HOYTS Cinemas Sylvia Park — Attraction in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki

The last three times I've been it seems there either aren't enough people on duty plus either they or the systems in place aren't great. A while ago I saw The Batman. As I came in there was one person on the door, a young girl. I guy walked in next to me who refused to show a vaccine pass and walked by the girl. The poor girl was signalling about this person for support.

The only other staff at that time was one other girl on a desk giving out the tickets and dealing with confectionery. I was waiting a good few minutes while people in front got the tickets and while this girl on the till was making some kind of effort to ask for further support for the guy who had walked in without a vaccine pass and straight into the cinema area (no one checking cinema tickets).

I then saw two staff who got the message of some issue and seemed to make some attempt to track down this person. I almost found it necessary to tell staff what had occurred and where this person had gone. It just seemed so under supported.

A few weeks later my partner's kids and me came to see Sonic 2. There was one girl on the desk selling and one person checking tickets to go in.

It took a long time to just pay for two drinks, a packet of m and ms and a box of popcorn. There were apparently issues with the system checking my membership. I almost said to forget it and just charge me. I did (my bad) have two accounts which I'm now sorting out but I showed my cinema tickets confirmation on my phone with the email address I booked with. For some reason the person found it necessary to show me the screen to confirm it was my name and I said I've been showing you my phone here with the confirmation email, my name and the movie.

I was then charged 37.30 dollars which after seeing the film I realised could not possibly have been correct but after standing their so long feeling frustrated and two frustrated young people as we were then late I didn't give it thought. I realise cinema confectionery is expensive but is this the price for a large popcorn, a pack of m and ms and 2 cokes (none of which were even large) ?

I think it's poor too how you get drinks without a lid then carry it over to pay and get a lid. If it's busy are loads of people meant to queue up with full cups with no lid? Why not just have a confectionery stand where you order and pay ?

There is a strange not so effective cutting corners ethos to this cinema and I dont know why. I do not witness this in other Hoyts cinemas. Just the process of going in there seems ineffective and somewhat irritating.

I went to this cinema again tonight as Botany was not shown by the movie I wanted. It's so odd. The staff don't seem to particularly know what they're doing. I don't blame them, it's likely training. The whole vibe seems unprofessional, unsupported and also just set up strangely. It's not your standard Hoyts they need to just copy Botany. Stay away from this one if you can.

Just ordering two tickets and paying seemed strangely complicated as was ordering a beer and cider. It was odd then going into an empty cinema after carefully choosing seats with the staff for a supposedly almost full cinema. When I inquired about this it was apparently because 'lots of seats were damaged'. They weren't .......

If only a no star rating was possible. We have been coming to the Lux seating since it debuted and have had varying experiences, always connected to the level and quality of food, food service and general customer service upstairs. Some experiences have been stellar, some have been decidedly sub-standard. Last night we returned to Lux in heady anticipation for Avatar, having booked tickets two weeks ago. It was a cluster. Our seats in Cinema 14 were broken, not only did they not recline, but they were broken to the point that both were on quite an angle with the lumbar support protruding awkwardly on one making sitting not only uncomfortable but painful. When I returned to the desk to let them know, it was clear that this information was not new. We were told "lots of the seats are broken" and "we have been trying to get them fixed for a while" and that none of the seats not booked were operable. We were told that we would be refunded and we have been. My question though is why were these seats even available to be selected online? When I went back to the desk and the lady at the counter called up the cinema on her screen, it appeared to me that the broken seats were clearly marked. Why were we not at least told on arrival that the seats were broken? Why was almost $100 gleefully accepted for our dinner order without telling us that the seats were broken and there was no light on one side? (We had to use our phones to see what we were eating (sub par) - which I imagine was distracting for those around us.) Why were we not given the opportunity, despite having both got off work early to make the sitting, to return to see this history-in-the-making movie at another time in chairs that actually would stand up to a three-hour movie? I spent some of the movie standing behind the seat due to the pain and awkwardness of the seat and we both limped out at movie close. The staff member who helped us was very nice and obviously doing his best but this was not the way to see such an iconic movie. Dear Hoyts management ... surely these seats have paid for themselves by now, don't fuss about trying to repair them, either remove them as an option or...

I hadn’t watched a movie in a while and decided to give Hoyts Sylvia Park another try, but unfortunately, I had a very disappointing experience.

On Tuesday afternoon, when the cinema was very quiet (only about six people across three groups), I encountered consistently poor service from three staff members on the floor. I approached one staff member twice for help using the self-service kiosk, and both times she gave me curt, dismissive responses, making me feel like I was bothering her just by asking for assistance.

Later, when I attempted to pay at the counter, the EFTPOS machine wasn’t working properly. Instead of checking the issue, the two staff members behind the till simply told me to press an option on the machine, then continued chatting with each other. When I explained again that the machine wasn’t functioning, one finally acknowledged the issue and adjusted the machine—again, with a noticeably unfriendly attitude.

To make matters worse, when I got to my seat, the theatre had a strong, unpleasant smell, as if it hadn’t been cleaned. For a session with so few people, it was disappointing to see such a lack of attention to cleanliness and basic customer service.

I had planned to return this weekend for another movie, but based on that experience, I purchased tickets at Event Cinemas Newmarket instead. The difference was night and day—the service, the staff, and the cleanliness were all excellent. At Event cinemas, they clearly clean the theatres after each session and maintain a welcoming atmosphere.

I hope Hoyts takes this feedback seriously, as it's frustrating to see such indifference from staff when the cinema...