Hostess House (J. Wood Wilson House) — Attraction in Marion

Our Condominium Community Had Lunch Reservations For 11 Senior Ladies Today And We Drove From An Hour Away Only To Find The Menu Consist Of $10 Sandwiches That Did Not Include Any Sides. Those Were Available Separately For An Additional Cost. We Finally Got Our Order Taken And Waited 30 Minutes For Our Food To Start To Stagger Out Over The Next Hour And A Half. The First Two Meals Were Served Then Another 20 Minutes Went By Before Any Other Orders Were Served. There Was Another 15 Minutes That Went By Before Two Of The Last Four Orders Were Served Of Which One Was Served Without The Ordered Side Which She Did Not Get Until Everyone Else Had Finished Eating Including The Last Two Orders To Be Served. One Of Which Received The Same Side 20 Minutes After They Had Received Their Sandwich But It Was Still Before This Lady That Had Already Been Waiting For Her Side And The Staff Was Made Aware Several Times As We Watched Them Serve Order After Order Of The Same Side That The Lady With Us Had Ordered To Another Group That Had Gotten To The Restaurant Long After Us. The Server Was Very Hateful, Rude And Unapologetic As She Was Closing Out Everyone’s Checks And As The One Guest Was Just Starting To Eat Her Side That She Had Finally Received 1 Hour And 45 Minutes Later And Whom Did Not Deserve To Be Yelled At And Called Rude For Speaking Up About Having Yet To Receive Her Side And Refusing To Argue With The Server. The Building Is Historical And It’s Too Bad The Restaurant Leaves Too Much To Be Desired As The Food Was Very Bland And Certainly Not Worth The Cost And The Service Well It Speaks For Itself As I Previously Described Above About Our Experience Today. I Would Not Recommend This Place For Food To Anyone. I Know I Won’t Be Back And After What I Witnessed/Experienced Today I Wouldn’t Be At All Surprised If The Restaurant Part Of This Historic Building Didn’t Close Down In The Not So...

I was invited to attend a special holiday dinner held at The Hostess House. Ed Breen, featured speaker, and a Sagamore of the Wabash, shared some of Charles Dickens' personal reflections on Christmas. Madrigal Singers in period dress caroled during dining. Carolers and guests alike sang to two attendees celebrating their birthdays this special evening.The buffet featured foods that would likely have been served during Dickens' time. I have never tasted such delicious carrots. Wassail, sweet and steaming, was served at the end of the meal. And, my oh my, the black coffee tasted good on this wintery night! The House is elegant, kept with love by dedicated women of Marion. I was given an impromptu tour of part of second floor, which also houses the gift shop, and features paintings by local artists as well as historical period portraits. What a memorable evening spent with my father and some of his friends at this beautiful...

The house itself was beautiful! The hostess was friendly. Our waitress was rather rude and it felt like we were an inconvenience to her. The food lacked flavor and was dry. I would be embarrassed to serve the $4 cup of loaded potato soup. When asking if we could sub in the soup for the side ($1 difference according to menu prices), we were told we’d get charged the full $4 price. We were charged the full $4 for the “premium side” of sweet potato fries, again even though the difference was only a $1 compared to the normal side options. The portion of fries was skimpy and lacked seasoning. The only things we enjoyed food wise were the cup of chai tea and the apple dumplings with cinnamon brown...