O.Henry Hotel — Hotel in Greensboro

heads up, this review is for the afternoon tea. i’ve never stayed at the hotel as i used to live in greensboro briefly. my parents still live here so when i visit gso i stay with them. 😉

i actually have been here for tea more than once — one time before i liked tea and this time since i’ve become a huge tea enjoyer.

the first time, i still very much loved it. i liked trying all of the savories, sweets, and the scone from the light afternoon tea. i didn’t try a lot of the actual tea as, for some odd reason, i thought all tea tasted like grass (rolling my eyes at my former self now). it was also cool that they brought everything out on a three-tier plate; i mean who wouldn’t think that was cool?! the inside of the place, being a hotel, feels like a regal one that you would see in the likes of the movie home alone. the service is always lovely, too.

this time around, about two years later, we decided to come back. in the last year, i’ve gotten very “into” tea. i drink it a lot and i love trying new ones… so i was happy to hear when the o.henry had seasonal teas to go with the o.henry tea, which is their largest afternoon tea of the three total that they offer.

i got their holiday spiced black tea which included cinnamon and orange peel. of all the teas i tried, this one was my favorite. the other people i attended with got the chocolate chai and the other holiday tea, which tasted like a redhot candy.

onto the actual noshes. each sweet and savory are about a bite or two big. usually, when i have afternoon tea, i eat in the order of savories - scone - sweets.

so let’s start with the savories: the o.henry tea includes an open-face cucumber finger sandwich, a mini ham, brie, & fig croissant, smoked salmon on a mini crumpet, a tea quiche, and a chicken salad tart made with filo dough. these were all delicious, my favorite ended up being the chicken salad tart.

onto the scone, which was vanilla. it was soft with a wonderful outside crust, not too hard or crunchy. the scones come with real clotted cream which is a plus (a lot of places do not use legit clotted cream nowadays) and lemon curd. they are perfect on this scone and enhance the vanilla perfectly.

lastly, the sweets. the menu doesn’t specify what they are, it just says “assorted sweets.” there is a mini cheesecake, a macaron, a slice of cake covered in strawberry jam and coconut, and a molasses cookie. i believe the sweets left more to be desired, to be honest. since the menu was not descriptive of the sweets, i got worried when i saw the cheesecake. i couldn’t tell if it contained raspberries or blackberries. i am very, very allergic to blackberries. i flagged down the waitress and she informed me that the cheesecake had raspberry filling, thankfully, but if the menu had just told me what sweets were available it would’ve saved me the anxiety. i think of the sweets, i liked the macaron and the cheesecake most. the molasses cookie had way too much molasses. the jammy cake was only okay, partially because i just don’t like coconut shavings.

overall, i had a wonderful experience. the service was good, we had a very nice waitress who was very accommodating with all of the different kinds of teas we ordered. the savory food was fantastic and the sweets were still good even though they were not my favorites. the tea itself was top tier in my opinion, i would come here just for a pot of it. i do recommend afternoon tea at...

My wife and I had a free night one weekend away from our young kids. She asked me if we could stay at the O. Henry Hotel. Both of us have lived in Greensboro in prior times in our lives, and we knew that the O. Henry had a reputation for being classy and ritzy, just what we needed to enjoy a brief period of respite from our daily active family and work life.

I did some checking on the usual travel sites which gave me prices $30-$50 over the prices on their website. Tip: book your stay directly with the hotel and you will get a better price and maybe can find yourself enjoying a special package like my wife and I did!

While the hotel is situated right across the street from Friendly Shopping Center and the surrounding outside environment feels retail, the hotel is beautiful on the inside and you don't feel like you're in the middle of a shopping mall. The foyer has O. Henry's famous story "The Gift Of The Magi" embedded and wrapping around the high walls. Tea time can be reserved in this room every afternoon.

The room we stayed in had a very comfortable king bed, some chairs and an antique feeling love seat. The bathroom is huge with an enormous tub and a walk in shower. All the amenities were provided for our stay. My wife commented that the little vials of soap and shampoo and lotion were a high quality name brand (I don't remember the name off hand, but it did the job!). Two terry cloth robes were provided in the closet along with plenty of hangers for our nicer clothes.

We had drinks at the bar downstairs in the afternoon and had made reservations for dinner and breakfast the next day. The food was delicious and classy. The drink menu is wide with variety--everything from pages on pages of wine options, to a decent cocktail and beer selection, to a variety of special coffee options. My wife ordered a latte that she said was delicious. I had a blackberry mojito to pair with the Duck Breast entree I ordered. We splurged and ordered the romantic dessert tray for our time after dinner.

Check out was at 12pm, which was great as it gave us time to enjoy breakfast, get cleaned up, and then packed up without feeling rushed.

This is a great option if you're looking to splurge a bit for a welcome night of rest...

Had car trouble coming out of Winston-Salem and after much hassle, I knew I needed a nice place to stay for the evening while my car was repaired. What I wasn't expecting was exactly how nice the O.Henry would be. I picked O.Henry because I love the name sakes short stories and it did not lead me astray. This gem sitting not too far from the highway has congenial and genuine staff who take pride in their work and make staying at the hotel more than just a pit stop. Their tea service is delightful, comparable to The Plaza in Manhattan but at a fraction of the cost. My two waitress Julie and Jonna were attentive and went out of their way to ensure my comfort. I stayed in The Magi suite, which is a beautiful apartment with wonderful flow and decor. I adored the ceiling painted as the day sky's contrast to the black and gold wallpaper. A rubber ducky in the large tub really showed that the hotel not only has class, but whimsy. I ordered room service for dinner from the adjoining restaurant, Green Valley Grill, an herbed chicken with goat cheese that savored every bite of. I had no intention of getting stuck in Greensboro when I set out for home, but I'm almost glad I had car trouble! Just to have been able to have this experience made it worth it. If you live in Greensboro, and are so inclined, I can't recommend the tea service enough. If you're passing though and need a place to stay the night, look no further. Their suites are perfect for a romantic evening with your special person, or, even for a night of self indulgence and care. Thanks to the O.Henry staff and hotel for making what could have been a terrible day into a...