Charlies Cat Cafe — Restaurant in Stafford

First experience of a cat cafe and honestly feel ashamed to have given money towards this.

For context I am a cat lover. We have two house cats and have taken serious consideration in ensuring they have space to run and explore, small dark spaces to hide in and windows to look out of.

Charlie's cafe was one room packed with tables and people. There was one small dark space (that we could see-inside a drawer) for a cat to hide in. There was one high place for them to climb (which guests were constantly blocking by shoving toys in the cats faces) and two cat towers. At a guess I'd say there were at least 10 cats. From the moment we walked in you could instantly tell that the cats were exhausted. Imagine being shut in a room from 9am-5pm and people constantly wanting to take photos of you and pester you with nowhere to hide when instinctively this is the opposite of what you want? There was an outdoor area but the kids were out there with the cats and obviously wanted to play with them. The cats were not interested at all in playing and tried to hide up on the shelf along the roof.

The most difficult thing to hear/see was one of the smaller cats who kept trying to get into the kitchen area every time the door opened. The staff member explained to another table how this particular cat didn't fit in with the other cats and wanted to hide often. The cat was consistently removed from the kitchen area and put back into the main room of cats. If they knew this particular cat didn't get on well in there, why put it back in a situation that it would find stressful?

The cats didn't want treats. The cats didn't want to play. The vast majority were trying to find somewhere to sit or sleep without being disturbed.

On the flip side, perhaps if these cats weren't in this environment they would be in a shelter? Maybe they're all rescues? It just doesn't seem right that cats are 'working' from 9-5 and have no choice but to be there in an environment which can be loud and chaotic. These are animals, they are not here for Instagram likes or making money.

A very basic suggestion would be to separate the cats out. For four hours have one set who are not in the public eye and can peacefully rest and then swap them around in the middle of the day. As we know, cats sleep for the majority of the day so this idea could give them a chance to do what they instinctively do. This would also give them a chance to have the hiding places, the climbing trees and outdoor space in smaller groups so they could have space to breathe when guests are in the cafe.

Obviously this would mean guests are unlikely to have the cats interacting with them which may mean that the cafe doesn't make as much money.

The drinks were nice. We didn't have the food. The aesthetic was nice. Sorry to be a pain but if we are being honest, it wasn't a nice smell.

If there is a need to use Feliway (pheromone diffusers) at every plug point for the cats to not be stressed, perhaps it's time to rethink what may be making them stressed and change that?

I really wanted to enjoy this but as a genuine cat...

Me and my boyfriend took a trip over to the cafe for my birthday as i am a massive cat lover, I didn’t have too many expectations for the experience and i think that was probably a good thing, the staff were lovely and welcoming and the cafe was clean and tidy however naturally it had a very strong urine smell, as to be expected, so because of this we didn’t have any food but we did have some drinks and they were lovely.

Now on to the cats, If you are expecting to be able to spend a lot of 1 on 1 time with the cats you will be disappointed, it’s quite hot in the cafe especially now the weather is warmer, they have a couple of fans but no air conditioning and because of that the cats seemed to just want to sleep and not really want to be near people or to be touched by anyone, we had a couple of cats that swatted at us/went to bite if we tried to touch them so we just left those ones alone. The cafe attracts a lot of children and I think this also plays a part in the fact that the cats are quite timid and sick of people touching them, We left early kind of feeling sorry for the cats as they don’t really want to be around people but don’t have a choice, they don’t seem unhappy when they are left alone but they did seem overwhelmed by all the people. (it wasn’t too busy when we went so i would hate to see it when it’s full) I don’t think we would return, we don’t regret going but we definitely left disappointed, not only for ourselves but for...

Absolutely shocking experience. I went with my partner and 2 step daughters on Sunday 7th April 2024. We ordered food and drink shortly after our arrival at 1pm. The drinks were quite slow to come out and appeared one at a time. The coffee was poor. 45 mins after ordering our food had not arrived, we enquired of it whereabouts about an hour after ordering and we're told they were just starting it.

If there a long delay on food, why not inform customers as they arrive so they can make an informed choice.

It's a small cafe with 7 or 8 tables, not all of which were occupied, I'm unsure as to how it takes so long to get food out, it's not exactly a complex menu

One of my step daughters is autistic and really struggles to cope when she hasn't eaten. The other is not too fond of being left hungry either, especially when the visit was for a birthday treat. Had we been given information about the delay for food, we would have been able to make a decision and save ourselves pain later in the day.

Over all the service we received is some of the worst I have ever experienced. It seemed as if nobody really cared because they could fill the tables many times over.

I would highly recommend looking elsewhere if you want to eat on your visit. If you aren't wanting to eat, I'm sure your experience...