Metropolitan Camino Real Cinemas — Attraction in Goleta

As a former UCSB student, I have to say that coming to this theatre in lieu of any alternative options in the area (they are the only chain) was disappointing. Metropolitan Theatres has a monopoly on theatres in Santa Barbara and Goleta, and therefore has not felt the need to improve the moviegoing experience for quite some time. There are no premium formats, the seats are run down, and most locations stick to the tried and true selections of blockbusters, leaving out better options. I kept telling myself as a student: I wish there were an AMC near me so that I could get the subscription and see more movies. Despite the inferior quality, there is no such subscription or discount available outside of purchasing several hundred tickets at once. Therefore, if a moviegoer wants to see niche film, they must either wait to see it at the SBIFF (which as far as I know is operated in Metro Theatres' own cinemas), or snag a showtime in one of the locations that they own in downtown. To students, this makes seeing certain films almost impossible.

In this era---where theatres are barely profitable if at all---it is understandable that Metro has not improved its service nor attempted to innovate in recent years. Nevertheless, I hope that when I return to visit the area in a few years, Metro will either improve or another company will...

The previews were 23 minutes long for a 3 hour movie, brutal...with repeat advertisements, couldn't hear them, which was okay by me, but then the movie comes on, and you can't hear it either. No wonder more people are watching from home.. I shouldn't have to read lips to watch a movie in the theatre.. after an hour and a half, I finally gave up.. I asked management for refund, he offered headphones after I've missed half the movie I couldn't hear, headphones are a little late, the other option a a ticket for another movie on the same day.. why would I wanna see another movie I can't hear. The manager said I waited too long to come up for a refund and refused it. I was not to leave my seat and miss the movie, hoping it would get better, but it didn't.. Horrible customer service and theatre.. when it already struggling you should probably be more accommodating to your customers and listen to what they are saying and complaining about, and fix it, not duck responsibility for a poor experience and cause some else to complain and make business worse for yourself, not too smart lady. I tore up their ticket in front of them and walked out complaining of horrible customer service. You should fire your current staff, and upgrade your sound system to something...

Yesterday I saw my first movie live in a theatre since the pandemic. Not too much has changed except the fact that now you choose your seats and either have to pre-purchase your movie tickets or buy them through an automated machine. We planned to show up early to buy tickets in person, however, two of the three machines were down which caused a long line. The actual theatre seemed on the smaller size and there was damage to the bottom of the screen which was visible the entire movie. The seats were decently comfortable and had drink holder armrests that could be raised up. I had to use the restroom during the three hour film and they were unfortunately not very clean. I was excited to visit the cinema after some time and support them. Usually I wait for movies to come out for home rental or purchase and given my experience, most likely I'll continue to...