Nneka M.
Yelp
Afternoon tea experience wasn't too great!
So we booked this reservation weeks in advance, excited to add the St. Regis Afternoon tea experience to our "repertoire" of gallivanting around the DC high end hotels.
However, the customer service was unfortunately very inconsistent.
Our main server was very inattentive towards us compared to the other surroundings tables, and seemed to avoid our table altogether towards the end of our experience. This may have stemmed from when my mom first arrived (on time), however 20 mins prior to my own late arrival, and the server told my mom that she could not serve her until I arrived, which is customary. However, the server then lied to my mom and said that she has up to an hour to an hour and half, to enjoy the experience. Typically, tea experiences are usually up to 2hrs, unless otherwise stated. My mom promptly corrected the server of this time discrepancy, and the server immediately backtracked on her words. Also, my mom overheard the same server tell another lady, who was already seated and who was also waiting for the rest of her party, "no worry...no rush, we'll serve everyone when they arrive".
After I arrived, my mom then had to walk over to the reception desk (as our server was nowhere to be found) and asked someone if we could have a different seat as our seats by the window, near the revolving door, was very drafty, and the actual table between us was extremely large, therefore we were seated at an awkward distance from one another. Shortly there after, the afternoon tea hostess (?) approached my mom and actually started to fuss at my mom, exclaiming that she gave my mom a choice of where to sit in the beginning (btw, the 3 seats that were offered were all by a window, near the main door of the lobby). Additionally, my mom recently had shoulder surgery, so the cold draft aches her shoulder.
Thankfully, another server and team member from reception desk graciously offered to rearrange our seating, so we could sit closer to one another and slightly away from the window. My mom also politely had a word with the hostess (?) regarding her approach, and surprisingly, the hostess now went out of her way to be cordial and even acknowledged her impropriety, which we truly appreciated.
So St. Regis'...compared to other tea experiences in the area, was extremely lacking, as the some desserts were dry, the tea was served luke warm, and our server seemed low key passive aggressive. For $99/pp plus tax and additional cost for a glass of champagne, I unenthusiastically recommend this experience, however, I have feeling that our experience could have been exponentially better if we had a different server...and hopefully the afternoon tea staff learns to treat every patron with the same respect, attention, and courtesy.