Hudson Lanes — Local services in Jersey City

Let me begin by saying that we love going to Hudson Lanes as a family and we go often. Yes, you could point out that the decor is dingy, dated, and threadbare but we LOVE that it has retained it's late 70s mid 80s style! It's actually the reason why we selected Hudson Lanes to have our son's 5th birthday party this past weekend.

The party package seemed very reasonable, we felt like kids of all ages love bowl, and all that crazy decor made the Hudson Lanes a logical choice for our party. When I booked our time for the party I explained to the person behind the counter that I expected to have a large turnout of people of all ages and that I needed to be sure that they were able to accommodate such a large diverse group of people. I was assured that parties were "what they do and have been doing for years", and that they "have it down to a science", and I didn't need to worry. All I needed to do was contact them a week in advance and give them a headcount so they were prepared for us day of the event. I did that. I did better, I physically went to the bowling alley and had a real live conversation with the same person that booked us in the first place. I gave her a headcount of 30+ toddlers and about 10 grown-ups that would like to bowl separately in their own lanes and have beer made available. I was told "not a problem" and that all I needed to do was arrive 15 minutes before the party day of to set up and they would handle the rest. Awesome, right?

Fast forward to our party day, we show 15 minutes before as do some of our guests. Everything is running smooth. Then, more guests show up, things begin to get chaotic but it's still managed and the kids begin to bowl and have a good time.

It's important here to keep in mind that this is primarily a toddler party, full of needy toddlers. Toddlers want things. Toddlers want things now and not exactly when it'd convenient for everyone else. They wanted juice, they wanted fries, they wanted pizza, NOW! Not an hour from now, not 20 minutes from now, but NOW!!! and a toddler doesn't care if "I'm the only person working the counter right now" (which is an inappropriate response to someone asking for juice or food for their needy kid. Especially when you were warned that it was going to be this kind of party.)

Question- Did we have a bad time at the party? Answer- No! We had a great time!!

However, this situation needed to be managed better by Hudson Lanes. They were warned that a large group of needy toddlers was going to converge in their establishment 11:45 am on a Sunday morning. Why didn't they prepare? Why was only one girl running the snack counter? Why was that same girl the only person cooking and serving the snacks? Why was there only one girl running back and forth getting shoes, balls, and entering names into the computer to bowl? It was chaos! At one point myself and a friend began to dole out the snacks ourselves! They ran out of fruit punch!!! Toddler hell!!!

I still love Hudson Lanes. I love that it still exists in this world of constant change and it seems to thrive! But, please, Hudson Lanes...

If I could, i would give 0 stars for this place. After booking my kids birthday party more than a month in advance, we had to cancel the event last minute. we were very clear before booking the party that though this is a kids birthday party, it was going to be a family event (about 50-60 total headcount) and during the booking they told us to provide only kids approximate headcount only; adult lanes should NOT be an issue and that I could let them know a day in advance. I even asked them if I need to provide final headcount a week or two weeks in advance. They said a day in advance should be fine. A day before i called in to check if all was good and according to the plan, Nicole said they cannot acomodate 30 adults anymore. She was very rude over the phone and said she did not have time to talk to me anymore because other customers were waiting! We ended up going to the place and talking to a manager named james, thinking he would understand. Earlier from Nicole we knew only 1 side (better side) was scheduled in, so we knew its not the space but scheduling the lane issue. Clearly, we wanted little kids and adults to bowl in the same side of the room so adults could help younger kids if needed. James said he would go inside and talk to manager "Tony" over the phone see. He came back out and refunded our money said sorry we cannot acomodate the adults and that they were sold out (LIE) ! we even asked where did we go wrong - we were very clear before booking the party, it was going to be a family event and were willing to pay for adult lanes in advance to reserve if needed be. we had to cancel the party last minute because we couldn't have moved such a large party else where at the last hour- it was extremely embarrassing ; had numerous broken little hearts and most importantly we ended up the time of our lives in planning etc which we can never be compensated for. we even had out of state family over for the event. Bad customer service at the front desk. Senior management needs to step up and manage this place better!! Sad that despite of being from jersey I would rather go to manhattan or may it be smaller/ expensive but better bowling alleys in other towns. Be aware I highly recommend to stay away from this place and save precious times of your...

We get to the bowling alley and ask for 2 lanes, one for 4 adults on one lane for a 4 year old. We're thinking of 2 games each. We're told we can get 1.5 hours unlimited bowling, so we do that and then just get 1 game on an additional lane for the kid. Our receipt said 2:35.

For the adult lane, the monitor on our machine wasn't working; for the child lane, we needed someone to put up the bumpers. By 3:00, neither of these issues had been resolved, despite the person at the front counter calling for assistance multiple times. A few minutes later, someone finally came to set up the bumpers and we had to remind them that the monitor wasn't working for the adult lane. After a minute or so, we were told to move to different lanes.

On the new lanes, they set up the bumpers and everything and we start bowling. After a few minutes, we're told to stop because the lanes had been mixed up (the bumpers were accidentally raised on the unlimited lane, so we unknowingly set up the adults on the single game lane). A few more minutes later, we're told to move lanes again.

We move and start bowling. The first adult's ball returns to a different lane, and the lane that's supposed to be ours doesn't reset. Then that screen shuts down and the one the ball returned to lights up, so we move the adult lane again.

It's about 3:15-3:20 at this time, and we finally start bowling in earnest. Normal/minor bowling issues from this point on: the big TV screen that shows scores isn't working in the adult lane, but the machine and its screen are, so it's fine. The child's ball doesn't return once and they don't have any more that size, and it takes them 5-10 min to get it back. Then the lane gets stuck later, and it takes 5 min or so for someone to hard reset (the button didn't work).

Then at about 4:15, the adult lane is frozen. We were told our time had been adjusted for all the malfunctions, so we assume this is just another one. We go to the counter and we're told our time is up. So, after at minimum 35 minutes of malfunctions and waiting, they give us only about 10 minutes of extra time; our 1.5 hours of unlimited bowling was maybe 1 hour.

We played a...