The printworks in general is great. I first found it when my current partner took me out on our first date. The cinema is a big multiplex set within the printworks, which consists of a number of restaurants and pubs.
Parking:
Parking is easy as the printworks have their own section of a multi story, and they are currently building their own carpark, just for printworks visitors. The current set up is that you park on the main multi story near the MEN Arena, and when you have finished in the printworks there are lots of little machines around so that you can validate your parking ticket. By doing this you get a discount on your parking. My partner always sorts this out, but as far as I know it entitles you to park for only £2.00
Restaurants:
There are a number of restaurants in the Printworks, my favourite being the Hard rock cafe. When we are going to the cinema we tend to go out for a meal at one of these restaurants first. The other restaurants situated in the Printworks are Old Orleans, Bombay Junction, Nandos, Henry J Beans, Norweigen Blue, and Yum Yums. I have not sampled any of their food, but I am in th emiddle of a review for the Hard Rock Cafe if you want to also read that.
The cinema:
The cinema itself is a very up to date modern cinema experience. You can book your tickets online and then collect them from automated machines by simply putting the card which you used to pay for them into the machine and out come your tickets. There are about 6 of these machines, plus your normal manned ticket desks too, so even on a busy night there is not very much waiting around to have to do.
We always book tickets at the gallery when we go to the printworks, as we only go there if we are going for a special night out. Tickets at the gallery cost approximately £15 each, but you have the gallery floor all to yourself instead of being on the same floor as everyone else. You can go into the gallery waiting area approximately 15 minutes before your film is due to start, and you can get free soft drinks, popcorn, chocolates and nanchos. You can help yourself to as much of these as you would like, and they also serve alcohol, but you have to pay for the alcoholic drinks. They also serve Ben and Jerrys ice cream which you also have to pay for.
The waiting area is very swish, with plenty of seating. Mostly on chairs around small tables, but with some comfortable sofas too. The whole of the gallery floor is very swish looking and you feel like you are at some sort of premier or something (Sorry for anyone who is used to this sort of atmosphere but I am used to ordinary everyday cinemas where your feet stick to the carpet sort of thing).
Once you are ready to go in to watch your film you are then shown to your seats, which are big comfortable leather sofa type things rather than seats. These are perfect for if you are going there on a date as you can cuddle up easily on them. If you are short though I strongly advise choosing seats at the back so that you can see th ewhole of the screen. The first time that we went we made the mistake of sitting at the front and even though I sat on mine and my partners coats I could not see the bottom quarter of the screen as the balcony barrier was in the way.
The best thing about the Gallery is the fact that you don't get very many yobs or people spoiling you viewing pleasure as it costs too much for them to bother with.
Afterwards:
We tend to go to the cinema later at night so by the time we are on our way out Manchesters nightscene is coming to life, so you can pop into one of the many pubs situated in the Printworks too, for a drink and a dance to put the perfect ending to a great night.
The verdict:
I think that this is a great night out. If you go to the normal section of the cinema then the prices are pretty normal compared to any modern day multiplex cinema. If you go the extra miile and pay for the Gallery then to me and my partmer the added extras more than compensate for the higher prices.
I would definately recommend it to anyone else, especially if you are trying to plan a nice night out for your other half, or trying to think of somewhere to take that first date to make a good impression!
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