Royal Park Hotel — Hotel in Rochester

STAY AWAY IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES! I am SO disappointed in this hotel as a wedding venue. Firstly, the hotel was incredibly crowded with two different wedding events occurring at the same time, with only one bar available.

BUT the biggest reason for this review is that eating at the venue almost caused me to go into anaphylactic shock due to their staff being unacknowledgeable. The staff was serving a "chicken satay", which to my understanding is just breaded chicken. There were no labels or titles on the appetizers being served, meaning every guest had to ask what each dish was. I picked up a piece of the chicken on a stick and asked the server "is this just breaded chicken", to which the reply was "yes".

After taking one bite, I knew instantly that the food contained some form of nuts. I turned back to the same server and asked what is in the breading, to which they responded "coconut crusted chicken". Hmmm. I'm not allergic to coconut, so I knew that something was wrong. Within a few minutes, I was vomiting and shaking, then starting to lose consciousness. I had to be taken to the ER and given a shot of epinephrine, then stayed until the late night, causing me to miss the entire wedding reception.

The next day, another guest with tree nut allergies told me that the server said the dish was "pecan coconut chicken". At this point, it was clear that the servers had no idea what they were serving, because the dish was said to be chicken satay, then coconut crusted chicken, then pecan crusted chicken.

Finally, I emailed the hotel asking their food policies regarding allergies, because I was considering taking legal action. A manager named Sue called me that same day asking for general information on the event, and I told her the story. Sue finally confirmed the dish was actually cashew coconut chicken, and promised that she would call me back with more information within the next few days. A week later, I had not heard anything back from Sue and no one had reached out. I called back, and was told that a manager would be in touch to discuss.

This morning, Sue got back in touch with me, however she was far less than helpful. Sue began the conversation by saying, "well our initial conversation was only a week ago and I needed to do some research"....her attitude already made me feel like a bother to her. She then continued to say that the groom's mother planned the entire event and should have specified allergies to tree nuts. When I responded asking why the servers gave me three different answers regarding the ingredients, Sue said I should have been more specific when asking them.

Excuse me? I understand the server could have misunderstood the question "is this just chicken on a stick". However, what are the reasons for the servers then saying the dish was coconut, then pecans, then cashews? If I knew from the start that I had ingested cashews, I could have more effectively treated my allergy from the start.

I am SO upset at this situation. The wedding was rescheduled twice, I had driven over 5 hours to be there, and saw only the ceremony. All of this because the servers had no idea what they were serving to guests.

AND, how in 2021 are you still mass serving a dish without any label or indication what is on/in the dish? The groom's mother is not responsible for all 200+ plus guests, plus their dates for the wedding. The fact that this situation occurred and then I was the one blamed for it is so disheartening.

Sue could have offered any assistance at all to me, but instead she made me feel like it was my fault for missing this entire event. She said that since I am considering taking legal action, she will no longer speak with me. There would not have been a need for any legal action if the hotel staff were informed, and if Sue could have offered any form of help.

I would never come to this hotel again, nor recommend any...

