Somerset House Ice Rink
Somerset House Ice Rink
4
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The area
Neighbourhood: Trafalgar Square / Embankment
With its iconic Nelson’s Column, majestic oversized lions and brightly-lit fountains, Trafalgar Square is not just considered the heart of this bustling London hub, but the very core of the city itself. Beyond this esteemed gathering place are more famous icons, as well as a disproportionate numbers of the city’s most popular cultural attractions including the National Gallery and many West End theaters. Along the way to these major sites are quiet lanes and antiquated pubs to discover, as well as riverside vistas to enjoy on the embankment. With a calendar full of celebratory events, any time of year is a fine time to visit.
How to get there
- Charing Cross • 1 min walk
- Embankment • 4 min walk
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4.0
360 reviews
Excellent
178
Very good
102
Average
27
Poor
13
Terrible
40
David S
London, UK310 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
We do an annual skating outing with the family. In the past we have done Canary Wharf, The Natural History Museum, and Hampton Court. This year we have Somerset house a try. The venue itself is really beautiful in the main courtyard of Somerset house. However, the rink itself is small, and the organisers allow too many people on the rink at once. It was also a disappointment for our kids, who require skate aids, yet were not allowed onto the main rink. At the end, the skate return was also chaotic, and sense that a lot of people were disappointed. It would be a lot better at non peak times. Hopefully the organisers will control the number of skaters more assertively in the future
Written 18 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Faz
London, UK13 contributions
Jan 2023 • Family
2 stars for the location & how it looks. Service was disgusting, rude workers from the get go. Rink was very wet, difficult to skate in watery ice.
Paid an extortionate amount to hear the manager say to his workers, “dump these lot off as the sessions ending in a minute”. Excuse me? Dump these lot off? Is that how you address your customers who are paying your wages?
Not only was he rude about customers but also rude to his own staff from the way he was talking and behaving. Kind of makes sense why his staff are then rude too! When my nephew was giving his skates back, the guy said “are you stupid dude? You’re supposed to tuck the laces back in” and seemed very frustrated and angry about this.
My issue with this is firstly that is not how you address customers, specifically children. Secondly, he gave the skates back exactly as they were given to him. He had to fit into it without touching the laces because they were strongly knotted, but we did not complain and he only used the buckle to tighten it. I told the worker this to which he just rolled his eyes and expressed his frustration further by pulling angry faces.
Overall, the extortionate price is not worth it. Don’t waste your time. The crap service, the rubbish management and watery rink are a waste. There’s plenty of other ice rinks in London which are worth it & have good basic customer service.
Paid an extortionate amount to hear the manager say to his workers, “dump these lot off as the sessions ending in a minute”. Excuse me? Dump these lot off? Is that how you address your customers who are paying your wages?
Not only was he rude about customers but also rude to his own staff from the way he was talking and behaving. Kind of makes sense why his staff are then rude too! When my nephew was giving his skates back, the guy said “are you stupid dude? You’re supposed to tuck the laces back in” and seemed very frustrated and angry about this.
My issue with this is firstly that is not how you address customers, specifically children. Secondly, he gave the skates back exactly as they were given to him. He had to fit into it without touching the laces because they were strongly knotted, but we did not complain and he only used the buckle to tighten it. I told the worker this to which he just rolled his eyes and expressed his frustration further by pulling angry faces.
Overall, the extortionate price is not worth it. Don’t waste your time. The crap service, the rubbish management and watery rink are a waste. There’s plenty of other ice rinks in London which are worth it & have good basic customer service.
Written 12 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
slimmorrell
Leatherhead, UK110 contributions
Nov 2021
We went November 19th last year. Its organised well enough with knowledgable staff and queues moving quickly enough. BUT the rink is so busy (mid week lunch time ish) you didn't have space to skate, but just slowly queue and waddle around behind the inexperienced dangerous skaters going around. Thank god my child changed their mind and I kept them out of the way of the blades on the idiots feet as they fell about.
I sat in the Moet tent with my youngest to keep warm and watch - plenty of seats. They were friendly and there was space and reasonable' London priced' drinks. Whilst there I saw two people carted off bleeding in that 45 minutes, staff scraping up the red ice. All the usual ice skating experiences really.
