Bloomsbury Lanes Private Karaoke: Half Price Sun to Tue

The smallest private karaoke room at Bloomsbury Lanes costs £60 an hour for 8 to 10 people, and on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays every room is half price outside the festive period. The venue is in the basement under the Tavistock Hotel on Bedford Way, London WC1H 9EU, a short walk from Russell Square station, with eight bowling lanes, an American diner and five karaoke rooms. For big groups after private karaoke near me in Bloomsbury, it is one of the few places that prices by the room rather than by the head.

Bloomsbury Lanes sits below street level beneath the Tavistock Hotel, in a space the local CAMRA branch describes as the hotel's former car park. The look is a retro American bowling alley, with eight lanes, a diner and a pizza kitchen, and the karaoke rooms run off the same basement, so a group can bowl for an hour and then move next door to sing without going back up to Bedford Way.

The karaoke side is not an afterthought. There are five rooms, each with a large TV screen, banquette seating and a touch-screen song selector, and the official page describes a hand-picked library of more than 30,000 songs, from classics and retro hits to indie anthems. Live DJs play on Fridays and Saturdays in the main space, which gives the place more of a night-out feel at the weekend than a family bowling alley.

Pricing is per room per hour, with a one-hour minimum. Karaoke 1, for 8 to 10 people, is £60 an hour. Karaoke 4, for 10 to 12, is £70. Karaoke 2, for 13 to 15, is £80. Karaoke 3, for 16 to 20, is £100. Karaoke 5, the biggest, takes 21 to 30 people for £120 an hour.

The maths favours a full room. Ten people in Karaoke 1 on a Saturday pay £6 each for an hour; the same ten on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, at half price, pay £3 each. That half-price deal applies to every room and is the main reason to book early in the week, but it does not run in the festive period: from 18 November the rates change, and the venue asks groups to contact it for Christmas prices.

You can eat and drink in the karaoke rooms, ordering from the venue's own American diner menu and pizza kitchen. Outside food and drink are not allowed. Because the karaoke rooms share a basement with the lanes, the food arrives from the same kitchens that feed the bowlers, so order a round of pizzas when you check in rather than wait for the last song.

The best value deal on the offers page is Wing Wednesday: a bucket of 10 Lone Star bottles and two portions of wings for £60, pre-booked and pre-paid. Birthday groups booking during their birthday week, Sunday to Friday between 12 pm and 4 pm, get a complimentary bottle of prosecco or a jug of beer, with valid ID required. Payment is by card only; the venue takes Amex, Mastercard and Visa and does not accept cash.

The terms are short and strict. Late arrivals lose playtime, so a 9 pm room starts at 9 pm whether or not the birthday guest has made it down the stairs. There are no refunds, but bookings can be rescheduled with 72 hours' notice. ID is required for entry and for alcohol. The one-hour minimum is also the default, so groups who want a second hour should book both hours at once rather than hope to extend on the night.

The age rule decides who can come: no under-18s after 8 pm from Sunday to Thursday, or after 7 pm on Friday and Saturday. A teenager's birthday party has to be an afternoon booking, and it is cheapest on a Sunday, when the half-price rate applies. For corporate groups, the Kingpin Suite handles events of 30 to 250 people and the whole venue can be hired for up to 450.

Go on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday if you possibly can. Half price turns the £120 room for 30 into £60,. Skip Friday and Saturday unless you want the DJ and the crowd; that is when the venue is at its busiest, the under-18 cut-off comes an hour earlier, and the full room rate applies.

If the rooms are taken, All Star Lanes in Holborn is about 10 minutes' walk south through Russell Square and has its own karaoke room, though only for up to seven people. For a big group that wants a bigger room, Lucky Voice Holborn on Chancery Lane has ten rooms for 2 to 30 guests and is a 15-minute walk away.

Bedford Way runs between two of the area's best-known squares, so arrive early and walk. Russell Square, at the south end, is a large garden square with a café and a fountain at its centre. Head west along Montague Place to the back of the British Museum, then round to its Great Russell Street entrance; the museum's main galleries are free to enter.

Going north instead, Gordon Square and Tavistock Square are a few minutes away. Gordon Square is closely linked with the Bloomsbury Group writers and artists, and Tavistock Square has a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in its garden. A loop through all three squares takes about 25 minutes and ends at the hotel steps on Bedford Way, ready to bowl or sing.

Address: Bloomsbury Lanes, Tavistock Hotel basement, Bedford Way, London WC1H 9EU. Nearest Underground: Russell Square (Piccadilly line). Food: American diner menu and pizza kitchen, served in the karaoke rooms. Live DJs on Fridays and Saturdays.

Karaoke rooms per hour, one-hour minimum: £60 for 8 to 10 people, £70 for 10 to 12, £80 for 13 to 15, £100 for 16 to 20 and £120 for 21 to 30. Half price on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, except in the festive period from 18 November. Card payments only, no refunds but rescheduling with 72 hours' notice, late arrivals lose time, ID required, no under-18s after 8 pm Sunday to Thursday or after 7 pm Friday and Saturday.