Cats at Play Cafe — Restaurant in Asheville

Everyone was super nice, the kitties were sweet and absolutely precious. I love that this cafe adds yet another resource for cats in need. You can never have enough resources. I lived in a small town once and the lack of resources in small towns breaks my heart. You could go to every humane society and get told the same thing every time, “sorry, we’re full, we cannot accept any animals at this time.” The amount of resources, amount of love and genuine care, is amazing here. I love the community here in Asheville.

However, there were just so many people and children. I thought in the rules it had said no child under 10, but I could have not read it right. I saw a small child stomp at a cat…. I also saw very little children waving wands in a cats face while the kitty was trying to sleep and that’s just annoying. - I do like that you specifically say on your website that if they are wanting to play, come earlier, and if you’re wanting to have sleepy/relaxed kitties, to come later. However, these little kids are lucky the cats were not phased by this. I know some cats do not like that... It was just way too crowded with too many young children. I know it says a maximum of 12 per session, but I did not expect the “cafe” to be that small. I also had someone walk in on me while I was in the restroom, so be careful and make sure the door is really locked. - It was somewhat difficult to lock, you really had to put some force to lock it. (Again, this happened because of impatient, very young children repeatedly trying to get in while it was occupied.)

I was also informed there was a cat that did have ring worm, but had been treated and everything was thoroughly cleaned and other cats were checked/treated. I would have preferred to be notified through email before I arrived and before I paid. This would also take stress off of the employees because they have to say that with every group. I’m sure there’s anxiety hoping no one will be rude. I know the payment is non refundable and I know the money helps with the cats, but if I had decided to not take the risk, because I also have my own kitties, it would have been a bummer.-Which is why labeling it as a donation, rather than the cost of admission, would help (and give the staff a good way to shut down refund requests. -By making the person feel bad for asking for a refund on a donation.) I understand the payment amount because caring for these kitties is not free and they need the care, but I feel a broader coffee and cafe/bakery menu and a separate area for people just wanting to go to the cafe, would help to bring in more revenue. Also, it would be great to refer to the cost to pet kitties as a donation. This would help the people who are stupid and being jerks about the cost to understand it really is a donation, a donation to help keep food in their bellies, litter in their boxes, and the vet care they need to stay healthy.

I am also confused as to why it is called a cat cafe and how the rules say you can bring in food and beverages. There is hot coffee, cold coffee, 1 type of cookie, sun chips, and some tea. This seemed like more of an adoption center rather than a cafe.

Again, I love that these kitties have a safe place to call home while finding their forever home. Everyone was really nice! I just didn’t expect it to be so small, have very young children, have very little coffee/cafe food items, and be more of an adoption center rather a cafe.

The next time I come (because I still love the kitties and the fact that I am paying/supporting a young small local business and the kitties who need it), I know now to ask what days are slower and to go either by myself or with just one other person to make sure (to the best of my ability) that there won’t be so many people. It was so crowded up front in such a small space and I almost had a panic attack and definitely had sensory overload, which lead to a chaotic energy in the room. The kitties were well behaved and cute as ever and I hope they all find a loving and...

I was so excited when I saw that a cat café was finally back in Asheville so you can imagine my disappointment in having to give one star. I would give zero stars if I could.

The reservation process is borderline broken and is NOT good for bringing customers in. My boyfriend and 2 friends have tried to go to the cat café 2 weeks in a row now but the first time around we were told to just come on down and that there's plenty of room for us to see the cats (never informed about the price of reservations or that reservations were required). We showed up, were disappointed, chocked it up to someone being given incorrect information and tried again the next week. I called to see about the reservation process and was (pretty rudely) told that reservations are ONLY made on the website so go do that. A little put off from that interaction, we still tried our best to make reservations. We made our reservation but the website was not clear enough and we only made 1 and were informed of that when we walked in the door and we were turned away. The woman at the counter seemed annoyed that we were even upset. It just so happens that the couple behind us who had just walked in ALSO did the same exact thing. Luckily for them we got a refund and left so there was another spot for them after we left but this CLEARLY shows an issue with your website. Also $15 per person per reservation just to see the cats is a little silly but I get that it's a special experience. I think the price is a little silly but we still would've gone if the fact that it's PER PERSON wasn't hidden from us. We were lied to about that up until we came for the second time and turned away.

Other not so problematic things that I can't give even one star for is

The entrance is extremely underwhelming. It feels more like I walked into a gift shop than a café. Not a single thing caught any of our eyes and we were all disappointed to see not a single kitty themed pastry or drink or anything other than merch. Even though we were turned away the first time we still wanted to get something but there were only normal products we could get anywhere else as food and drinks.

The mesh in front of the entire store also just makes everything seem so secretive. We were disappointed to be turned away but to not even be able to look in the window to at least see the cats before we leave? I was beyond disappointed by that.

Me and my partner would have happily come every few weeks even with the $15 per person reservation but we were lied to at every chance we got and honestly it seemed more like our business wasn't wanted at all. We sadly will not be attempting for a third week to attend because at this point we have paid more trying to go there than a single visit...

I was very excited to experience this cat cafè. However, I was incredibly disappointed. First and foremost, there are twelve cats in this small room, and they let in twelve people at once. As cats are nocturnal, they like to sleep a lot during the day, leading to few cats available for interaction. My impression of the space, and my projection of the cats’ experience, is that there is way too much stimulation for their health. I kept thinking that I hope they get adopted soon so they can meet their needs for rest. There were up to four people playing with one or two cats at a time. It felt like I was imposing on their space, and it made me feel sad for them, so I decided my partner and I should leave as I asked the lady behind the cafè counter for our money back. I experienced her as incredibly rude and condescending. She asked us how long we had been in the room, and I answered her about 20 minutes. I told her about my concerns for the cats, and she interpreted my feedback as wanting all the cats to play with me the entire time. I told her I had no expectations for that, and I told her I’m a cat person and then she interrupted me, saying “then you know how much they need to sleep, you can’t expect every cat to interact with every person”. THIS WAS MY ENTIRE POINT. She then, patronizingly, asked me how many cat cafe’s I have been to (which is only one before this, in Greensboro, shout-out to CROOKED TAIL CAFÈ, an actually excellent cat cafè) and she demanded to know which one. While my partner and I tried to remember which one she interrupted again saying “well I’ve been to fourteen and I’ve done my research etc etc” which made her seem very defensive and made me trust her much less. Overall, this place seems like a glitzy money grab, and doesn’t seem to actually care about their cats. Crooked Tale Cafè in Greensboro had rules about not picking the cats up, had high shelving for the cats to get away from the people if they needed to, they had scheduled breaks for the cats so that they aren’t overstimulated by people all day and actually have time to nap, and a much larger space (4 or 5x the space as the Asheville cat cafè) for people to actually bond with the cats. I would not recommend this cat cafè to anyone, and I’m going to make a point to tell my cat-loving friends to stay away from this place, unless you’re going to adopt one of the cats. And they were rude to me, as the cherry on top. Couldn’t have been more...