New arthouse cinema (Pálás)

Pen Rua

Visited last night (Sunday) for Three Billboards.

We booked online, reserved seats and collected tickets from the box office - all good so far.

We then went to the far staircase, only to be called back to another staircase. Some signing would be useful... We find the screen, it's not ready so we wander back to the bar. Then we try find bathrooms - and no signage makes it hard. We ask the barman who shows us to two bathrooms in a freezing corridor. Three people were before us, and by the time she made it in, three more people had joined the queue. Chatting to others, we couldn't understand why everyone was being directed to the same freezing corridor.

We made it to the screen. It was comfy and all, although we couldn't immediately find out seats because the lettering wasn't clear - and we weren't the only ones; a lot of people stood at the door trying to figure it out.

The movie projection was good (I mean, I don't know? It was as good as IMC if not better?)

Overall, a pretty meh experience. From chatting to some people at the bathrooms we all felt underwhelmed by the place. Sure, it looks great and interesting but it's freezing in the public areas, and hard to navigate. I hope it's just teething problems they'll iron out soon.

Mearings

bbbbb wrote: »

drove past it yesterday for the first time. Wasn't up close & I'm not a construction engineer, but on the exterior the poured concrete doesn't look smooth, as if there were air bubbles in some places?
Can't imagine it will weather very well if this is the case.

I expect that they are going to pebble dash the structure.

Anyone I know who has gone to it has so far been unimpressed. It's cold, poorly laid out, not finished and quite expensive for what you get.

Hoping to get to see something there soon but expectations are rock bottom.

joeKel73

Pen Rua wrote: »

We made it to the screen. It was comfy and all, although we couldn't immediately find out seats because the lettering wasn't clear - and we weren't the only ones; a lot of people stood at the door trying to figure it out.

Assigned seats?
So the first 10mins of films will be a lot of up and down letting people into their seat.

beardybrewer

J o e wrote: »

Assigned seats?
So the first 10mins of films will be a lot of up and down letting people into their seat.

When you book online you have to pick seats. Also the seat picker won't let you leave a gap between groups so you have to sit right next to each other.

Pen Rua

J o e wrote: »

Assigned seats?
So the first 10mins of films will be a lot of up and down letting people into their seat.

Yes. We booked online, so picked our seats - not sure how it works when you turn up and get a ticket upon arrival.

The rows are not clearly marked. It would make sense to have the letters on the floor and on the sides of the seats on either end of the aisle. But no, they're just on the floor in a dark theatre and very hard to see.

We got in, couldn't find the row so we were about to jump in a random seat till we figured it out and another person had to move from "our" seats (we didn't really care tbh).

Again, it just seems to come down to poor design/signage - nothing is clear in there and it takes a lot of effort to use the building.

Pen Rua

Pen Rua wrote: »

Again, it just seems to come down to poor design/signage - nothing is clear in there and it takes a lot of effort to use the building.

A few people have said that they won't be going back, that the EYE and IMC are better laid out, better run, cheaper and the quality of the films on display, projection wise is no different. They also pointed out that while there is an offer on car parking it's an unnecessary and unwanted expense on top of everything else when you consider that it's free in the other cinemas.

what_traffic

Pen Rua wrote: »

Again, it just seems to come down to poor design/signage - nothing is clear in there and it takes a lot of effort to use the building.

Hopefully such things will get ironed out after a while. Often buildings have such snag lists.

Smegging hell

Yeah, I'll give it a few months before making up my mind fully. Hopefully they iron out the issues and the rushed opening doesn't put too many people off. I agree that the assigned seats thing is a nuisance.

Mrs OBumble

beardybrewer wrote: »

When you book online you have to pick seats. Also the seat picker won't let you leave a gap between groups so you have to sit right next to each other.

In fairness, a one-person gap between groups is unlikely to sell, so they'd just be giving you a free seat.

And a two person gap would sell - so you'd be sitting next to someone outside of your group (horrors .. a stranger!) anyways.

Assigned seating in an excellent idea, it means you don't have to be there first to get the best seats.

Arghus

I think assigned seating is a quaint nuisance that they'll probably eventually cop on about and get rid of - hopefully.

Whatever benefit there is to that system is negated by the inevitable aggro that'll come from people struggling to find in the dark and struggling through others to get to particular seats.

If you want good seats, arrive early, just like you would at either of the two existing cinemas.

Is there not an ussher for the assigned seating?

The parking deal makes it the perfect option for the "dinner and a movie" folks. A heck of a lot more convenient for this than the other cinemas.

I'm hoping to get along to it this week to check it out myself

Pen Rua

Deleted User wrote: »

Is there not an ussher for the assigned seating?

No one was there when we arrived to Screen 3, roughly 5 mins before the start time on the ticket.

Arghus

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is there not an ussher for the assigned seating?

The parking deal makes it the perfect option for the "dinner and a movie" folks. A heck of a lot more convenient for this than the other cinemas.

I'm hoping to get along to it this week to check it out myself

No usher, just DIY.

swine

Pen Rua wrote: »

Yes. We booked online, so picked our seats - not sure how it works when you turn up and get a ticket upon arrival.

If you purchase tickets on the door, you get asked to select which seats you want at the ticket desk. They have a monitor displaying which seats are taken etc. I was curious to see how the ticket desk would work based on what other people had posted, and can only hope it gets improved. It was during the daytime that I went so queues were not a problem, but can see it becoming one. Having both the tickets and snacks being sold at the same desk is not ideal (not sure if they sell them elsewhere inside).

Pen Rua wrote: »

The rows are not clearly marked. It would make sense to have the letters on the floor and on the sides of the seats on either end of the aisle. But no, they're just on the floor in a dark theatre and very hard to see.

