A new Inverness bowling alley will open its doors to the public on Saturday.
Hollywood Bowl has set up the pins at Inverness Retail Park as it plans to welcome its first visitors at the weekend.
The open-plan venue features 18 bowling lanes, a bar, dining area, pool area and an arcade.
Construction of Hollywood Bowl started in December, promising to deliver “a taste of modern LA”.
Ahead of its opening, I was lucky enough to test out the new venue.
Lights, camera, action
Upon arriving, all of the bright and fancy lights lit up the premises, which has been transformed from the previous facilities which were on offer at Everlast Gym.
The last time I stepped through those doors there was a couple of walls between me and a swimming pool.
Now, it’s all open-plan and the LED roof lights lead you to reception, where I was welcomed by Inverness centre manager Stephen Wroot.
The centre will employ up to 30 people when we first open in the high season it could rise to 35.
Following a quick tour of what’s on offer – we lined up for a game of bowling.
When you get to your lane, you can take a quick picture which appears next to your name on the board.
I had also prepared my freshest socks for inside the bowling shoes.
However, Stephen told me Hollywood Bowl allow you to wear your own shoes while bowling as long as they’re deemed safe. I no longer had an excuse for every gutter ball.
I threw the very first bowling ball down lane 17 and even managed to hit a couple of pins.
However, it wasn’t long before I found my score very far behind the centre manager’s score. He must’ve practiced before I arrived.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the action, and the different animations on the screen.
New Hollywood Bowl offers ‘something different’ to Inverness
Hollywood Bowl has more than 70 bowling and mini golf centres across the UK.
Stephen said: “We’re not like anywhere else – this is a completely different experience.
“It’s all very family orientated and that’s what we believe we can offer best. There is obviously Innoflate upstairs and we believe the combination will work very well.
“The Retail Park has become more than just somewhere you go shopping, now it can be a day out.
“We’re in a really strong location here in Inverness, which we also feel we’ve added something different to.”
Trying my luck in the arcade
Once Stephen had taught me a thing (or 10) about bowling, we shook hands and moved to the next area.
It was time for me to test out the arcade. The venue is cashless, so it was over to reception again where I could load up some credits and have a go on the machines.
After picking up my card, loaded with my credits, I ran over to the claw machines where I had my eyes set on a specific teddy.
Despite my best attempts, I missed three times and moved on, still wearing a smile on my face.
Next was my first ever VR experience, saving the world from dinosaurs and aliens.
And finally, I tried my hand at picking up some digital tickets through a skee-ball machine.
Unfortunately, due to the venue not being open until Saturday, I never got to try the food off the menu.
So I will have to come back, not that I needed an excuse from my first experience anyway.
Stephen was very accommodating, even if he did beat me at bowling, and I can’t wait to see everything in full flow.
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