"The Terrace View" - Upper Holte Lounge

[Moneill]

On 05/06/2023 at 14:40, blobbyrob said:

Myself & brother are not happy bunnies.

History: We've had season tickets since 1997 but in 2018 we decided to go for the hospitality experience. The reason being, I only get to see my brother on match days (both busy lives) (and we can afford it) so thought it would be a great idea to have access to a lounge before, during & afterwards so we could spend some quality time together having a good old catch up etc in nice surroundings.

Our 1st season in hospitality was the Heineken Lounge with seats in the Trinity, which was great. Next we thought we'd upgrade to the 82 Lounge for a couple of seasons which was fantastic.

Finally we opted for new the Gas Lamp Lounge in the North Stand along with seats in the Trinity which worked out at about £800 cheaper a season so we jumped at the chance. All's been good for the last few seasons in the Gas Lamp. Obviously we were aware it wouldn't last long as the redevelopment of the North Stand is due to start after next season, but we were shocked to find out (only 3 weeks ago) the Gas Lamp Lounge won't be available to us for next season. No reason given but must be something to do with the redevelopment.

The alternatives we were given was to keep our seats in the Trinity but have no Hospitality, or relocate to the new Holte End Terrace View. Reluctantly we had little choice to move to the new Holte Lounge. Speaking to other folks from the Gas Lamp they will be doing the same. Just one other thing, I don't think we will be displacing any existing season ticket holders in the Holte as we've been told that seat location cannot be guaranteed so I presume we will just fill in where anyone hasn't renewed. Again see screenshot.

The quoted price of £1300 per season is excl VAT so it will actually work out at £1560 each. See screenshot.

Just thought it would be useful info for you guys in the Holte upper.

 

I am on the waiting list for corporate this season. I’m guessing there is little chance of getting any if gas lamp is closing. Struggle to even get a price on how much each lounge would be if anything becomes available 

[blobbyrob]

54 minutes ago, Moneill said:

I am on the waiting list for corporate this season. I’m guessing there is little chance of getting any if gas lamp is closing. Struggle to even get a price on how much each lounge would be if anything becomes available 

Yes I think you'll struggle to get hospitality until the new North is built. Would you not be interested in the Holte Terrace?

We did ask if there was any availability anywhere else in the ground but was told nothing available.

[OutByEaster?]

1 hour ago, blobbyrob said:

Yes I think you'll struggle to get hospitality until the new North is built.

I think you might struggle longer than that - isn't the plan to gut the whole of the Trinity Hospitality once the North Stand is open - moving everyone into the new stand for a season while the Trinity is remodelled?

[blobbyrob]

22 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I think you might struggle longer than that - isn't the plan to gut the whole of the Trinity Hospitality once the North Stand is open - moving everyone into the new stand for a season while the Trinity is remodelled?

Oh yeah completely forgot about that.

 

looks like I'm going to be a Holte Ender for a while then.

[The Fun Factory]

I wonder how well this has gone. I keep getting reminders from Villa on this. Yes please I am willing to pay almost again what I pay for my season ticket in order to get access to space that was previously free to go to.

[OutByEaster?]

3 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

I wonder how well this has gone. I keep getting reminders from Villa on this. Yes please I am willing to pay almost again what I pay for my season ticket in order to get access to space that was previously free to go to.

...and the more worrying question is what happens if they can't sell it to existing Upper Holte Enders. The rumours are that it hasn't sold well at all to existing season ticket holders, but if we end up with 800 spaces in The Terrace View and a need to sell them, there's a big question of how we fit 800 new regular people into the existing spaces in the Upper Holte End, especially if they're paying a hundred quid a game and want to sit together in a group of four. 

 

[tomav84]

31 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

...and the more worrying question is what happens if they can't sell it to existing Upper Holte Enders. The rumours are that it hasn't sold well at all to existing season ticket holders, but if we end up with 800 spaces in The Terrace View and a need to sell them, there's a big question of how we fit 800 new regular people into the existing spaces in the Upper Holte End, especially if they're paying a hundred quid a game and want to sit together in a group of four. 

 

can you pay per game or do you have to sign up for the season? if the former, i guess they'll see how the per game sales go and then have a conversation if it turns out to be a total failure

in the example you gave, i imagine any blocks of 4 would be in either K1 or K7 so there's going to be a few unhappy people sitting in the wings who paid a premium price

definitely needs to be some investigation at whose baby this was. ibbetson? purslow? NWSE? it's something that was (IMO) never going to catch on and that ridiculous survey really didn't convey clearly enough what we were signing up for...because if people had known this is what it would be, it would've been a pretty unanimous "no thanks"

[Villatillidie95]

This was never gonna catch on in the holte unfortunately for the club, and we arent yet at the stage where you can charge that sort of price i dont think.....will be interesting to see what will happen

[Hank Scorpio]

Didn't they ask if the fans wanted something like this? Unless they rigged the results I'm assuming the answer was yes we do.

Now it's here the fans don't want it because it costs. 

To be fair to the club here,  they can't win can they?

[Brumstopdogs]

4 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Didn't they ask if the fans wanted something like this? Unless they rigged the results I'm assuming the answer was yes we do.

Now it's here the fans don't want it because it costs. 

To be fair to the club here,  they can't win can they?

I think the club can win if they price the facility at a level that people are willing to pay. At present, and particularly in the current economic climate, it seems overpriced.

[OutByEaster?]

4 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Didn't they ask if the fans wanted something like this? Unless they rigged the results I'm assuming the answer was yes we do.