It really is an unintuitive layout. The lettering for the assigned seating was difficult to read, even with the lighting on, so anyone trying to do it after the film starts won't have a hope. Also a very minor quibble, but some background music before the film would be nice. It's one of those things you don't notice until it's gone.

For anyone intending on availing of the parking offer, you need to present your parking ticket and cinema ticket in the car park reception (and not the box office as the website states).

The screen itself thankfully was very comfortable and I will be going back, in spite of the setup. Anything which offers choice in what films we can see in the city is in my books, a good thing. Hopefully they can iron out a lot of the issues with it.

CrowdedHouse

Do they show film -as in 35mm or is it digital?

Laviski

They can do both

and i believe one screen can do 70 mm

jh79

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Do they show film -as in 35mm or is it digital?

Scannain tweeted they can show 35mm. So whatever 35 mm films shown in the lighthouse probably be shown in Galway too.

Around Halloween i believe the lighthouse show classic horror films in 35mm.

Pen Rua

swine wrote: »

Having both the tickets and snacks being sold at the same desk is not ideal (not sure if they sell them elsewhere inside).

Isn't this the way at IMC nowadays?

swine wrote: »

It really is an unintuitive layout. The lettering for the assigned seating was difficult to read, even with the lighting on, so anyone trying to do it after the film starts won't have a hope.

That was terribly frustrating. Such a simple design choice to have the letters on the side of the seats at each end of the aisle, but nope. Perhaps this only applies to Screen 3?

It's just frustrating that the building is so hard to use. A well designed building shouldn't have me walking around for an age trying to find a bathroom in a cold corridor, or have me standing for sometime trying to locate my seat. Meh, I guess I'm just annoyed after how hyped I was for it...

EDIT: But I hope these issues are ironed out. I really wanted to enjoy the experience but meh. I was trying to justify the extra cost (v IMC, who have a serious student deal on Tuesday - something like €6ish for ticket, popcorn, drink!) with the experience of this fancy cinema but... I do hope to go back for the other movies they'll show that might not be widely available.

what_traffic

Pen Rua wrote: »

That was terribly frustrating. Such a simple design choice to have the letters on the side of the seats at each end of the aisle, but nope. Perhaps this only applies to Screen 3?

Agree - this is the first thing I would bring in for Screen 1(possibly same for Screen 3). The Row Letterring is on the Riser of the Step; but you do not walk up the steps when finding your seat, you walk down. Perhaps screen 2 it is the other way around?

Pen Rua

what_traffic wrote: »

Agree - this is the first thing I would bring in for Screen 1(possibly same for Screen 3). The Row Letterring is on the Riser of the Step; but you do not walk up the steps when finding your seat, you walk down. Perhaps screen 2 it is the other way around?

You could enter either side of Screen 3. We came from the back of the room, since a staircase from the bathrooms went to there. The screen outside that door was actually out of order, so we didn't scan our tickets. No idea what that's meant for.

ben.schlomo

Monty Python season running in April as per a FB post I've seen.

what_traffic

Pen Rua wrote: »

You could enter either side of Screen 3. We came from the back of the room, since a staircase from the bathrooms went to there.

How are the bathrooms for real world accessibility?
https://palas.ie/your-visit/accessibility/

When you say either side - do you mean the Front of the screen?

Arghus

What they have on offer is starting to take more shape: they've a few films on their program from next week that aren't available in the other two cinemas and at least now they've got showings on during the daytime too.

jam83

Like others said the public areas are cold. And when there's so much bare concrete like on the stairs it just feels miserable.
They'd have to close the place again and do some rework to keep the wind out of the ticket desk and stairs and make the place feel like you're indoors, not outdoors!

Pen Rua

what_traffic wrote: »

How are the bathrooms for real world accessibility?
https://palas.ie/your-visit/accessibility/

When you say either side - do you mean the Front of the screen?

We were directed to a set of toilets up a staircase. There is an elevator in the building, but I have no idea where it goes, or how accessible it is overall. The space feels very, very tight.

You could enter from the back or the front of Screen 3.

xckjoo

Went this weekend. Enjoyed it overall but there's a major design flaw in having the entrance/exit beside the screen (in Screen 2). The bright green exit sign is very off-putting when you're trying to watch the movie. Not really sure there's a solution to it either that doesn't involve changing the whole layout.

Are the other screens the same?

Pen Rua

xckjoo wrote: »

Went this weekend. Enjoyed it overall but there's a major design flaw in having the entrance/exit beside the screen (in Screen 2). The bright green exit sign is very off-putting when you're trying to watch the movie. Not really sure there's a solution to it either that doesn't involve changing the whole layout.

Are the other screens the same?

Screen 3 was similar. One door by the screen, you had to come up a set of stairs. Bright Emergency Exit light, but to be fair, I don't think they have much control over that. Probably not as noticeable in IMC since the spaces are much much bigger.

xckjoo

Pen Rua wrote: »

Screen 3 was similar. One door by the screen, you had to come up a set of stairs. Bright Emergency Exit light, but to be fair, I don't think they have much control over that. Probably not as noticeable in IMC since the spaces are much much bigger.

Don't design a cinema with a door beside the screen would have been a way to control it. Maybe there's a regulation that there has to be a door in front and back, but then put it perpendicular to the screen at least. Hopefully they can dim it or something because it'll put me off going back. No emergency lighting beside my TV at home

flazio

From what I remember working in Athlone cinema, there is a little bit of allowance for a dimmer light for the emergency exits but it must be visible at all times. (i.e. you can't turn it off during a performance.)