Hollywood Bowl Watford

Recently we were invited to Hollywood Bowl Watford to review bowling with them - we had such a lovely time and were also treated to some lunch at Hollywood Bowl too.

Daddy was at work so we went with Grandma - I don't fancy bowling with a toddler and a 7 year old without another adult to man the toddler who will run away if you take your eyes off her for a split second.

Upon arrival, we discovered that if your own footwear was suitable then you didn't need the bowling shoes. You can wear your own shoes for bowling. I however am stupid and wasn't wearing suitable footwear. (woo hoo I got to wear super cool bowling shoes!)

We were shown to our VIP lane which was very comfortable and smart looking. It costs £1 extra per person to have the VIP lane and it's just a little bit nicer than a normal lane! Perfect if it's a special occasion or you just fancy being in a nicer lane.

I forgot how much fun bowling actually was - I mean don't get me wrong, I am still rubbish at it but it is good fun trying to knock the balls down. I haven't been in so long, Oliver's been once before with a friend and Isabelle hadn't been bowling before. From the start they both loved it. Isabelle seemed to know what she needed to do - ball, roll it and cause destruction! Children absolutely love to knock things over so bowling is a perfect pass time for them.

The benefits of VIP lane to me seems to be brightly coloured pins, nice chairs which look more comfortable than the others and it's more enclosed in the VIP lane meaning it's a little bit more private than the normal ones as well as having some of the noise blocked out too - which is always nice isn't it!

 Isabelle needed a little bit of help to get the balls down as they're very heavy for her. I would of liked to have seen more of the '6' balls like the one in the photo below as they were the lightest and the best for toddlers to use. perhaps we visited on a busy toddler morning.

 Oliver thought it was great fun. Can you notice the sides up? You can request to have them up - either for all of the game, for just some players or you could have them down if you're better at bowling than us!

Although I absolutely loved bowling and I would love to take the children bowling more often - it's not something we could afford to do every week if I am honest as we are a young family with me being a stay at home mum, if it was cheaper then it would definitely be something I would want to do weekly. But it is fantastic for a special treat if the little ones have been good at school or you feel you just need some real family time together. There will be laughter at Hollywood Bowl and that's guaranteed!

It's a great active day out with the children which makes a change from soft play centres, you get to spend quality family time together and the game itself encourages children to try their best to get the best score.

Now shall we talk food at Hollywood Bowl? Well we ordered a cup of tea for Grandma - she had no complaints on the tea. We ordered chips for Grandma and chips for Isabelle too - that's right, the chips are allergy safe! *please check with your local Hollywood Bowl that yours are too!* but after studying the allergy folder we found it was possible for Isabelle to have the chips which was great as she felt included too. It is very hard to feed an allergy child when you're out so thank you very much for not adding random things to your chips like many other places do. 

 The children loved that you can grab some crayons and a colouring in sheet. They had to design a bowling ball and we entered a competition.

A birthday party at Hollywood Bowl is a fantastic idea by the way!

 Oliver was delighted when his food arrived. Two mini burgers which are perfect sized for children with some tasty chips!

 Here's my food, after I had taken a bite and put more than is normal portion of ketchup on my plate!

 The prices for food was very reasonable in my opinion and the burger was really tasty.
Isabelle was pleased because she could get a slush puppy.

 So we absolutely loved bowling at Hollywood Bowl, the staff were very helpful especially when it came to allergies. The venue was clean and tidy, looked after and a lot of staff. Would we go again? definitely.

You can find out more about Hollywood Bowl here - www.hollywoodbowl.co.uk

Mary-Kate x

 *please note, we were invited to review Hollywood Bowl and gifted 1 game as well as lunch for the family. All opinions within this post are my own.*