Village Cinemas Crown — Local services in Melbourne

Well not sure where to start Booked to go to Crown Cinema to experience the Gold Class to celebrate my birthday Arrived 30 minutes before the show time , were advised to seat wait browse at the menu and some one will come to take our food orders Waited for over 20 minutes , noted people arriving after us were being shown into the cinema , orders for their food taken and we were just sitting there Time for our movie came and I approached one of the staff members to ask which was our cinema and we were advised of this. I asked how come everyone else was being taken shown to their cinema and their seats and we were just left there seating and no one paying any attention to us. I was expecting a Gold Class Service but looked like because my friend and I are of different skin colour than everyone else who was in the cinema we were treated differently. I expressed this to the staff and obviously he denied this but then I pointed out to him all the rest of the patrons who were there to watch the movie were caucasians and everyone was running around / after them taking their orders showing them their seats etc etc except us. I asked to speak to the manager ( Ella ) who came to my seat in the cinema and in front of everyone started having a conversation with me with everyone hearing , I expressed my disappointment and all she had to say was sorry but they are short staffed due to staff illness and therefore the service is not as they would like to be and her staff are trying their best. I did not want to get into any further discussion with her as everyone was looking and the movie was about to start. I refused a half hearted attempt then to say that she is happy to get a voucher which i declined as i did not want to come back to a similar experience. All I can say is that it is not the staff it is the institution that is to be blamed for running such a poor experience but selling it at a premium price with false marketing and advertising and not living up to it. Shame to them is all I can say and never again will I set my foot on Crown Cinema again , Palace Cinemas anytime...

I'm hoping someone in marketing reads this. I was going to a gold class session at 12.15pm, I arrived 11.55am. Firstly, why does the person who sits me in the lounge need to wear 2 ear pods? Clearly employees are not communicating via ear pieces and radios. It's unprofessional. After being seated it takes awhile for my food order to be taken. I overheard another couple ask an employee to take their order only to be told that orders are taken by first come basis. I then watch 2 couples orders taken before mine. They had arrived after me. At 12.14pm a couple got up and approached an employee asking to be seated. Employee tells them to sit and someone will get them and seat them, couple points out the time and employee reiterates her statement. At this stage another employee approaches and leads the couple to the theatre. 12.15pm I got up and asked an employee to be seated, she states it's the ads and someone will seat me. I said it's 12.15pm and she keeps telling me it's the ads and I'm not missing anything. So I go to seat myself. Here's where marketing needs to be concerned. The ads were for gold class products, after a few minutes the previews started at this stage people were still being seated. Employees need to understand that the ads and previews are there for a reason. Customers once seated are your captivated audience. They are either watching the screen, working out their seat capabilities or on their phone. Either way they are being exposed to your products. They are not being exposed to your products sitting in the lounge. The food was a disappointment, has increased in price and decreased in size. Fried chicken was like chicken tenders and both chicken and wedges were cold! When I arrived ear pod guy told me business was slow, well I'm not surprised as the service and food was below par. The movie however was great, screen resolution, sound and seats still good. I would still go to gold class for only the movie experience and bypass all ad ons. Hope there's improvement on...

This review is for their Gold Class section only : have been a regular for years now. Have to say their previous brown suede seats were much more comfortable before they swapped them out for the current lower quality black leather ones. Whilst I can see it being much easier for the cleaners to work on, the previous seats hugged you more instead of push you back out when you try to settle into it. Having said that, if you haven't experienced the previous seats before, you probably won't feel the lux a little bit sucked out of the whole experience because the food quality and service has consistently remained top notch. I tried their seasonal set in my most recent visit - 3 course meal for $50 with chicken wings for entree, chicken salad for main and lava cake for desert, accompanied by 2 cocktails for $35. You can look at that and think that's way too much to spend for just watching a movie, plus tickets are already expensive, but i think you'll find it hard to find another restaurant that will serve you the same quality and quantity of food for the same price, so when you think of it all in combination, it's actually good value especially if you can get a discounted ticket. Toilets are also always very clean. I like to make all my food orders before being seated, that way everything is paid for whilst ensuring they scan my village card for points accrual, and I don't have to wait for service - food and drinks just flow through throughout the entire movie like a beautiful symphony, no need for button pressing and waiting and missing part of the movie script whilst talking to the servers. At this branch, you can also earn crown points in addition to village points at the ticket box, so book in person for that extra reward - note crown points only given for tickets, restaurant services are separate and can only accrue village...