For hotels & venues
Carol singers who need no stage, no PA, and no piano

How we work with hotels and venues

You send the date, the space, and the shape of the evening. We come back within 48 hours with a written quote, a suggested number of singers, and two or three programme options. Most hotel briefs land on a Small Choir of four for a lounge or a tea room, a sextet for a busy lobby, or a twelve-voice chorus for an atrium or a ballroom.

The choir either roams or stays put. Roaming suits a switch-on, a drinks reception, or the arrivals hour, when guests are moving through the space and the singing follows them. A stationary set suits the moment you want people to stop and listen. Because we sing a cappella there is no cabling to run and no soundcheck to schedule around your service.

Dress is yours to choose: concert dress for a formal afternoon tea, all black for a lobby set that should read as part of the building, casual for a family switch-on. Christmas jumpers if you want them, and we have Santa hats.

Where your space has a piano, we can send a pianist to play with the choir and to cover the gaps between sets. Where there is no piano, we can bring a keyboard and a speaker for an extra charge, quoted upfront in the written quote before you commit to anything.

Ensemble sizes and prices are the same in December as the rest of the year. Carol bookings start with a Small Choir (4) from £1,150, quintet from £1,400, sextet from £1,600, full choir of eight from £2,000, twelve-voice chorus from £3,000. A pianist or organist is from £250. Every figure includes taxes, fees, and travel within Greater London, and there is no Christmas uplift. A premium applies to 24 and 25 December, confirmed in the written quote. Full details are on our pricing page.

Lead times: our December diary closes out by mid‑September. If you want the same night each week through the party season, talk to us by the previous spring, while the calendar is still open.

What your guests receive

The singers know the traditional carols by heart, from O Come, All Ye Faithful to In the Bleak Midwinter, and we carry a cappella arrangements of the popular Christmas songs guests hum along to without being asked. Tell us whether the room is a formal one or a family one and we build the running order to match. Sheet music, rehearsal, and the programme are handled at our end.

A standard Christmas booking runs up to an hour and a half including the choir’s breaks, which most hotels split into two or three sets across an evening. Longer bookings carry a premium, quoted upfront. If you want music running continuously, book the choir with background piano: the pianist plays between sets while the singers rest.

Positioning matters more than volume in a working lobby. We look for a hard surface to sing towards  —  a stone stair, a gallery, the back of a bar  —  so the sound reaches the far end of the room without the singers pushing. The choir arrives changed and steps out of the way between sets rather than mingling with guests, unless you would rather they did.

Booking and invoicing

The legal entity on every invoice is Alma Consort Ltd, the operating company behind the London Choral Service. Standard payment terms are 30 days net from the invoice date. We invoice against your PO and put the buyer reference, project code, or cost-centre number on the invoice if you tell us at the booking stage — this is what your accounts team needs to clear it without coming back to you. BACS to a UK business account is the usual route.

If a December event sits awkwardly across your financial year, we can issue an advance deposit invoice (typically 30 percent) at confirmation and invoice the balance afterwards. If your finance team prefers a single invoice, we send it the working day after the last performance.

Alma Consort Ltd carries £5m public liability cover, and we email the certificate the same day you ask. PAT certificates for any equipment we bring come on the same basis. For hotels that rebook the same December slot each year, we can put a master service agreement on file once and invoice against it in later years without repeating the paperwork.

Frequently asked questions

Can the choir perform several short sets across one evening?

Yes. A standard Christmas booking runs up to an hour and a half including breaks, which most hotels split into two or three sets across an evening. Longer bookings carry a premium, quoted upfront. If you want music in the gaps too, add background piano: the pianist plays between sets while the singers rest.

Do carol singers need a stage or a PA system in a hotel lobby?

No. We sing a cappella, so there is nothing to plug in and no stage to build. A twelve-voice chorus fills a large lobby unamplified; four singers suit a lounge or a tea room. In a busy lobby we place the choir where the sound reflects, near a stone stair or a hard wall.

How does pricing work for one date compared with several dates in December?

Each date is quoted on the standard scale, from £1,150 for a Small Choir of four up to £3,000 for a twelve-voice chorus, and Christmas carries no seasonal uplift. Only 24 and 25 December cost more. Prices include taxes, fees, and travel within Greater London. Send us every December date you are considering and we will quote them together.

What insurance and compliance documents can you send our venue team?

Alma Consort Ltd carries £5m public liability cover and we email the certificate the same day you ask. PAT certificates for any equipment we bring are available on the same basis. If your venue needs the paperwork before it releases a back-of-house room, tell us at booking and we send it straight through.

When should hotels book carol singers for the party season?

By mid-September for the first three weeks of December, which is when our diary closes out every year. For a repeat December residency, get in touch by the previous spring. A late enquiry is still worth making, since cancellations happen, but the choice of ensemble size narrows sharply after September.

Send us your December dates

Tell us the basics and we’ll come back within 48 hours. For a quicker conversation, head to the contact page or call Luca on 07356 042468.

Or visit the contact page, or call Luca on 07356 042468.