RAH Facilities

[Ferretfancy]

As a regular Prommer, I've been pleased to see that the Door 12 entrance has been remodelled and now features a bar and cafeteria as well as the Ticket Office. However, there remains one scandalous situation, as there are only two accessible toilets outside the entrance to the first floor restaurant. These are the only loos available for the hundreds of people waiting in the queue,just two stalls, and this is forcing some people to make a trek into Kensington Gardens.

I have complained to the management about this, and urge anybody here who is visiting the hall to do the same. With suitable supervision it would be perfectly possible to make the Arena level facilities available on production of a ticket or season pass, but they are reluctant to do so.

[PhilipT]

Have you noticed that there are also loos at the far end of the Café Bar?

To expand a bit for those new to Promming:

The nearest loos to the Promming queues available during day are:

* At Door 12, on the ground floor. Walk in through Door 12, walk past the staircases, turn left into the Café Bar, and turn right at the very end.
* At Door 12, on the first floor. Walk in through Door 12, and go up a staircase. On either side of the entrance to the restaurant, just before the double doors, there's a single unisex loo. Sometimes there is a queue on the stairs - a single queue for both loos - less often now that the ground floor loos are open.
* On the North side of Beit Quad. Where the Arena Day queue lines up along Prince Consort Road, between the bottom of the steps and the church, there's an archway into a quad. Walk to the far end of the quad, through the two sets of double doors, and bear to the left of the staircase.

It isn't always open, but there is another way to those last. Where the Gallery Day queue lines up, near the front of the queue, there's a double doorway into the building. Go in, and down one floor.

If your conscience troubles you about using the Beit Quad loos without being a customer then bear in mind that they are there because the Union Bar is open during the day. Go into the bar, preferably with some ID, and for the effort of filling in a form and paying the princely sum of £1 you will become a member of the Imperial College Union Refectory Club, which will entitle you, until the end of the following June, to buy drinks in the bar.

[amateur51]

If your conscience troubles you about using the Beit Quad loos without being a customer then bear in mind that they are there because the Union Bar is open during the day. Go into the bar, preferably with some ID, and for the effort of filling in a form and paying the princely sum of £1 you will become a member of the Imperial College Union Refectory Club, which will entitle you, until the end of the following June, to buy drinks in the bar.

Yes PhilipT, one of the great secret bargains of London

[Petrushka]

One or two questions on the RAH this year:

1) Security bag searches. Is there any rhyme or reason to this? It is hugely disruptive in allowing the audience to enter the hall on time and wonder if the apparent randomness of the searches is prompted by any specific security concerns? Fair enough if so, but I suspect not. In a word, the question is: why?

2) Interval ticket zapping. What is the point of stewards zapping tickets as the audience enjoys a breath of fresh air during the interval and then zapping them again on the way back in for the second half?. Genuinely perplexed about this.

3) Is it Albert Hall policy to employ only young women as stewards and programme sellers? They are all most pleasant but I thought such employment policy was illegal these days. Looks like tough luck if you are a young lad wanting a summer job at the RAH!

[PhilipT]

2) Interval ticket zapping. What is the point of stewards zapping tickets as the audience enjoys a breath of fresh air during the interval and then zapping them again on the way back in for the second half?. Genuinely perplexed about this.

Some years ago a friend of mine, a regular Arena Season Ticket holder, had a private game with the RAH. His aim was return into the Hall after the interval by each available door at some time during the season. He did, of course, know the RAH's staircases like the back of his hand. He once explained to me that the hardest door to 'get' was the Gallery Season Ticket door, and was always pleased when he managed to return by that door for the second half. Alas, I have had no news of him for some years now.

[Serial_Apologist]

Some years ago a friend of mine, a regular Arena Season Ticket holder, had a private game with the RAH. His aim was return into the Hall after the interval by each available door at some time during the season. He did, of course, know the RAH's staircases like the back of his hand. He once explained to me that the hardest door to 'get' was the Gallery Season Ticket door, and was always pleased when he managed to return by that door for the second half. Alas, I have had no news of him for some years now.

