So basically I've pretty much fallen in love with the premier XXI cinema at Lotte Avenue to the point that it's become a weekly ritual to watch a movie there after work on a Friday. Not to be one to not give somewhere else a try though, this Friday I needed to buy some things at Grand Indonesia and figured it was a good time to check out their equivalent cinema - Satin Class. Prices were the same at 75k a ticket but that's where the similarities ended. We arrived at the entrance to the cinema and wanted to order our food to be delivered to our seats. The menu was basic, and when we ordered our popcorn and two ice teas our popcorn was brought to us while we were waiting and we were told that the drinks would be sent to the seats. Weird. I mean if you are going to deliver the drinks then bring the popcorn then too. I don't want my popcorn while I'm waiting as I'm more likely to eat it. The previous showing was still on so we waited in the 'lounge' (just a load of sofas and tables) until our turn. The showing was timed to start at 6.10pm but we only got to our seats at that time. The actual movie didn't start until almost 30 minutes later. The adverts/trailers/other useless stuff went on far too long. When we got to our seats, they looked big and comfy but the reclining mode was not adjustable. It was a case of either recline or don't. There was a fleece blanket rolled up on the seat. It smelled funky. Not nice and clean means I don't want it actually touching me anywhere. You don't know how long that blanket has been there and how many people have used it. Enough said. It really doesn't bear too much thinking about. My biggest surprise was that the satin class was situated on the top tier of a regular cinema. So down below you have your regular class patrons and you are on a raised tier. That didn't work for me. If I'm paying extra for fancy cinema treatment I want the cinema to be for me and other fancy cinema-goers...not dumped in altogether and separated by mere metres. The size of the large popcorn was not what I would interpret as large so we decided to order nachos (sorry, we don't have any sauce for the nachos) and when that didn't happen, another popcorn (sorry, you need to spend minimum 50,000 to pay by ATM) so we got french fries as well. I wasn't impressed by service or quality. Definitely not worth the money. Definitely not special treatment. I won't be coming back here to watch a movie again. So, yes, Lotte Avenue premier class, you'll be seeing a LOTTE more of me!
So to summarise here's a comparison of Satin Class (Blitzmegaplex) and Premier Class (XXI Cinema) at a quick glance :
Satin class
Limited lounge
Mediocre service
Limited menu and restrictions on payments and delivery of foods to seats
Seating on top tier of regular cinema
Long wait for start of movie (up to 30 minutes)
One reclining position
Unclean blankets
Premier class
Excellent lounge with tables and chairs and full menu
Prompt and friendly service
Food delivered promptly to the seat with minimum intrusions
Movie starts on time as advertised
Premier class is a separate theatre with only premier seating available
Reclining angle of the seat can be controlled into the most comfortable position
Freshly laundered blankets with clean smell and wrapped in plastic.
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