VIP Roxy Cinemas — Local services in Ottawa

The VIP Roxy is an early 20th century vaudeville turned movie theater nestled in downtown Ottawa il. It's brightly lit marquee a welcoming sign from the days gone by. From the outside you are greeted with several glass doors, most used for display only. We entered using the small glass door off to the side. The ticket booth was vacant and the counter held various pamphlets advertising options to rent out space for parties, other promotions and a sign stating to proceed to concessions. We were early for our 4 pm showing of the 50th anniversary of One flew over the cuckoos nest. The woman Barbra behind the concessions stand was very cheerful when she greeted us. Concession prices are quite reasonable, a sweet relief considering the skyrocketing prices of today's movie theater experience. This particular venue houses 6 screen rooms, renovated twice over the last century or so, from a one room theater to a six screen theater including a addon building nextdoor perfectly placed beyond the concessions stand. The bathrooms are like what every movie portrayed highschool bathrooms like in movies, painted stall doors, people's initials and other terms of endearment carved in the many layers of paint over the years. Full review on VIP Roxy Theater...

Here’s the thing - I love old, small town movie theatres, always have. Yes, it’s small, yes, the chairs tilt down a little, and yes, they could definitely turn the volume up a touch. But for the price I never complained. However, then they damn near doubled the price. And I know things are expensive and I recognize the owners have bills to pay, too. But if I’m paying to go to a movie these days, when everything is streaming, then I’m hoping to for a little more if I’m paying more. We went to see the haunted mansion (fun btw, def recommend), there was no ac (or at least it wasn’t on) and it was a super hot day, so it was uncomfortably warm, sound was quiet, chairs def need replacing, and snack prices have all gone up. The next week I took my kids to the Streator eagle 6 and paid less for a matinee. Chairs were new and reclined, free drink refills, sound was appropriately loud, and there was ac 🤷🏻‍♀️ I realize we all have to manage our expectations with these older establishments, but if you’re going to raise prices dramatically then there should probably be a commensurate increase in quality. We’ll still go, but probably...

It was nice to have the theater to ourselves on a Wednesday afternoon with the kids (early dismissal from school), but we arrived for a 2:40 movie at 2:37, and waited in the main lobby till 2:47 for anyone to even make an appearance. We were walking into theaters and looking for anyone to help us, saying "Hello, is anyone here?" and even called the theater on the phone, stood and listened to their phone ring and the popcorn machine beep and no one came to help us for 10 minutes. Luckily someone finally came and said they were the one and only person on duty, got us our tickets and snacks, and we headed to our movie. The door of our theater was left open with hall lights shining in, we could hear loud noise and music from a neighboring theater, and the popcorn was somewhat stale tasting. The seats were not the best, flip up seats that my 4 year old had trouble sitting on, uncomfortable, and children aren't bug enough to make the seats lean back a little as I was as an adult. The restrooms appear vandalized with writing and paint scratched everywhere. Nice little theater in town but...