AMC Montgomery 16 — Attraction in North Bethesda

I recently visited AMC Montgomery 16 in Bethesda, Maryland, during a trip, expecting a premium experience given the area and the theater’s reputation. Unfortunately, my first visit turned out to be extremely disappointing.

The entrance gave me hope with its welcoming atmosphere, featuring movie posters and a full-service bar. However, when we waited at the bar, no one showed up to assist us, so we moved on to concessions to grab some food before our movie.

At the concessions counter, things went downhill fast. I ordered curly fries, only to be told they were out. When I asked what was available, the employee seemed annoyed, and another staff member, whose shift had just started, didn’t seem to have any information either. After much back-and-forth, we settled on popcorn, soda, and hot dogs.

When we went to grab toppings, the counter was a complete mess, with seasonings spilled everywhere. There was no butter for the popcorn and no yellow mustard for the hot dogs—just an almost-empty bottle of brown mustard that looked dirty. The soda machine had very limited options, and what was available was flat. To top it off, the entire area was disgustingly dirty, with overflowing trash cans and trash scattered across the floor.

Even the bathrooms were in poor condition: four out of five sinks had no soap, and the cleanliness left much to be desired. The overall cleanliness of the theater wasn’t any better. The auditorium had popcorn all over the floors, and the trash bins were so full that we couldn’t dispose of anything when leaving.

I did speak to a shift lead, who was apologetic and comped our snacks. She explained that the mess was due to a recent rush and immediately got someone to start cleaning. While I appreciated the effort, the issues seemed to stem from poor leadership and a lack of accountability among staff. Despite there being no lines, employees were standing around rather than addressing the mess or helping customers.

The one highlight of this visit was the heated, reclining seats, which were comfortable and added a touch of luxury to an otherwise unpleasant experience.

Overall, AMC Montgomery 16 has potential but is in desperate need of better management and more attention to cleanliness. I would hesitate to recommend it until these issues...

Good technology, poorly trained staff. Those are the main takeaways of this recently renovated theater complex. The audio, video, and seating offerings are excellent. The dirty little secret of their business model, however, is that 20 minutes of previews or other commercial messaging will precede the actual showing. So, if you buy a 6:30 pm ticket, it will begin around 20 minutes later. Also, at least at this location, the staff is poorly trained and is clumsy or awkward in most interactions with customers and almost seeks to avoid interactions. For example, after ordering my concessions on a tablet, my number was called. I responded and the staffer basically just pushed the popcorn and candy my way and walked away. I called him back and asked if the popcorn had butter. He said, "you do it yourself over there" and walked away again. I took care of it, adding some of the lousy tasting "buttery topping". Also, the bar was not visably staffed. I asked a staffer seated nearby about it and she said, "I can get someone". I decided that wasn't setting up for a good experience. Previously, we had a bartender who didn't know how to use a corkscrew to open wine and had no idea about drink recipes, including what should be easy, a vodka martini. Does AMC deliver on its promise to make movies better? It is a close call, but this is a missed opportunity to help staffers understand that every interaction is part of the experience, not just the speakers blasting out sound or the bright screens in the front of...

Not sure who had the “brilliant” idea to switch to self ordering concessions but it is an absolute mess. Corporate greed is taking over and it is sad. I have a-list and went to the theater yesterday only to find 1. there’s no more priority lane for ordering concessions and 2. ordering concessions is now an absolute shit show. After placing my order at the self order screen, it took over 10 MINUTES to receive my large popcorn… it probably would have taken longer had I not gone up to the workers and asked about my order after they started finishing and calling orders that were after mine. They seemingly did not have an efficient system in place as they weren’t going in order. It’s as if AMC just made this very bad decision and then left the employees to fend for themselves without any training or guidance. It was fun having amc a list but the movie going experience just isn’t what it used to be and I’m probably going to cancel because it isn’t worth it any more.

I will say the actual theaters are nice. Those renovations turned out well. But that doesn’t make up for the aforementioned experience. I could sit at home and wait to watch the same movies since they will be streaming maybe a week after hitting the theaters but I was choosing to go to theaters for the experience and sense of nostalgia that comes with the experience but they have...