The private screening room at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills.
Courtesy Four SeasonsLast month, Netflix opened a new luxury movie theatre in Los Angeles to screen their own productions. But as a company that brings movies and series to people’s homes, Netflix also knows it is no easy feat to drag people away from their couches.
But the luxury cinema experience is unlike any other—there’s comfy seating and glamorous amenities in refurbished historic cinemas. Some are offering full service, in-theatre dining with upscale culinary fare and cocktails, as well as exclusive access to directors and their cast.
While Netflix’s luxury cinemas are currently only in major cities, around the world smaller, more private cinemas at luxury hotels are thriving. These plush screening rooms offer private VIP events for industry insiders, club members, and independent directors hosting their own premieres.
With larger cinemas seeing lagging attendances, people feel safer in smaller, more intimate cinemas, alongside the luxury amenities they offer. Hotel cinemas offer a wider variety of programming than your average blockbuster fare.
“The hotel cinema is surely something that is here to stay,” says Andrew Satkowiak, executive vice president of the Luxury Travel Agency, a travel agency for high-end clients based in Toronto. “I’ve had a lot of interest and have arranged very nice stays that included the cinema for an evening of movies and fun. If a client is looking for a great option for any kind of celebration, renting the cinema is a great, and safe, option.”
An Exclusive Amenity
Whether it's plush chairs in a historic-style cinema to watch an indie flick, or a private screening room for six in an ultra-luxe hotel room, these screening rooms are bound to thrive in 2022.
“Plenty of movie theaters offer food, but the better ones stand out with high quality cuisine and upscale cocktail programs,” says Tom Marchant, co-founder of luxury travel company Black Tomato. “People are motivated to spend more to have a more full-service experience and standout places have prioritized making the seating outrageously comfortable and in turn, the theaters themselves smaller and more bespoke. People will reserve films well in advance if the amenities and experience is elevated.”
Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York has a 99-seat cinema, which is used for private events and industry get-togethers. The Mondrian London has a 56-seat screening room, which hosts events for film festivals and weekend viewings for guests. The Soho Hotel, also in London, hosts Saturday afternoon screenings with a buffet lunch and prosecco.
The Roxy Hotel’s Cinema in New York screens films on a regular basis, while luxury hotels like the William Vale in Brooklyn, the Four Seasons Downtown and 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, all host screenings for more than just hotel guests.
Naturally, Hollywood has its own selection, too, including the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. It has a 37-seat VIP screening room in their Il Posto venue, featuring leather recliners and a private patio used for outdoor receptions.
Other hotel cinemas deliver a nod to the past, like the Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland, which boasts a 32-seat cinema adorned with vintage film posters, and screens Golden Age films.
The Soho Hotel in London, England.
The Soho HotelRooftop, open-air cinemas are also a growing trend. Soneva Resorts in the Maldives and Thailand each have their own open-air cinemas. At the Soneva Jani location in the Maldives, the hotel offers the first “silent cinema” in the country, where guests wear Bluetooth earphones to watch movies, while not disturbing the nearby wildlife in the lagoon.
“In the era of Covid-19, we have definitely seen a rise in the number of multi-generational groups traveling to our resorts, and watching a film together with your family is just one of the rare experiences that we offer,” says Carissa Nimah, chief commercial officer for Soneva resorts in the Maldives and Thailand. “Where else can you sit outside under a star-filled sky with the sound of the ocean waves while watching a classic film?”
Some hotel guests don’t even have to leave their rooms to visit a cinema. The new Hotel Paradiso in Paris is the city’s first cinema-themed hotel, boasting one in each room. Co-founded by brothers Nathanael and Elisha Karmitz, it was built to honor their father, Marin Karmitz, who founded the French film chain mk2 in 1974.
The hotel has 34 rooms and two executive cinema suites, each designed to include a screen and projector. The rooftop has an open-air cinema club, too, with a cocktail bar and dining. On the ground floor of Hotel Paradiso is mk2 Nation, a cinema with six theaters. Inside the hotel, they have two private screening rooms. Soon, they’ll be opening La Lage, a plush cinema room with red carpets for small screenings.
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At most hotel cinemas, each screening is carefully curated. The Bulgari Hotel London is hosting a monthly film series called the Breakthrough Women in Film Series, hosted at the hotel’s private cinema from November 9 through to Women’s Day on March 8, 2022, featuring works by female filmmakers.
“This screening series further demonstrates Bulgari Hotel London’s commitment to the arts and its creative patronage of female talent,” says the series curator, Bridget Arsenault of Long Winded Lady Productions.
At each event, guests are served canapés with a welcome drink in the cinema’s foyer, while each screening is followed by a live Q&A session with the director or a cast member. (Bulgari recently announced that its opening a new hotel in Los Angeles with a luxury theatre in 2025, too).
One of the most ultra-luxe hotel cinemas is the 99-seat Katara Cinema in the Le Royal Monceau hotel in Paris, a Raffles Hotel. On the weekends, they host the Royal Monceau Film Club, which serves champagne, gourmet popcorn by Pierre Hermé Paris, signature cocktails from Le Bar Long, and canapés.
The cinema at Bulgari Hotel in London.
Richard Bryant/arcaidimages.comHeckfield Place in Hampshire, England, has a private cinema they call their Screening Room alongside a bar that serves champagne and homemade chocolate treats and popcorn. Since the pandemic hit, this small-scale cinema, which seats 67 guests, is seeing a bounce-back.
“We have rebuilt confidence around going out to the cinema, where certain movies work much better on the big screen than streaming at home, since the relaxation of restrictions,” says Heckfield Place’s in-hotel curator, Lucy Hyslop.
The hotel screens films four days a week, as well as in-cinema discussions multiple times a year (in the past, they’ve hosted talks with British Vogue’s former editor Alexandra Shulman, best-selling author Sally Bedell Smith, peace activist Satish Kumar and economist Will Hutton ).
Recently, the hotel screened the James Bond film No Time To Die, and brought in a pair of vintage Aston Martins out front in celebration, and are screening The French Dispatch, Dune, and Respect, which are open to hotel guests and the public who can partake in the hotel’s “pre-theater” menu. The hotel has also hosted opening night galas for smaller audiences.
“Guests love the screen, the deep, luxurious seats ,and tables, the fact we don’t show trailers or ads, and of course the top-notch Dolby Atmos sound system,” Hyslop says. “The interest in hotel cinemas will continue, without a doubt.”
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