Curzon Mayfair Cinema

They charge £12 for a ticket and £4 for some nuts. Mind you the nuts are £4 because they are special Curzon nuts. The staff are clearly miserable and tired. The seats are small, the auditorium freezing. While we were having our coffee we heard the staff slagging off the customers as well as the management. We told the manager, a foreign girl with glasses, that the room was really cold and she just shrugged her shoulders and walked away. I am not stepping my foot in a Curzon again.

Its nice and evocative in many ways, but a bit tired and lacking the razzle dazzle of the West End cinemas.

Still recommend it, but its an acquired taste.

Good points: a long tradition of fine, art house films; a great location in Shepherds Market; so much more atmosphere than your average Odeon or Vue.

But – much less good – the place is tired. It gives you the kind of experience cinema-goers used to have 40 years ago, and not in a good way. No machines for pre-booked (expensive) tickets, join the queue; no numbered seating; Screen 2 hot and stuffy; small screen; poor sight lines (pray no one tall is sitting in front of you); only loo down three flights of stairs. Management please note: upgrade long overdue.

Best cinema in London in my humble opinion. Not full of the popcorn munching, mobile phone texting and talking crowd you find everywhere else! great for a date as Shepherd's Market is so near for drinks / dinner afterwards.

I can't tell you how awful this place is. The staff are absolutely obnoxious. My elderly grandmother, who is in a wheelchair, was treated with utter disgust, like she'd brought the wheelchair just to annoy the staff.

The theater itself stank of vomit, and clearly hadn't been cleaned since the last showing, perhaps for a few showings. When we got to our seats we found a used condom discarded on the floor! This place is an absolutely vile pit.

The sound system is awful, with a constant buzzing coming from the speaker, and the seats are tiny and extremely uncomfortable. I can't for the life of me imagine how this place has ever been given a positive review.

I would never go back to this or any other Curzon cinema.

Truly disgusted

You go and do even the most mundane of things in Mayfair and realize, “Wow. It's really nice here”. Or at least that's what happens when I find myself just going about ordinary life in this slice of upscale London.

Catching a movie at the Curzon's a good example of what I'm trying to convey. I've been to this cinema a couple of times. They feature a good line up of films and the seats are super comfy and spacious. The bar's a bit better stocked than most, and it (along with the lobby) is actually a gorgeous example of mid century interiors (I love the sculpted muraled, wall lining the way to the marbled toilets. Yeah, at the end of the day it's just a cinema – simply a cut above what I've come to expect from the vast majority of cinemas in this town. And fortunately, unlike much on offer in Mayfair, the prices are the same as pretty much any other London screening room.

I recently visited this cinema for the first time for the live broadast of the National Theatre's production of Frankenstein. I'm very glad we got to see the show at this place as it is an excellent venue. It's rare to find a cinema amongst all the chains that treats its patrons as adults, but with a decent bar with an area for schmoozing pre-show and a well-kept theatre (at least in Screen 1), that is just what you get. The angular stone walls inside the theatre reminded me of some sort of 70s sci-fi show (think Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica) and the seats were plush and comfortable. This a lovely place which I will keep on the radar for future cinema outings.

Let's count the reasons any right thinking person should love the Curzon Mayfair...

It's not on Leicester Square
Courteous, considerate customers and staff. When folk are this nice it reminds you that one great reason to go to the cinema is the communal, shared experience.
The place is cleaned by the bluebirds and door mice from Snow White. It's immaculate.
Great screen and comfy comfy chairs. I'm a midget but the Harlem Globetrotter with me always has enough leg room.
Proper bar- with kitschy cocktail promotions- my White Swan was a recent triumph. And they let you take the booze in- the fallen Methodist in me can't help but find this a huge thrill.
Excellent repertoire- mainly the quality end of the current crop but the smaller screen is regularly punctuated with art house and foreign film goodies.
Fabulous 60s tile work in the main cinema space. Let yourself feel like Peggy Olsen out on the town with her new boho buddies.
Surrounded by some pub gems for the apres screen.
It's not on Leicester Square.