Now it's here the fans don't want it because it costs. 

To be fair to the club here,  they can't win can they?

The club asked if fans wanted better food, a more comfortable place to sit, better drinks service, somewhere to relax before and after games and improvements to the facilities in the Upper Holte.

They didn't mention it being a ticketed area and costing more.

Q. Do you want better stuff?

A. Yes.

Announcement - Better stuff available for £400 a season, just like you asked for!*

*Worse stuff for those that don't want to pay the extra - but you did ask for better stuff so that's on you.

 

 

[david-avfc]

1 hour ago, tomav84 said:

can you pay per game or do you have to sign up for the season? if the former, i guess they'll see how the per game sales go and then have a conversation if it turns out to be a total failure

in the example you gave, i imagine any blocks of 4 would be in either K1 or K7 so there's going to be a few unhappy people sitting in the wings who paid a premium price

definitely needs to be some investigation at whose baby this was. ibbetson? purslow? NWSE? it's something that was (IMO) never going to catch on and that ridiculous survey really didn't convey clearly enough what we were signing up for...because if people had known this is what it would be, it would've been a pretty unanimous "no thanks"

It was so obvious what they were aiming for with the survey to be honest. Yes it was deliberately biased and designed in a leading way, that was poor from the club, but it’s pretty naive to not have realised all the questions implying new premium areas in the holte end were going to lead to expensive corporate / private style areas in the holte 

Edited July 10, 2023 by david-avfc

[Hank Scorpio]

5 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

The club asked if fans wanted better food, a more comfortable place to sit, better drinks service, somewhere to relax before and after games and improvements to the facilities in the Upper Holte.

They didn't mention it being a ticketed area and costing more.

Q. Do you want better stuff?

A. Yes.

Announcement - Better stuff available for £400 a season, just like you asked for!*

*Worse stuff for those that don't want to pay the extra - but you did ask for better stuff so that's on you.

 

 

Right but they need a return on the investment. How long should they wait?

[Hank Scorpio]

9 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

I think the club can win if they price the facility at a level that people are willing to pay. At present, and particularly in the current economic climate, it seems overpriced.

They need to charge what they think is reasonable to make their money back on whatever the cost to do it was as soon as possible. It's a business. If they've got the pricing wrong they messed up and it will need to be tweaked.

[thabucks]

I’m guessing I’m one of the few who did some  due diligence and checked what other teams were charging before responding to the survey… if you couldn’t be bothered then that’s on you and not the club to spoon feed you everything.  

[Davkaus]

4 minutes ago, thabucks said:

I’m guessing I’m one of the few who did some  due diligence and checked what other teams were charging before responding to the survey… if you couldn’t be bothered then that’s on you and not the club to spoon feed you everything.  

It's on individual fans to do their own market research before replying to a survey?

[OutByEaster?]

1 minute ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Right but they need a return on the investment. How long should they wait?

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean.

I think fans were expecting/hoping for a big improvement in the facilities in the Upper Holte End for regular season ticket holders, I think they were looking at seeing an upgrade to the facilities to include a bit of decoration, perhaps access to the balcony, the addition of the popular self-serve and pre-paid things that are in the Lower Holte End and maybe a facility a little like the Holte Suite in the Upper Holte - they wanted what they had, but improved and I think after the survey there was a feeling that "finally the club are looking after us Upper Holte Enders".

What the club have done instead is built a hospitality room for a thousand people, 900 of whom are unlikely to be regular Upper Holte supporters, and in doing so they've restricted the available service to those Upper Holte End fans who aren't going to get access to it - there will now be less space and less options for those that don't have a GA+ ticket. As a fan experience for those in the Upper Holte, it's almost exclusively worse than previously - that wasn't mentioned in the survey.

For the 900+ new hospitality fans in the Holte, it'll be terrific, a lovely new facility with seating right in amongst the "lads", a chance to see how it feels to live amongst the scary lager'd up boys and feel all working class, a Holte End safari with a comfortable departure lounge.

Holte End season ticket holders thought they were the customer, and they're the product, we're selling a 'genuine football experience'.

They didn't have to go that way - if this facility was first-come-first served and a fiver in it'd have been massively popular, they'd have taken money over the bar and a lot of different fans would have had their experience improved. It may have taken a little less money, but it would have been y'know, better, for fans. As it is, it's another triumph of the spreadsheet over the supporter.

I'm sure it'll pay for itself, but for me it's the wrong investment, and I have a horrible feeling it's going to be the future.

 

 

[tomav84]

6 minutes ago, thabucks said:

I’m guessing I’m one of the few who did some  due diligence and checked what other teams were charging before responding to the survey… if you couldn’t be bothered then that’s on you and not the club to spoon feed you everything.  

as  @OutByEaster? said just above, the survey was misleading. it was very much worded as just "do you want better stuff and wi fi" it wasn't clear to me at all what this area was going to be. if it said that a whole area of the holte concourse was going to be ticketed only, then i missed that totally. i don't feel such info constitutes "spoon feeding" - it's a basic level of context to the questions being asked.

out of interest, what other teams are doing/have done similar?

[Tomaszk]

16 minutes ago, thabucks said:

I’m guessing I’m one of the few who did some  due diligence and checked what other teams were charging before responding to the survey… if you couldn’t be bothered then that’s on you and not the club to spoon feed you everything.  

What? The club can **** off then

Presume that's sarcasm.

[villarule123]

 

Me sitting in the terrace on my own at the second game of the season. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by villarule123