That last sentance, coupled in with the rest, makes the RAH sound like Bluebeard's Castle!

[BBMmk2]

That last sentance, coupled in with the rest, makes the RAH sound like Bluebeard's Castle!

What an interesting comment, SA! Perhaps it should be called The Royal Bluebeard's Castle'? :)

[salymap]

What an interesting comment, SA! Perhaps it should be called The Royal Bluebeard's Castle'? :)

When completely empty between morning rehearsal and 3pm concert it feels like Bluebeard's Castle.
I had to sort some hire parts in what was choir room 3, under the arena and when the old organ made weird noises [the ghost of Sir Charles Halle, I was told] I was glad to get out of the place

[David Underdown]

The bag searches never seem particularly effectual, though there is an argument that truly random searches are more likely to be effective - if you know a search is definitely to be made, people will put more effort into finding ways around them.

I believe the hall found that people were snekaing into the second half of concerts (without tickets), hence the rezapping (and pass-outs for season ticket holders)

There are quite a few male stewards as well (and programme sellers). Possibly reflects the gender balance of music students?

There

[Ferretfancy]

As a pendant to my original criticism of the lack of facilities, a few days ago at Door 12, I was refused admission to the toilets just behind the new cafe, although I showed my season pass and had been let through before. I asked to speak to a manager who failed to give me an adequate justification for this. When I pointed out that they had built a new food outlet open to all, and that places like the Barbican and RFH had facilities in their public areas he said " Ah! yes! but they are subsidised "
I pointed out that it wasn't a matter of subsidy, but the requirement to provide for the public.

So, we are left with two single loos outside the Cafe Concert on the first floor reached by a flight of stairs, and I haven't noticed any disabled access. No doubt if challenged on this the management would say that was adequate provision. The manager that I spoke to suggested that I go to Door 8, but naturally that was closed!

[PhilipT]

As a pendant to my original criticism of the lack of facilities, a few days ago at Door 12, I was refused admission to the toilets just behind the new cafe, although I showed my season pass and had been let through before.

I've had an e-mail from the Hall management saying that the new toilets on the ground floor at Door 12 are open during the day to all visitors to the Hall, although they will check tickets once the bars and restaurants open to ticket-holders (usually 2 1/2 hours before the concert). Maybe in the case you describe there had been some mis-communication about the policy within the Hall? It happens in the best run organisations. I suggest you carry on as before, and see whether you encounter the problem again.

As for disabled access, I think you are being a little unfair to the Hall here. The last big re-build did a lot to improve things, including the provision of a ramp to the side door at the new Door 12 porch. I'm sure anyone in a wheelchair who asked a steward if they could use the loo would be able to.

[zoomy]

Car park tickets

I had a problem last Thursday evening at the Proms (Stravinsky, Perendecki, Debussy, Ravel) when I went to collect my car parking ticket that I had ordered by telephone the day before - they claimed I had also booked the ticket for the day before and insisted that I would have to buy another in order to leave the car park.

I should ring their 'customer services' the following day to claim a refund and they listen to a recording of my telephone conversation to check. Needless to say their 'customer services' department did not answer the phone the the following day and despite leaving a voicemail message and asking other departments there to ask them to ring me I still have no contact with them.

I have never previously had problems at the Proms but this year they are running it like an open prison - with endless scanning and checking of tickets, clamping down on people eating even a light snack in the gallery, bag searches and some rather intimidating security personnel - I am wondering if there is a new management company in place at the Proms ?

[PhilipT]

I am wondering if there is a new management company in place at the Proms ?

I can assure you that there isn't. Bag searches are nothing new; as for your other concerns, I don't see that airing them here is going to help much.

[Nick Armstrong]

the car park.

Didn't know there was one. Whereabouts is it?

[gurnemanz]

Didn't know there was one. Whereabouts is it?

My car park is Kensington Gate. Free street parking after 6.30, five minutes from RAH.