Kingston Bowling Alley in a 1930s Depository: Tenpin Rotunda

Tenpin Kingston has 16 bowling lanes inside The Rotunda, the leisure complex built into the former Bentalls furniture depository in the centre of Kingston upon Thames. The address is The Rotunda, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1QJ, a short walk from Kingston station and the Bentall Centre. A game starts from £9.95 when booked online, and the doors stay open until 1am on Friday and Saturday, so it is the bowling alley near me for south-west London after a riverside dinner.

The building is the draw before you reach the lanes. The Bentalls Depository was built in 1935 and 1936 to a design by Maurice Webb, in a grand Spanish and Italianate style with a hipped Spanish tile roof over three storeys. The department store family used it to hold furniture. Today The Rotunda shares the space between Tenpin, an Odeon multiplex cinema, a David Lloyd fitness club and several restaurants.

That mix shapes a visit. Under one roof you can pair a film, a meal and a game in a single trip, which is handy on a wet Saturday. Tenpin describes Kingston as surrounded by restaurants, bars and shops, popular for family days out, birthday parties, date nights, student socials and after-work events. With 16 lanes rather than 30, the lanes fill more quickly here than at the bigger out-of-town halls.

One game booked online starts from £9.95. Every Tuesday, Tenpin Tuesday takes 50% off bowling and selected drinks, which halves the cost of a two-game session. Friday Frenzy gives 20% off up to three games after 6pm on a Friday. Juniors are anyone aged 16 or under, and students need to show ID at reception for student pricing. Escape rooms are priced separately, starting from £13.50 per person with promotions through the week.

The quietest time to bowl is a weekday morning after the 10am opening, outside school holidays. Saturday and Sunday open an hour earlier at 9am, and the first hour is a good slot for families who want a lane before the cinema crowd arrives. Evenings, weekends and school holidays are when Tenpin recommends booking online. You can still walk in and bowl, but during busy periods you may wait for a lane.

Kingston has a smaller set of extras than the 32-lane Acton site. Here you get Houdini's Escape Rooms, beer pong, arcade machines, table tennis and pool tables, plus a fully licensed bar that shows TNT and Sky Sports. Beer pong suits a student group or a birthday where half the party is happier at a table than on the approach.

Escape rooms make a good second activity if your group finishes bowling early. Book them for straight after your lane slot so nobody waits at the bar for an hour. Up to six players can share one bowling lane, and Tenpin estimates around ten minutes per player for a game, so a lane of six finishes one game in about an hour. Two lanes of three halves the waiting time between turns.

Tenpin's group cocktail list is short and cheap by London standards. Cocktails cost £6.95 each or two for £12, and the list leans fruity: the Solero with rum, passion fruit and peach juice, the Mango Margarita, the Blue Storm with vodka and blue citrus, or a Whisky Sour. Shots are £3.70. Non-drinkers get virgin cocktails such as Cuddles on the Beach for £4.75.

Because Tenpin Tuesday also discounts selected drinks by 50%, Tuesday is the night when a round at the bar costs least. Drink with the game rather than before it: the lanes run on a timer, and a long bar queue at the start of a slot eats into your bowling. Order from the bar in one trip per lane, then settle in and keep score.

Tenpin's Kingston party package runs for two hours and includes bowling, pizza served on the lanes and unlimited squash. Lighter balls and bumpers are available for younger players. The venue is accessible, and the Rotunda location means parents can park nearby and combine a party with a film. For a bigger child's party, book the lanes as early as possible on a weekend morning, before the 16 lanes are taken by walk-ins.

One honest verdict: skip the escape room on a children's party day. The two-hour party package already fills the afternoon, and adding a room stretches younger guests past their attention span. Spend the saving on a second game during Tenpin Tuesday, when the bowling is half price and the whole session costs less than a single full-price game on a Saturday.

The Rotunda is close to the centre of town. Kingston's Ancient Market Place, with its daily stalls and street food, is a few minutes' walk south. The Thames riverside runs west of the centre, where Kingston Bridge crosses to Hampton Wick and Bushy Park. Canbury Gardens, a long riverside park north of the bridge, is a calm stretch for a walk before an evening lane. The Bentall Centre shopping mall sits between the station and the river.

If every lane is booked when you arrive, the simplest fallback is the Odeon in the same building. Check the next screening, book a later bowling slot online, and come back after the film. On a Friday or Saturday, a lane at 10pm or later is easier to get once the family groups have left, and the venue stays open until 1am.

Kingston is easy to reach without a car. Trains run from London Waterloo to Kingston station, and the Rotunda is a short walk from the platform through the town centre. Several bus routes stop around the Cromwell Road bus station. If you do drive, the town's multi-storey car parks are close to The Rotunda and suit a family arriving with a car full of party bags.

Address: The Rotunda, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 1QJ. Hours: Mon to Thu 10am to midnight, Fri 10am to 1am, Sat 9am to 1am, Sun 9am to midnight. Lanes: 16, up to six players each. Deals: Tenpin Tuesday 50% off bowling and selected drinks; Friday Frenzy 20% off up to three games after 6pm. Parking is available nearby.