PDC World Championship 2016
Most Hospitable
We had a day (and night) out in the hospitality section! This is what we thought!
So, what is a day in the VIP section at the Alexandra Palace like? I was fortunate enough to be invited by Unicorn darts and then struck gold. Originally I was invited to the Friday afternoon session but was also able to take advantage of two last minute drop outs to secure the evening experience too.
We all met up at around 11.30am at the Palm Court entrance of the Palace. A stress free entrance (security body search first) that took us into the VIP room. You collect your VIP wristbands and then a glass of "Champagne" (which was very nice) and then you head off to your table.
The table is kitted out with a bucket of cold beers, bottles of red or white wine and a giant dart light. All good so far! The food is buffet style - it is served to you though. The afternoon fayre was a full English! Bacon, scrambled egg, mushrooms, tomato, sausage etc. Here it is for those who have not seen a full English!
John McDonald then appears and introduces Rodders and Keith Deller who dispense tips for the afternoon session. Their strategy is to first back any of the players they have heard of. Then, if they don't know the players they back the player from a country they have heard of. It is very reassuring and if you have spare cash you need to offload well worth following their advice.
You are then invited to take your seat in the VIP section. This is to the far left of the stage as you look at it and is divided from the rest of the seats by the walk on route barriers. With the hospitality package we had it was "free drinks" (spirits had to be paid for) all day and these were served to your table.
The view of the darts is excellent, both the stage and the big screen. The walk on's, which are of course great fun, are easily accessible and we tried to get a message to Chris, our part time but vital member of Team DPC, via the 180 cards.
At the end of the session you get booted out like everyone else. There is a bar near the Palm Court entrance, which was remarkably quiet (well in the outside seating area it was) and we waited in there for the evening crew to arrive.
Our friends from Victory darts came along and it was good to see them again. The procedure was identical to the afternoon session but no brekkie this time.
Pork or chicken with all the trimmings and some very tasty pudding was the order of the day. The beer bucket had been replenished as had the vino! We were in the same seats in the VIP section as we were in the afternoon.
Cost wise, this would normally set you back 150.00 pound. You could try and get your money's worth by drinking your own bodyweight in beer but that may affect your enjoyment of the action. The food was excellent, the view was excellent and it was a brilliant experience. Is it good value for money? Pass, I didn't have to pay. It was memorable though and sometimes you do have to put your hand in your pocket to get the experience and memories we enjoyed.
Finally a big thanks to Unicorn Darts and a huge thanks to Graham, our host. He was so brilliant there is no way I will tell the Peperami story here!