The reason for the 1 star is that I booked an optional extra hot chocolate and sweet treats experience package through Amex for £25 when booking my skating tix. No one there knew anything about it at all and despite asking in the Moet bar, Somerset house staff, the hot chocolate van and the iceskating staff . So I paid for what - an make believe package or poorly trained staff??? Emailing afterward I got an F off reply, absolutely too important to bother responding to me, and 'Somerset house doesn't offer refunds' apparently not even for things you pay for that don't seem to exist, and no explanation or apology either. Rude Somerset house.
I sat in the Moet tent with my youngest to keep warm and watch - plenty of seats. They were friendly and there was space and reasonable' London priced' drinks. Whilst there I saw two people carted off bleeding in that 45 minutes, staff scraping up the red ice. All the usual ice skating experiences really.
The reason for the 1 star is that I booked an optional extra hot chocolate and sweet treats experience package through Amex for £25 when booking my skating tix. No one there knew anything about it at all and despite asking in the Moet bar, Somerset house staff, the hot chocolate van and the iceskating staff . So I paid for what - an make believe package or poorly trained staff??? Emailing afterward I got an F off reply, absolutely too important to bother responding to me, and 'Somerset house doesn't offer refunds' apparently not even for things you pay for that don't seem to exist, and no explanation or apology either. Rude Somerset house.
Written 3 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Scottp19700
London, UK281 contributions
Nov 2022
We booked to go ice skating and unfortunately our daughter got chicken pox and was covered in spots and was highly infectious. we rang to simply change the date and was cut dead and were told no its in the terms and conditions that no refunds or changes are allowed. in a time when money is tight how horrible must a place be to not even consider helping. it was an absolute waste of money and the attitude of the staff on the telephone was rubbish.
Save your money and go somewhere that cares.
Save your money and go somewhere that cares.
Written 2 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
vickiecatz
Reigate, UK16 contributions
Dec 2021 • Family
Been here a few times previously and it’s been great. Not this year.
The temperature affected the quality of the ice and there was too much water on it. Wet boots given out to most of us, if you were lucky to get a dry pair then they would get wet during the skating anyway. Damp feet for the rest of the day for everyone. If you fell over in the 2 inch deep puddle you got soaked - many did.
Staff are poorly trained and really don’t care about customer service. Long queue at bag drop off and when returning boots it was a free for all so you can either stand in a queue and wait, or ignore everyone and charge up to the front where staff will happily accommodate you.
Was told to email with feedback, only to receive a standard response and apparently a policy of no refunds. This is why I’m posting this so you don’t waste your money.
I’ll go elsewhere next year where they might make an effort! Shame as is a beautiful setting.
The temperature affected the quality of the ice and there was too much water on it. Wet boots given out to most of us, if you were lucky to get a dry pair then they would get wet during the skating anyway. Damp feet for the rest of the day for everyone. If you fell over in the 2 inch deep puddle you got soaked - many did.
Staff are poorly trained and really don’t care about customer service. Long queue at bag drop off and when returning boots it was a free for all so you can either stand in a queue and wait, or ignore everyone and charge up to the front where staff will happily accommodate you.
Was told to email with feedback, only to receive a standard response and apparently a policy of no refunds. This is why I’m posting this so you don’t waste your money.
I’ll go elsewhere next year where they might make an effort! Shame as is a beautiful setting.
Written 18 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lizzie W
1 contribution
Dec 2023 • Friends
Currently very upset and displeased with the shocking experience and inefficient customer service that I received upon my visit. I pre-booked my tickets two days before my expected visit and was told that my tickets would be emailed to me shortly. However, these never came. I checked each of my mailboxes thoroughly. After looking online, I called the recommended number in the hopes that I could receive some advice. I received no answer. We rebooked new tickets with the plan to speak to customer service at the venue when we went for our new skate session. When we arrived we were greeted with extremely poor customer service. The worker told us that we should’ve come without our tickets anyways. We would’ve done this if it wasn’t over an hour to travel for us, and it wasn’t a definite possibility that we would’ve been able to skate anyways. They refused to let us talk to anyone else and advised us to email. Understanding that it was something beyond their role, we continued with our skate session and followed the advice to email. We detailed what happened and sent the confirmation from our initial purchase to evidence that the transaction definitely went through. When we finally received a reply, it had been a month later. They assured us that they would help us sort this issue. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard back despite their guarantee to help us. Considering that the total for these tickets was over £50, which we had to pay twice, I find this to be very disappointing. Luckily the actual skate experience was enjoyable, although what should’ve been a fun experience was overshadowed by stress, to which we received no help to this day.
