Ely's Play House — Local services in Citrus Heights

🚨 PSA for Anyone Booking Events Here 🚨

We hosted my niece’s first birthday party at this venue, and it turned out to be a terrible experience. The party host was rude, unprofessional, and tried to end our event early, even though we had reserved and paid for the full time.

To make things worse, they refused to return our deposit, claiming some of our guests were on the carpet with shoes and food — something that did not happen, it was also open play during the tine of our event which means it was also open to the public . We cleaned up after ourselves and respected the space, yet we were treated unfairly and spoken to disrespectfully.

After looking into other reviews, I realized we’re not the only ones. There are multiple complaints from other customers describing the same issues — rude staff, unprofessional behavior, and unfair withholding of deposits.

Please take this as a warning before booking your special event here. It’s sad when places that are supposed to help families celebrate milestones end up taking advantage of people instead. Share this so others don’t go through the same thing.

Responding to owners reply: While I appreciate your reply, this version of events is not accurate. We were completely packed up and out of the room before our contracted end time. What’s disappointing is that even as I stood there, your employees were speaking about me to one another, which was unprofessional and unnecessary.

Regardless of your timeline explanation, we followed the rules, and your team’s behavior made what should have been a joyful first birthday unnecessarily stressful. I stand by my review — the experience was not handled professionally, and it’s clear from other reviews that I’m not the only customer who...

The only reason they get one star is because the decorations were nice and there’s no option for zero stars. I thought having a decorated party was to help the parent be less stressed, that was not the case. The owner, unprofessional. She texted me with the wrong everything, party date, package, and time. She gave me slots that were already booked twice. Just a whole mess. Her redheaded employee rude and unprofessional. I really really would NOT recommend this place for a party. It’s not worth the money you’ll pay & the headache you get from it. They put you on a schedule where cake and food needs to be done and personal belongings need to be out of the building. My daughter had fun because she’s a kid. They pretty much ruined my daughter’s 5th birthday for me. I already had a feeling they would try to keep my deposit based off how unprofessional the owner was with getting a party date/time, I wanted to take my business elsewhere but my daughter wanted a unicorn birthday at Ely’s Playhouse so that’s what she got. The redhead employee came at me irritated and with an attitude because “a kid had an accident” on the play structure. I think she was more mad she had to clean it than anything, but that’s the job you chose. 🥱 I seriously wish I would have went somewhere else. This party was one to remember, but NOT in a good way. Later that night I messaged the owner and received no response. She seems very stuck up and money hungry. Doesn’t care whatsoever about pleasing her customers even when she herself made mistakes, just wants to get paid. Take your chances if you...

We had our twin girls’ birthday party here and it was a HUGE hit. We were able to book it for a completely private party which was such a nice feature. The kids really enjoyed the play areas and the parents could just sit back and relax while the kiddos played. The owner is really easy to work with and she allows you to bring outside food and also allowed us to bring our food truck. But even without the food truck, there was plenty of food as far as pizza and you can even purchase additional items and snacks through Elys. The other awesome part was that they did custom decorations for the party room. My girls of course like different things and the owner customized the decorations which were really Beautiful. All of the guests /parents commented on what a great party venue it was because the kids just had a blast. It was very clean and well maintained. Also, pricing was very reasonable. I am certain we will be back for regular play and maybe even for another party. If you’ve driven by and was wondering if this place will be fun, I am sure you will be very happy with this venue for both regular play and for parties. Thank you Riyleen for the fabulous party for my girls! Updated review: Ely’s Playhouse does it again! We held our girls’ birthday party here again and as before, it was a tremendous hit! We had a girl pups paw patrol theme and they decorated for it perfectly. All of the guests commented on what a great venue this is for parties. Highly recommend Ely’s Playhouse for your...