Royal Pavilion Ice Rink — Local services in Great Britain

Paid an extortionate price for two adults and an under 12, then had to pay an extra £7 to use the stabilising penguin on top of the entry fee.

The main rink was basically empty because it was a 10am session, however after they took our money the stewards guided us to a tiny little rink where we had to skate because our child required a penguin. This was not communicated before the entry fee was taken.

We then got told off for taking a photo of our son’s first ever experience on ice, for health and safety reasons, which is understandable. However on the tiny mini children’s rink which is wrapped around the back, there is no real viewing platform to take photos from the side. The steward could have offered to take a photo, but instead was very authoritative and abrupt.

Just a warning to anyone that is taking a small one and requires a penguin to help teach the skating, it is entirely not worth it. The rink is tiny and doesn’t have the best views. The stewards were not helpful and accommodating but simply enforcing their rules as if we were criminals when we were trying to make memories.

I feel that the cost for two adults and a child to use the tiny rink is complete robbery. This should certainly be a subsidised price considering you have to pay for the penguin anyway.

Other than that, the rink was freshly cut and maintained. Plenty of seating in the changing area. A bit annoying that the locker costs £1 and keeps the coin.

I can imagine this is best suited for people who want a romantic Christmas skate at night, not really for taking a young one for an experience.

I grew up in rinks and have never been around such strict stewards, one who could barely skate and was possibly more of a danger than me taking a photo of my son with my phone on the ice, but hey, rules are rules.

I won’t be going back.

Update: the response from you solidifies the fact how you don’t care about the customer satisfaction. You are implying that my behaviour was unsuitable, however the approach from your steward was not “softly spoken” and it is captured on video.

Look at all of the negative reviews that you have and tell me that other people don’t feel the same way about your attitude towards paying customers. It’s absolutely pathetic, rude and unwarranted.

You always seem to defend yourself and your staff rather than holding any accountability for making people’s experiences miserable.

Profit driven nonsense.

Also, if the penguins are £5 to hire why were we charged £7?

You rely on people reading all of this information online, but you have no information at the venue, or staff to explain if you are just walking by and decide to pop in. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a leaflet, some signage or staff members explain what they are actually purchasing and what part of the rink they can use before payment is taken.

Another suggestion is to create a larger viewing platform / area so that families can spectate and film the smaller rink, when it is highly likely to be a special moment for the family and...

Staff and venue itself are lovely but I feel its wayyy to overcrowded. I went on a Saturday night which probably didn't help, but I just felt completely stressed the whole time instead of enjoying myself.

I do feel that the staff should be moving everyone on that is just stopped at the barriers in the rink, the people who want to hold onto the side are having to skate round upto a whole group of people just having a chat sometimes.

I also feel the rule of 'skate anti clockwise' should be enforced with more strength, especially with the amount of people that are in the rink at one time. There were so many people that are just skating towards everyone else going the CORRECT way.

My final issue was the amount of people that have no sense of which way they're going or looking out for anyone else but themselves. Obviously the main point is not to fall over (which I respect) but it can't be difficult just to have a quick check you're not going to cut anyone up. There were many times when my partner and I just got pushed or trapped with people crashing into us at either side or swinging out in front of us when we're not even a half a metre away. Along with the people who act like they're actually figure skaters and fly past at 600mph cutting in and out of everyone knocking most people off their feet. I can't even skate myself but it just would've helped so much if people had a quick check around.

Other than that, we did actually have a great time and really enjoyed ourselves and proud we never actually fell over! It wasn't the venue itself, but rather the people there, or the overcrowdedness that actually let it down. Maybe just less people in at one time would...

We always visit the ice rink at Christmas and today we went 1 adult, 3 children 11, 9 and 6. We've been visiting the rink for over 6 years now so felt we knew the drill! I measured my 6 year old for a penguin when i made the booking and she was just within the 120cm. When we arrived i couldn't get signal which the lady said was a common problem and asked me to go off site and open the page needed and return. The gentleman next to me, who was having the same problem just gave his name and his tickets were found at once. The lady serving me refused to do that for me several times, then finally agreed but said she couldn't find my booking. I asked if i could spell my name to her at first she refused but eventually allowed me to, and she found our booking straight away. She asked me who the penguin was for, measured my daughter who was just below the line and then said she couldn't have a penguin as she was too tall! She said if i wanted a refund i'd have to email ticketmaster. It's so sad that this lady was determind to be so unhelpful when we had looked forward to our session. We had a nice time because that's just us and we put it down to her bad attitude but she could have really spoilt someones day. When we went to the smaller rink there were a handful of spare penguins so i asked the skate guard if my daughter could have one, i explained we had paid. He measured her and was happy she was well within the height. He radioed over to the lady at the front desk who said we couldn't have a pengiun and the heights were all set at the wrong height! FYI if you go next year, probably best to only hire a penguin if your child is...