sandwiches. Overpriced Goldfish crackers anyone? Anyone?
Atmosphere:
Once the power went out, management promptly closed the place to the public. But nothing was said to the people that were already there. The manager (also the OWNER) never once came by to ask how things were going. What’s more, the garage door was open and couldn’t close (power outage!) and it was freezing (about 40 degrees out and we were right by the entrance). It was very dark inside the play area, almost completely so in many places. Kids were using their parents’ phones as flashlights when they had to pee! At one point, my wife told the manager «well, this is very frustrating», to which she replied, «YOU’RE frustrated?». Yes, lady, we, the paying customers, whose daughter’s party is being ruined by having to play in a cold, dark jungle gym where she, her friends & their parents are told that they can’t order ANY food or bring any food in. yes, WE’RE frustrated. The owner promptly went back to doing what she was doing and ignoring everyone. She closed the place to the public, but still «locked in» her profits by not canceling the parties that were already there or even ADJUSTING the bill. When we brought it up, she just kept saying it was no one’s fault. Yes, we realize the outage is NOT your fault, but the overall experience was ruined because of it and you can’t give us an adjustment? Again, no. Not ONE PENNY was taken off our bill. We paid the same price as anyone else whose kids got to play in a warm, well-​lit place with a full-​functioning kitchen.
Customer Service:
When we asked about an adjustment, she became agitated & began to ARGUE with my wife & her friends, reiterating it was not her fault. I’ve been at restaurants where they’ve comped my ENTIRE BILL without me saying a thing because of a long wait, but this lady couldn’t comp us ONE CENT for our troubles?! Puh-​lease. DISGRACEFUL! But she did point out that SHE knows how to run a business, since she has THIS store in Chelsea & 1 in Chicago. which we pointed out has nothing to do with THIS situation. As the conversation got heated, the owner called upon her teenage employees to SURROUND us as «witnesses» & during the chaos, she had our party host run our credit card for the FULL AMOUNT of the party + the 15% gratuity! THEY joined in the argument as well, with 1 yelling «this is a good business! WE made over a MILLION dollars last year!» No, kid, your $ 8/​hr probably netted you ten grand last year. Your miserable, penny-​pinching boss made over $ 1 million last year. Unreal! Only in America can you have such $h!ttY customer service and still be considered a successful business owner. In most any other country, my people would no doubt have met such blatant disrespect by returning with an angry mob to beat some sense into the owner and burn the place to the ground! That’ll dent your million dollar annual sales figures, eh?
Summary:
She could have made lifetime customers out of us, but instead decided to be a cheap, irate, tyrannical little business owner, and WE WILL NEVER GO BACK!

A great place for a birthday party or to take the kids to have a blast and burn off energy.
The place is CLEAN and sanitary.
Healthy snacks like cucumbers and carrots are available and plenty of comfortable lounging areas.
The staff — albeit young, works hard and is courteous.

Great fun for kids and parents!

I went on a weekday afternoon with a friend and her 4 year-​old son. I was anticipating a Jungle Java type experience. The Treehouse has JJ beat in a million ways.
The entire area is clean, and for an OCD germophobe like me, the stations all around with hand sanitizer, baby wipes, and tissues are really appreciated.
They also serve food, which I didn’t try, but what I saw come out looked good with large portion sizes. Zingerman’s baked goods are also offered.
If you have a little one that gets overwhelmed at Jungle Java, this would be a great place to come. Everything seems just as fun, but a little calmer.

I will start with the obvious: my kids LOVE it, they love it and they love it. We’ve been there twice, but not since the last somewhat emotionally exhausting experience (last winter):
I feel like the staff are really young and sometimes don’t know how to interact with children. My son was quietly trying to pick the pennies out of the floor epoxy and was blocking the way (he’s four). An employee (high schooler maybe?) was really rude to him and shouted at him to «MOVE» because my son did not notice him trying to sweep (my son is autistic and non-​verbal). Obviously I was there and moved my son for a moment but it was a bad first impression. He loves your floors, but if you’re going to yell at people who are looking at them — then maybe the floors were a bad idea.
Like others, we also walked in and there was no one at the desk/​gate. However it was PACKED. There were about 12 people waiting to get in (it was at capacity, someone had to leave for others to go in) and we waited about 20 minutes. There was a small clipboard up front which told us to sign in and wait — but I didn’t see it because there were people all around the gate area. I ended up asking what to do and someone told me, but it was soooo confusing. The person who did let us in was very nice, she was older and very very busy and very friendly/​professional and found us a designated table. It wasn’t a great first impression. I didn’t like it. I felt like I was a bother to everyone there.
The pluses are: it’s big, it’s open and it’s very clean. There are staff members everywhere (good and bad thing). I would try it again to see if things changed since last year because the facility is so nice. I hope it has as it has great potential!
UPDATE: We visited again this week and I am going to upgrade to 3 stars despite a few things. I thought the facilities themselves were upgraded and even nicer, however an employee kept telling a group of 5 – 6 year olds to be quiet. Which is weird because it was nearly empty and it’s a kids play area! I am super easy going, so the noise would never bother me but maybe it bothers other patrons?