Thirsty Meeples — Restaurant in Bath

We visited Thirsty Meeples in Bath yesterday and, while the concept is fun, we left really disappointed due to the cost.

The cafe itself is clean with simple wooden tables and chairs. Toilets were also clean but the décor could do with some attention. Staff were helpful and friendly, and I saw one member of staff thoroughly clean the tables after each group left, which was good to see.

Unfortunately, there are a number of issues. Firstly, the prices are incredibly high. A very small latte cost £4.95 – gone in just a couple of sips. Crisps and popcorn were £4.90 each for a small tub, tasty but not great value. Over 3 hours, we ordered: • 2 small lattes • 2 milkshakes • 2 cokes • 1 tea • 1 smoothie • 2 crisps • 1 popcorn

The total came to an eye-watering £80, and that’s without any proper food like sandwiches!

Games are a great idea, and we enjoyed trying titles we don’t own, but some were quite worn and a bit dirty (though complete, nothing missing).

The biggest issue is the £8 per adult cover charge. Even after spending over £40 on food and drinks, we were still charged this, which really pushed the bill up. In my view, if you’re ordering a decent amount, the cover charge should be waived or at least reduced.

The floors were also quite dirty – they really need a proper hot wash.

Overall, while it’s a nice concept and we had some fun, the pricing structure makes it somewhere we’d only consider for a very rare special occasion. Sadly, because of the cost, we...

Appalling service. I was unable to attend due to the snow. Myself and my friends decided to not risk driving in amber weather warnings as we would be uninsured if we had an accident. So we made the decision early in the morning to cancel and rearrange. I called three times from 9am to 1pm. No one answered and there was no opportunity to leave a message - the phone just cut off and is listed on my phone log as ‘cancelled’, which implies to me they cut my call off themselves. I then emailed and apologised that we would be unable to make it as we were unwilling to risk the journey from our various locations in the south west but would like to rearrange. Again, I had no response. I then found that Thirsty Meeples still charged me £6 per guest for the ‘no show’ despite my efforts to contact them to apologise and rearrange. It was explained to me that it wasn’t their fault it snowed (it wasn’t mine either) and that the ‘weather forecast exists’ so I should have checked to cancel to coincide with their policy of cancelling 24hours before. I understand they need notice but as snow had been forecast earlier that same week and hadn’t happened, we didn’t anticipate actually waking up to a blanket of snow in our respective rural locations on the day of booking.

I made every effort to contact them and they didn’t even have the good customer service to respond before making deductions from my account.

I’m thoroughly...

A games cafe with a good library but lacking in some of the niceties. Pricey too.

Massive library of games on offer, helpfully subdivided by "family", "light strategy", "card games", etc. We've played loads of games as a family and used their library to try things we'd not played before. Staff were very happy to jumpstart the rules for us. After that they were sullen and dismissive, not friendly at all and couldn't figure out why. Even ordering more drinks became difficult as no one came into our area. Eventually I had to take my cold teapot back to the counter to order something else.

Very wide range of teas, milkshakes, and soft drinks. Food options sadly lacking - we very likely would've stayed longer if there were some hot food on offer.

Table price is £9 per person for 3 hours, dropping to £7 if you buy at least a drink. I'd personally prefer a per-hour charge with a cap rather than demand you stay for 3 hours, especially in such a tourist area.

Great games and location, let down by unfriendly staff and...