A bit of a poxy cinema. The screening started 15 minutes late, and was still followed by about 30 minutes of advertising. For ₤12 you would expect decent seats, rather than this stuff that makes your bum go numb within minutes, but I suppose this is what you get in London. It's experiences like this which are driving people to pirate films! The digital projection was not bad for a cinema this size (in theatre 3). The staff were friendly and the cinema was clean, so it's not all bad.
Alexandra Sheppard
This branch of Odeon is a lot shinier than the ones I'm used to - and at £18 a ticket (Premier seats; 3D specs) it really should be. I wouldn't mind paying IMAX prices if the experience was better, but it's really no fancier than a local Odeon branch.
A couple of other small complaints: the screen wasn't that big, and the sound could have done with being turned up a notch or two. Staff were polite, which is always nice, and it was relatively quiet on a weekday evening. Go here if you're in the area, but don't travel out of your way for it.
Zoë Pearson
A somewhat understated entrance – more like you've come through the back-door rather than a cinema foyer – followed by a dimly lit and dimly staffed concessions stand, and finished off with seat numbers that are impossible to find. Now I know I'm more of an independent cinema girl but I'd expected better – especially as we'd purchased the VIP seats. Now my understanding of VIP was something comfier, with more legroom, maybe a better space to put your cup/snacks in... but I honestly couldn't tell the difference (other than the price, nearly £20) between these and the normal seats. The film was good though... just as well really!
Adam Jacob
This is about as generic an Odeon as you'll find. It cost £17 a ticket for a premier seat for a 3D movie, and leg room wasn't exceptional. Sound was a little on the quiet side. Movie I saw was on one of the smaller screens... I guess I can't complain too much but at £17 and given the location you might reasonably expect a bigger screen. Just go to the BFI IMAX or stay local would be my advice.
Andrew Mascarenhas
As far as cinemas go, this place needs some work. Placed around the corner from Marble Arch and just across the street from Hyde Park, it’s got a great location but really that’s about it. The whole place feels as if it was built 20 years ago and then abandoned as far as maintenance and refurbishment goes. The whole design seems more afterthought and less a desire to please the customer. I headed there last night with the Google folk to see Iron Man 3. A pretty decent move (thanks for the ticket folks!), but for this we’re going to focus on the cinema itself.
The screens are fairly small, placed haphazardly around, and boast an inordinate number of stairs for you to navigate in the dark. Given that a cinema must surely hope that you use the overpriced concessions stand, you’d think they’d make it easier for someone with their hands full to get to their seat. Instead you need to get through two heavy doors, up a twisting staircase in the dark, and then peer through the gloom to find your seat. Yes, there are assigned seats which can occasionally be a good thing but in general more of a pain in the rear than a benefit.
Also, what’s with the stage in front of the screen? Use the space to put in a bigger screen or speakers! Does this get used for some odd version of a theatre at some point? If so, I hope they sink some of that revenue into bringing the place up to the 21st century as I think my home theatre set up packs more power and HD than this.
The entrance is a bit late night gas station than welcoming theatre and the bathroom (at least the gents) is on the ground floor. Which is fine, but it means to get there you must go up the escalator and then down a curved staircase to get to it. Not a huge effort, but just annoying which is really keeping in theme with the whole place.
Evelyn Adams
Hmmmmm...okay. The cinema is central and the films stand on their own but the building is so run-down and feels grubby. The staff didn't really seem to care and actually, there weren't even many around so there were queues and therefore grumpy cinema goers. Also, we had VIP seats but I have no idea what that entitled us to - they seemed to be exactly the same as the rest of the place. Nobody was there to check tickets past the first entrance and it took us ages to find our seats because it was so dark. Then when the movie started the sound was really really quiet. If it hadn't have been a good film in it's own right this would have been disappointing and certainly not good value for money. #DavidBowieis
Barra Collins
Odeon at Marble Arch really should be as swanky as Odeons come! Surrounded by posh hotels and just off bustling Oxford Street, it almost seems the perfect location for one of their flagship cinemas. This cinema sadly seems a little neglected, and from the customer service you would almost say that the staff knew it. My party ordered VIP tickets and we neither felt important or very...anything. When a cinema plays adverts about their service being outstanding and you look around you to see everything is quiet substandard you cant help but exhale dramatically. Iron Man was good though! "We're connected..." *zooms away*
Ryan Opoku
I don't usually write reviews, however I've had to today. This cinema doesn't even deserve 1 star.
Your service stinks like your cinema. I arrived with 5 other people. We suffered racism and prejudism. 6 people who are 16 years old will not cause disruptions. I'm sure if we were all white, the situation would be different. Why should we have to speak to the manager just to allow us to proceed to the cinema. Just because we are non-white we aren't going to cause a disruption in a cinema. Not even an apology could be made. In the end, we were allowed to enter the cinema under a promise. Why do we have to make a promise with the manager. We are now under surveillance by the manager via camera, and if we talk, laugh or use our phones, we will be kicked out. I would like to send my appreciation to the till employee who was willing to let us enter. I can understand why your venue had poor reviews. We were not causing a scene. Another employee who wasnt serving us was the reason why we were being forced out. All we came to do was enjoy a day out at the cinema watching a highly-anticipated movie.
A couple of other small complaints: the screen wasn't that big, and the sound could have done with being turned up a notch or two. Staff were polite, which is always nice, and it was relatively quiet on a weekday evening. Go here if you're in the area, but don't travel out of your way for it.
The screens are fairly small, placed haphazardly around, and boast an inordinate number of stairs for you to navigate in the dark. Given that a cinema must surely hope that you use the overpriced concessions stand, you’d think they’d make it easier for someone with their hands full to get to their seat. Instead you need to get through two heavy doors, up a twisting staircase in the dark, and then peer through the gloom to find your seat. Yes, there are assigned seats which can occasionally be a good thing but in general more of a pain in the rear than a benefit.
Also, what’s with the stage in front of the screen? Use the space to put in a bigger screen or speakers! Does this get used for some odd version of a theatre at some point? If so, I hope they sink some of that revenue into bringing the place up to the 21st century as I think my home theatre set up packs more power and HD than this.
The entrance is a bit late night gas station than welcoming theatre and the bathroom (at least the gents) is on the ground floor. Which is fine, but it means to get there you must go up the escalator and then down a curved staircase to get to it. Not a huge effort, but just annoying which is really keeping in theme with the whole place.
Your service stinks like your cinema. I arrived with 5 other people. We suffered racism and prejudism. 6 people who are 16 years old will not cause disruptions. I'm sure if we were all white, the situation would be different. Why should we have to speak to the manager just to allow us to proceed to the cinema. Just because we are non-white we aren't going to cause a disruption in a cinema. Not even an apology could be made. In the end, we were allowed to enter the cinema under a promise. Why do we have to make a promise with the manager. We are now under surveillance by the manager via camera, and if we talk, laugh or use our phones, we will be kicked out. I would like to send my appreciation to the till employee who was willing to let us enter. I can understand why your venue had poor reviews.
We were not causing a scene. Another employee who wasnt serving us was the reason why we were being forced out. All we came to do was enjoy a day out at the cinema watching a highly-anticipated movie.