Colchester review: We tried out bowling at Hollywood Bowl

Hollywood Bowl Colchester opened at Northern Gateway Leisure Park on June 26 and the £5.5million entertainment complex has state-of-the-art bowling lanes, mini golf courses, and an American styled bar and diner.

There’s plenty of arcade games for punters to enjoy as well but for this particular visit, I focused on the enormously fun 26-lane bowling alley.

Once you make your way inside, you’ll head to the large reception desk where customers can book a game or confirm their pre-booking.

Venue - the exterior of Hollywood Bowl Colchester (Image: Newsquest)

Colorful - Some of the bowling lanes (Image: Newsquest)

Interestingly, unlike a session at Tenpin Colchester Bowling, in Cowdray Avenue, you don’t have to wear bowling shoes at Hollywood Bowl Colchester, just make sure you’re in comfortable footwear.

After heading towards the large bowling alley space for the first time, you can’t be helped but be absorbed by the bright lights, and the stylised colourful décor.

Across the 20 lanes on the ground floor of the building, you’ll notice greens, yellows, pink lighting and even purple Hollywood Bowl neon signs on both ends of the room.

Like any good bowling establishment, there are interactive screens with your game’s details on, a range of different sized bowling balls for every person, and optional gear like a a bowling ramp.

It has been many years since I’ve bowled, so I can’t call myself skilled or a master of the pastime.

The bowling ramp and balls next to our lane (Image: Newsquest)

Private - the entrance to one of the private VIP lanes (Image: Newsquest)

Eventually after a few misses as my poor attempts all went straight into the gutter, I started to pick up bowling again, with the odd strike every now and then.

Alas, my opponent in my two matches still bested me overall but I wasn’t bothered in the slightest, it was just great entertainment getting involved.

For a party of two, with two games and a special promotion at the time where you both receive a drink, it cost £28, and I would say it was worth every pence.

Given there was only two of us in the party, both games were wrapped up within 40 minutes of playing time, but you could expect a bigger party to take far longer.

Options - the different bowling balls you can pick from (Image: Newsquest)

Technology - the interactive screen at the end of the second game (Image: Newsquest)

Normally, adult tickets, which includes anyone aged 16 or over, costs from £12.45 per person.

There are family bundle tickets available as well, which for a family of four, two adults, two children, starts from £38.76.

Single Junior tickets start at £10.95, senior, registered disabled and carer tickets from £7.20, and student tickets from £11.21.

You can expect tickets on busier days to cost more.

Regardless, Hollywood Bowl Colchester is certainly worth the visit.

To find out more about Hollywood Bowl Colchester, head to hollywoodbowl.co.uk/Colchester.