Cornwall pub opens 16-seat cinema
A Cornwall pub has built a tiered 16-seat cinema and conference room attached to the bar.
The Longboat Hotel in Penzance will officially launch in January, but licensee Martyn Cripps has put on several Christmas films for customers to enjoy during the festive period.
The Scottish and Newcastle (S&N) tenancy has 18 rooms and guests and customers can reserve a seat free of charge.
Cripps decided to knock down a disused garage and rebuild it as a cinema and conference room four years ago. Work on the inside started in July.
Each chair has a table attached and the 11-foot screen can be used to show presentations for meetings as well as DVDs and Blu-ray films.
The screen was imported from America, the chairs from Denmark and the sound system from Germany at a cost of around £20,000. The licence from Filmbank was £94.
"Gone down a storm"
"It has gone down a storm," said Cripps. "The idea is to bring more people into the Longboat and use our facilities — drinking, eating or even staying in one of the rooms."
Cripps sees the room being used mostly for breakfast and afternoon meetings, leaving it free for use as a cinema in the evenings. It can also be booked by the hour (£25), half day or full day (£125) including all the equipment for conferences or films.
There will be a meal and film deal but the details have yet to be finalised. Cripps is looking into buying a popcorn machine to provide the traditional movie snack and plans on having a half time mark where customers can go down to the bar and collect pre-ordered drinks.
Customers will also be able to request films with the aim of creating specific film groups including monthly Disney, sci-fi and horror nights.
Cripps said representatives visiting from S&N thought it was "amazing".
"It certainly has the "wow" factor when we show everyone," said Cripps. "S&N also think that we may be the only pub on the country that has a dedicated cinema room attached to the bar."
