Michael H.
Yelp
My family rented this beautiful club for a reception. It is gorgeous, but for a top tier venue such as this they are somewhat lacking in professionalism. The director seemed fine, but the large staff under her were not all adequately trained (or vetted).
Here are the details:
Every person had a name place tag that indicated steak or chicken. I was brought the wrong thing and I was at the head table!
Speaking of the place settings; they all contained a takeaway for the attendees to take home if they so desire. While people were up dancing or socializing, I noticed that they were mostly thrown away by the waitstaff. When I asked them about that, they said they took them out and left them. When I looked closer, it was apparent that they'd only done that at half of the tables (or less). A bit later someone brought me out a few, which I only assume she fished out of the trash or her personal bag that she was going to take home with her.
But that wasn't all that was taken away during the night. My crème brûlée was taken away after I got up snap some instagrams. I was not the only one left wanting with the desire to finish their dessert. I know that they're always pressed to never have plates left sitting at tables, but it was a bit ridiculous and is a personal pet peeve of mine. Maybe they'd let most of their waitstaff go at that point, so proper monitoring of guests was not happening.
Same happened with beverages; I was never able to finish a drink as they were ALWAYS taken early, even when left next to a bag and still half full. It's clear they were out to pour as many drinks as possible. Also, they don't count the drinks, they estimate off of the number of bottles of liquor they go through. Which i mention because it explains why I got a very stiff drink when I specifically asked for a light one (extra coke), since it was getting near the end of the night. But it didn't matter really, because it was taken from me after midnight when it was still 85% full (despite having the room til 1). When I complained, this is what the server said: "oh, sorry, we're closed anyway." Meaning the bar was taken down at midnight.
She was visibly hurried, as they all seemed at that point, getting linens off the tables and whatnot. Despite the fact that we were dancing to a live band followed by a dj for at least another thirty more minutes. A certain amount of decorum should be maintained throughout the night, and the hustle and stress should really be kept out of view of the guests as much as possible. Right?
Want more?
The bars were to not have tip jars out, but my mother was not happy to see cash from people who tipped anyway being left out on the bar to encourage more tips. These were not big bars by the way, just the little mini reception bars, so cash splayed out was not only unprofessional, it was sloppy/wet.
All of this would've been fine if it were a room at the convention center or something, but a venue such as this, and an expense such as this, demands a much higher level of service. Just the way the staff talked to me was enough to write a negative review. Perhaps they were tired from multiple events over the last couple days, but frankly, for this kind of money they can afford to have a new fresh staff. I should also mention that they were adequately staffed in terms of numbers, at least at first, so that wasn't the problem.
Things that you might be curious about: the food was quite good. A bit cool maybe, but that was our fault for running late. The bartenders were friendly and poured good drinks, despite being younger than I would've thought at such a place.
I didn't attend the tasting of menu items a couple months ago, but my family raved about that. Which I've also heard from other people who've been through the process.
I guess that's about it.