Written 6 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alex_sandra-inc
London, UK17 contributions
Dec 2023 • Couples
They don’t manage the ice rink very well. It was way too much water on the ice which is not safe. If you fall down you will be absolutely soaked. And it’s not due to the rain or weather condition. As an ex professional figure skater with 14 years experience on different ice rinks in different countries I can say that I never saw anything like that before especially for this price. It meant to be fun time but after 10 min we decided to leave
Written 25 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SuzieQ
175 contributions
Nov 2021
Lovely Christmassy... ice rink in the heart of London, near Covent Garden and Aldwych. Somerset House always has pop-up events throughout the year, with art exhibitions and cafes. Enjoy winterland with a hot chocolate or drinks around the courtyard.
Written 21 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
YVONNE ROSE M
11 contributions
Dec 2022 • Family
Amazing experience truly enchanting.
Truly amazing. Turned up with the intention to watch the ice skating after seeing Lion King with my 2 grand boys ages 8 and 4.
They wanted to skate so we went to the booking office who informed us the tickets were sold out. A wonderful man saidlet's s see what we can do and manged to fit us in.
The boys were thrilled. They loved it.
The Stewards gave us a skate aid and we walzed around the rink.
A real Christmas present. Everyone working there had smiles and a real passion to make magical moments come true.
thank you all.
Truly amazing. Turned up with the intention to watch the ice skating after seeing Lion King with my 2 grand boys ages 8 and 4.
They wanted to skate so we went to the booking office who informed us the tickets were sold out. A wonderful man saidlet's s see what we can do and manged to fit us in.
The boys were thrilled. They loved it.
The Stewards gave us a skate aid and we walzed around the rink.
A real Christmas present. Everyone working there had smiles and a real passion to make magical moments come true.
thank you all.
Written 20 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Oleanna_on_tour
London18 contributions
Jan 2023 • Family
My 8 year old loved it. Only three stars because the ice was VERY puddly - it was a mild day and it had obviously melted.
There were a small number of skate aids. They rightly prioritised giving these to children under 6. We didn’t manage to get one, which resulted in very wet trousers from my 8 year old falling over several times. He wasn’t too bothered, but I would recommend a change of clothes / waterproof salopettes.
There were a small number of skate aids. They rightly prioritised giving these to children under 6. We didn’t manage to get one, which resulted in very wet trousers from my 8 year old falling over several times. He wasn’t too bothered, but I would recommend a change of clothes / waterproof salopettes.
Written 4 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The skates are included in the price. They have buckles which snap shut. Hope this helps.
Written 26 November 2018
There was a locker room last year. I suppose it's going to be the same.
Written 22 September 2018
How long will the ice rink be there for?
Written 15 December 2017
I Googled the question for you 14th Of Jan it Finnishes
Hope that helps
👍
Written 15 December 2017
Does the skating shoes are include in the price?
Written 22 November 2017
Are there lockers available?
Written 25 September 2017
I am not sure, they have a small house for rent all the things so maybe
Written 6 November 2017
Hi! I have a silly question: do you HAVE to book your tickets online or can you pay for the admission when you get there? There seem to be no spaces left for the time slot I am interested in online and I was hoping I can still do some ice skating if I just come on the day?
Thanks!
Written 20 December 2016
I would call on the morning of the day and check. It's always super popular so I've only ever booked in advance. I'd assume it'd only be possible at a quiet time, mid morning perhaps, if at all.
Written 21 December 2016
Bonjour, j'aimerais savoir si fêter le nouvel an à la Somerset House vaut le coup ou pas? Il n'y a plus de place sur les bords de la tamise, et j'ai vu qu'une soirée au prix abordable y est prévu, la vue sur le feu est elle au rendez vous ?
Merci d'avance
Written 26 November 2016
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