It is nice to choose an oldy worldy cinema for a night of relaxation sometimes. I'm not talking funky, but I am talking classic. Red velvet seats that you sink into, small screening rooms that fit 50 or so. A proper bar with plastic champagne flutes. That kind of thing. I have to say that Mayfair is the perfect place for this, what with the locals (60+ wearing fur in the height of summer) and the minimal traffic, you can fake that it's the mid 1900's, if you dress it up right.
My only downer was finding that after the late film they lock up the foyer and shut down, with the toilet on the wrong side of the glass.

The photo here is not the Curzon Mayfair but the one in Soho.

This is an elegant cinema, plush and fine. Sound is fantastic.

Good places to eat in Shepherd's Market nearby which is lovely too.

Great cinema - tucked away down the road from Green Park tube, you feel like you’re entering another world…

It’s hard to put your finger on, but really feels like you’re stepping outside of London.

Good selection of arty films here too, if that floats your boat.

About as far away from a 'mainstream’ cinema as you can get: quite a tired 70s building, a short and wide auditorium and off-circuit films difficult to find anywhere else. This is similar to 'The Gate’ in Notting Hill, although with the exception of the location, not quite as posh.

Situated on Curzon Street in the heart of Mayfair and equidistant from Hyde Park Corner and Green Park tubes, it’s obvious that the place hasn’t changed an awful lot in the time it’s been going (it really did bring back memories of long-demolished 70s buildings - orange decor being a prime example!) However, it does have several notable good points:

1) All the clientele are rather nice - no scallies screaming or running from one screen to the next.

2) Very convenient to get to and great to go on from for something to eat afterwards.

3) Unusual films (including the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD tranmissions from New York on Saturday evenings.

Essentially, if the idea of going to the Odeon on Leicester Square fills you with dread, this is a good place to come for an undisturbed, no hassle evening.

This is a brilliant cinema!

In my opinion it is the best of all the “curzon” cinemas. It does only have 2 screens, but there is less hustle-and-bustle of other curzon cinemas (soho, renoir, richmond ect). I have found that the design of the cinema itself is unique, with a cave-like ceiling in the main screen, and organic shapes and lines throughout the cinema.

The atmosphere of the cinema is great, it feels like those smokey cinemas in old films, and has a very cool atmosphere which I love, and regret to see that no other cinema seems to hold.

The Curzon Mayfair is the original Curzon cinema, opening in the 30s, and has been one of Britain’s most important art-house cinema, since its opening, encouraging and exhibiting both UK and international art-house films.

There is a well-stocked bar on-sight, as well as many other pubs, restaurants and bars in the surrounding area that cater to all price ranges.

I don't know how old this cinema is, but you'd swear the '70s exploded all over it. It's organic, autumn-coloured, with big, plush seats. Wider than it is long. The concession stand probably serves more wine than fizzy drinks. Definitely not the space-mall stadium-seating of the modern Vue cinemas.

It suits the sort of smaller-release, arthouse and independent films they often show here, though. It's a fun theatre. I was here yesterday for a screening that was part of the London Film Festival.

This is a really nice cinema, in one of London’s classiest areas. The main screen is absolutely enormous, with fantastic sound quality. The cinema usually shows really good films - no rubbish. Plus the seats are huge and there is a lot of legroom, unlike some other cinemas (odeon leicester square for example).

Don't get me wrong I love going out on the town for a good old dance and a few drinks however sometimes I just love to go to the movies after a busy day and the thought of being snug and relaxed with a bowl of popcorn just appeals to me in everyway. Cinemas all differ and there is nothing worse than a small screen, dried up popcorn and worst of all uncomfortable seating. That is way the Curzon Mayfair really is a cut above the rest and no wonder it was voted one of London’s best cinemas. On the outside it is simple but effective and it soon entices you in with its warmth lighting and the atmosphere inside just looks so welcoming and friendly you just can’t resist. It includes two screens and boasting luxury seating and a unique atmosphere for cineastes. This cinema is renowned for its celebrity presence due to all its premieres, so if you are sat in the royal box you never know who warmed up your seat for you!