Fitz's Russell Sq. — Restaurant in London

I am staying as a guest at the Fitzroy. The Fitz is the “hotel bar” for this particular Kimpton and this was my second visit(my last occurring in 2022). As a solo traveler, I simply wanted to sit at the bar and have a cocktail. Upon finding the connecting doors to the hotel closed, the bellman escorted me to a secondary entrance. I was puzzled upon entering the “bar” as I wasn’t looking to sit at a table across from two empty chairs, but rather simply wanted to sit at an actual bar. There was no hostess on duty so I walked in. A server stopped me and asked if he could help. I simply said I was looking to have a cocktail. Having visited Fitz’s previously I asked if I was in the right place or if this was the restaurant. He explained that the other room was “highly reserved” and that he would seat me in this room. The main room at Fitz’s is extraordinary. Plush draperies hanging from the ceilings, an enormous disco ball, large feathers on display, and a boisterous atmosphere that is tremendous. The place I was seated was none of those things. The drink menu may be the same, but the room is NOT. Nor is the service. I decided to just sit at the table and have my cocktails. The server who seated me asked what I would like. As opposed to ordering from their innovative cocktail menu which is based on color palette, I just wanted a classic cocktail this evening, so I asked for a sazerac. The server, who admitted he was “new” looked at me like a dog watches television. Absolutely oblivious. He asked me twice more what it was I wanted. It’s only a 200+ year old cocktail so I’m sure no one ever orders it right? He immediately went to a gentleman who seemed to be the bar manager and asked him. The gentleman came to my table and asked if I’d like rye or cognac or half and half. I responded rye because that’s how the sazerac evolved due to a naval blockade of New Orleans. My cocktail arrived in a brandy snifter as opposed to an old fashioned glass. It was also missing the lemon peel which typically serves as the garnish and brightens the rim of the glass with the freshness it deserves. The cocktail was good, although lacking completion due to the lack of the lemon peel. I decided to change gears and I asked my server for a mezcal Paloma. Once again, he looked puzzled and ran to the bar manager. Now I certainly appreciate the server wanting to get my drink order right, but I’m not ordering some Tik-Tok manipulated drink or something from mars, I just wanted a mezcal Paloma. A typical Paloma, made with tequila can certainly have a salt rimmed glass, but a mezcal Paloma should have chili powder around the rim to accent the smokiness of the mezcal. My cocktail arrived in a Collins glass as opposed to an old fashioned glass. It’s a Paloma, not a sex on the beach. This glass was rimmed with salt, no chili powder. I would have preferred nothing as opposed to the salt. The cocktail tasted good, but the salt was a bit off putting. Now if I had been sitting at the bar, where I could speak with the bartender, all of these things could have been discussed. I, however, was seated in the drably decorated secondary room that doesn’t even offer bar seating and has drinks passed through from the vibrant, energetic, and lavish other side. As a hotel bar, it would seem obvious to me that someone who is shelling out $400 a night for lodgings would be seated in the ACTUAL BAR, not the anemic back room. I certainly understand that taking reservations for the cocktail bar is a necessity of operating, but at the disservice of hotel customers? Frankly, it was a bit insulting. It also didn’t help that two people arrived at the front while I was seated and told the bar manager that they were staying at the hotel for the first time, wanted to check out the bar, and were immediately escorted to the “main” room. Perhaps the “new” server should not be allowed to seat people when he doesn’t even know the basicsI suppose the people spending $25 on drinks are more important than the hotel guests paying thousands....

We came on a Saturday night at about 8pm and we were waiting for it to get busier, but it never did.

At 9:30pm they even put some of the chairs on the bar which was very uninviting and pretty poor for a Saturday night when they should be heaving.

The best it got was half full.

We were taken to a smaller area where we felt quite crammed in, especially as they had put three people on a place for two so other people were encroaching onto our area.

Not great for something that is trying to be more of a luxury establishment.

We asked to be moved and presumed that they hadn't given us the larger areas because other people had taken them, but it was clear later on that those places were empty.

A Spanish lady came and showed us the menus and was very polite and nice, but when our drinks came they tasted like petrol.

A very capable waitress with shorter hair came and we politely explained why we didn't even want the drink them.

She then explained how at the bottom of each page there are flavor profiles between intense and fragrance. She very kindly took the drinks away and we chose ones that were more fragranced.

So a lack of training had meant that the woman at the front who had showed us in and the first waitress hadn't shown us how everything worked properly.

These drinks were nice, we like them and enjoyed drinking them.

This lady with shorter hair was superb, without her this would have been a one star review. She took back the other drinks without them being charged for as we weren't going to drink them, explained things well and when she took pictures of using our mobile phone she made sure the lighting was perfect and did a great job.

It became quite clear that the place was under staffed in the serving area, all that this woman was doing everything and the others were not.

The lady at the front desk area inviting people into the bar just stood there, even when it was quite clear that nobody else was coming dot so everybody else was running around and there just weren't enough staff.

At more than one point I had to go have to find somebody, because nobody was visible to even see that we needed help.

There's a big glitter ball, there's some nice art but nothing to make this place amazing.

I've given it to four stars because it wasn't a disaster, but it doesn't have the great care and thought in any place. In fact other parts of the hotel seemed nicer.

With London being so full of amazing bars and places, we won't be coming back here again.

It's a shame because the people seem nice, but it was not done with any great self improvement, thought or care apart from the one woman with short hair who was next level.

It may sound like I'm being overly pedantic, but I'm being as generous as possible because they people were smiley and friendly. If you look at my other reviews you'll see I'm not normally this disparaging.

All in all though, when you looked around at the customers nobody seemed to be overly happy. Whereas in great bars they have a great atmosphere of people being happy. I think this is because it was understaffed and just isn't a brilliant...

Fitz's made it difficult for me to ever want to go back. Fitz's has everything going for it. Uber cool environment, innovative drinks, interesting theme to the drinks menu. All for naught. First, we were seated in a spot where the waitstaff could not see us (apparently due to a bright light near us). We could not flag anyone down and waitstaff would only come to check on us after a long time. To pay our bill, we eventually had to pack up and walk to the front. Second, our bill was wrong twice. It seemed like the staff was guessing what we ordered and the bill had many additional drinks on it. The person at the front eventually just asked me what I ordered. Third, my wife ordered the Menage a Trois. The whole menu is based off of color and each drink has a color palette (palate) and specifically lists the ingredients. Her drink came back red and we were puzzled (didn't match the menu or the ingredients). After asking waitstaff, we were told that it was due to an extra ingredient that was listed on the menu. (???) If they are telling the truth, then why not list the ingredients AND don't you have an allergen issue if you are adding ingredients that aren't on the menu? If they are lying, then they made the wrong drink and tried to cover it up. All in all, a very disappointing experience that was due to a wide variety of independent issues that should not occur at a...