Feelings are mixed on this hotel. Had 3 people in a double queen room for a 3-night stay (in town for a wedding). Other family was also staying in the hotel.||Pros: Beautiful grounds and location with easy access to walking trails to downtown. Able to check in early. Staff was quick to bring items to room that we needed (such as towels, since we had 3 in the room but there were only towels for two). Rooms clean, spacious, comfortable, and quiet (events were continuously going on-did not have noise in room), pretty marble bathroom with Bigelow toiletries (just basic Q-tips, cotton balls, lotion and 1 soap). Offered coffee in lobby (a.m.) and flavored water during day. Adirondack chairs and firepit available to sit outdoors by the river. Restaurant on site was convenient with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the river. Food was good-had one light dinner and breakfast there (breakfast took quite awhile to arrive but fortunately we weren't tight on time). ||Cons: Felt nickel and dimed for a 5-star hotel. Friend had one glass of wine at the bar for $18 (and not a large pour). Charged $20 per night for parking (IMO excessive for an open lot at a suburban hotel-this is NOT downtown Detroit) and due to other events hosted on site, ended up having to park far away and walk quite a distance late at night after returning from our event, even though we were PAID parking guests. Event parking should be designated to the open air "garage" area so overnight guests can park close to building. Charged $15 per night "Amenity Fee" PLUS $1.58 per night TAXES on the Amenity Fee! Apparently this is for 2 bottled waters (daily in-room water should always be complimentary) in the room per day (however, we had 3 guests, and waters were not restocked each day), welcome drink, wifi, bike or fishing rental (we did not use), and perhaps the small workout room (no pool) which we didn't use. Did not see a doorman or luggage assistance, though maybe available on request. The flavored water in the lobby looked enticing, but was perpetually empty (our group was only able to fill up 3 cups twice in the 4 days there). Even when staff was alerted that it was empty, it remained empty. The weather was extremely hot and this should have been the perfect refreshment, so finding either no water set up or water that looked full but was empty, was disappointing. The first night we were sitting in the restaurant's outdoor area enjoying a drink looking over the river and were alerted that we would have to leave. The whole outdoor area was closed due to a "sold out" ticketed event that evening. One of the days our room was never made up. ||Summary-The hotel seems focused on events, and is probably a great place to hold one. There was one event after another in the conservatory (which looked beautiful) every single day, and the lobby could be bustling. A little awkward at times walking through the lobby when wedding guests were mingling, but really not an issue. For such a beautiful, historic, well-situated hotel, I wanted to give 5 stars, but honestly feel that the issues mentioned and particularly the $110 extra charges detracted from a 5-star experience. We really enjoyed the location and walkable accessibility to restaurants, parks and downtown Rochester (check out the...

My wife and I stayed here for a few nights and even with all of the Covid-19 restrictions we were blown away by how much of a quality experience we had, especially considering the low prices compared to what you'd pay for this kind of room anywhere else.

We stayed in the Grand Luxury King, which it appears there might only be two of these kinds of room in the hotel. For $200 a night we got a giant 700+ sqft room that includes a nice long entry hallway (extra privacy), a sitting area with two comfy chairs (needs an ottoman or two, though), a big desk (was great for getting work done the day I checked out), a 4 poster king bed, and a large bathroom with a walk in closet and a large standing shower with two shower heads.

The only downsides to the room is that it appears there's only one heating/cooling vent which is closer to the bed, so the desk area has a slightly different climate. The television is adequate, especially with the xfinity cable offered, but the screen is really small and was really dim (couldn't find a way to make it brighter). But by far the worst part of the room was the WiFi. It was abysmal, and I almost docked a star for it. At most I was getting 10mbps, but on average it was closer to 2-3mbps. The wifi would drop every minute or two, so streaming videos or video chatting with our kids was impossible. Even looking for restaurants in the area, the maps app on my phone would stall every couple minutes due to drops in wifi. My suggestion would be to bring a router, as there is an ethernet cable on the desk, which I'm currently getting 100+ mbps on my laptop and haven't experienced any drops.

As for the rest of the hotel, the restaurant seemed nice. My wife had dinner there one night by herself and enjoyed it, and we had cocktails at the bar together as well, which of course came with a premium price tag but was well worth it. Our bartender was knowledgeable about mixed drinks and there were plenty of beers, wines, and liquors available. The grounds are nice and small, so it's easy to walk around the building and take in the creek, the garden, the practice putting green (my favorite part), etc. There is plenty of outdoor seating and private cabanas to rent, and the grounds are well maintained. The sidewalk on one side of the hotel is also part of the city's system of paved nature trails, so it's easy to access other trails right from the comfort of the hotel; I was able to bike up and down the Paint Creek Trail without driving anywhere, and in other directions you can get to various other parks and even a metropark! We didn't have a whole lot of interactions with the staff, but when we did they were extremely friendly and accommodating.

All in all, we will definitely be coming back to this hotel. We didn't get to explore as much of the quaint little town of Rochester due to the virus, but we did get to enjoy Downtown Cafe (great sandwiches) and Rochester Mills Beer Co (famous for their milkshake stout, and their food is just as good). The hotel is just off the beaten path of downtown so it's not busy out front at all, yet you can still walk 5 minutes and be right in the heart of all the shops and...