The Grand Atrium at The Brown Palace — Restaurant in Denver

Would have spent a chunk of change had we ever seen the Grand atrium!? Misdirected three times by maybe a new employee? Not sure what happened but we were shown to the tea room which was closing because we arrived at 7:15 p.m. on July 5th we had a reservation through OpenTable. I'm an Open table member from 2005 through 2015 and I cashed out ever after saving thousands 50,000 plus points through Open table. I want to mention my name is the same. My phone number is the same through my original membership if they don't have its because they de-archived something. I have information in my email archives that they might not have proving that I'm a long time one table member so I keep records in my OneDrive. Going back as long as run drive has been alive okay. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera going because I am not a Karen. I don't wave a camera in people's faces. That's rude untoward disgraceful behavior. I don't participate in it, ever under any circumstances. I would not have want anyone to wave a camera in my face so I depart that's a departure from. That's a departure from decorum that is non-ethical behavior in my world. I don't do it. I don't expect it. I don't behave in it. I'm not a Karen. My 93-year-old mom and I, celebrating my 65th, had just walked from a parking lot. Two blocks kitty corner, mom's 93. She's in real good shape. She has a face like like smooth as glass man. We buy the best products. I wanted to mention I left my little black hat and I want it back. Save that hat. Do not let anyone pil for that hat please. I'm going to come to Brown Palace on July 6th and ask for it back in the nicest possible way. I'm not going to be a Karen. I'm going to show up with a smile on my face. Maybe my little dog. You guys kept directing me to the ships tavern which I didn't believe was appropriate. I made a reservation for two at 7:00 p.m. In the atrium a young person on knowingly kept redirecting me to that bar!!; I knew it was incorrect. I'm with my 93-year-old mom. I don't want to sit in a stinky bar. Dum-dum! I had a special reservation for a special birthday. A special event for my special life event birthday. Read the room, read the room, read the room, read the room, read the room You directed me to the tea room which had closed at 5 :00 or 6:00. Then I was redirected to the shipwreck room which is a smelly old bar on the street. I don't want to sit in. I want to sit in the atrium ding dong look iAtt open table reservation maybe?? Like I asked when I first walked in and you held your arm out in the wrong direction. It was my first visit to Brown Palace. You sent me down the wrong hall bro. Me and my 93-year-old mom down the wrong freaking way who can hardly walk who had a cane. You sat and watched as we walked by going the wrong direction. We went into the tea room we got turned around. Nobody sent us back. We went back to the shipwreck I said what's happening. Some people tried to barge in front of me. A lady tried to push me aside you. If you have camera I want eyes. I'm going to subpoena it and jeffco Superior. We're going to town on this brown whatever. You refused water and refused service to my 93-year-old mother with a cane who was panting because of a heart condition after walking uphill because I wanted to have a nice birthday with my mother on my 65th life event. You directed me down the wrong haul. An ice lady directed me back to you and you did not serve me because you let someone cut in front of me?? Let's chat. Send me to your general counsel, I'm ready to dance. LOVE PAM👽🤮 We were refused service for 15 minutes. I clocked it. Too bad I didn't have my camera going guys. I think if you have eyes on that situation because I was asked to leave by a manager for directly asking for water. No ice. All I said was water not ice. You show me the ordinance. You showed me the constitutional law where asking for water. No ice to an employee is against any law. I dare you. Let's chat. Let's dance! Plebes I thought you were in the hospitality business. Water is a human right. I was denied...

Warning…this is a long review. Our reservation was made in the beginning of the year for this “festive Christmas event” and December 30th was the earliest available date. It had been 11 years since my group of ladies had gone to the Brown Palace Afternoon Tea, which can be very difficult to get into during the holidays.

My first disappointment was the valet parking. The website said 0 – 4 hours was $15. So we decided to splurge a bit and do valet since we are seniors and not all are in excellent health. After pulling in, the parking attendant informed us that valet was $20. The Brown Palace must have raised the rate for the holidays, but they couldn’t apparently make that notation on their website.

My second disappointment was that we were seated in the corner closest to the front door. Every time the bellhop moved luggage into/out of the Hotel, a cold draft of air covered us. Plus we were right next to hotel check in.

My third disappointment was that instead of a real table for the our group, they sat us around a large coffee table, with couches on two sides and regular table chairs on the other two sides. It was very uncomfortable, as you have to sit on the edge of the couch to lean over the table to eat & drink. The chairs were also not comfortable and you again you had to bend over to eat.

I had called the hotel in advance to find out about payment options and whether separate checks were possible, as there were 10 of us. There is not direct line to the Afternoon Tea staff so you have to rely on the person you get connected to. Separate payments and check I was told could be provided. That was completely wrong as I was informed by the waitress and that the people answering the phone didn’t know what they were talking about.

Now the food review. It was indeed mediocre as another reviewer pointed out. You get run of the mill tea sandwiches and as another reviewer said, they indeed didn’t seed or blot the cucumbers and so the bread was soggy. The egg salad sandwiches were soggy also. Some of the bread on the meat sandwiches was dried out. The scones were good. The desserts were nothing spectacular. I love desserts but I only ate 1 & ½. I thought the chocolate mousse was in a chocolate cup, but it was just crushed chocolate cookies formed into a cup. The tea was good, but until we got there we did not know we would be limited to 3 choices of tea for the table.

The wait staff was passive and basically inattentive. We knew that we could ask for seconds on the sandwich plates but we had to initiate the request by going over to a wait staff member at another table and ask. Had we not asked for the additional sandwiches, I don’t believe they would have offered them. Then ending to this frustrating outing came as we waited for over 20 minutes to have any wait staff person approach us so we could ask for the bill. I finally gave up, and went back to where they prepared the food to get someone’s attention and ask for our bill.

Of course a 20% gratuity was automatically added, but then I found out they do that with a party of 5 or more. It’s more like a service charge because they didn’t earn it based on anything outstanding.

Overall the quality has diminished significantly from what I experienced years ago. If you are going to the Brown Palace to experience the lovely holiday decorations, then just drop in, take pictures and save yourself the $51.88 afternoon tea expense (which by the way is the least costly on the menu). It’s really not worth it.

The most positive thing I can contribute to this review is that we had a lovely piano player who stopped by our table to introduce himself and later to talk with us toward the end of our tea. He took requests and was the highlight of our afternoon. We did tipped him...

I attended the afternoon tea service a few weeks ago and was extremely disappointed in the service my party received today. I had personally called earlier in the week to double check that they were aware I needed two gluten-free meals, one being for my two year old daughter who has Celiac Disease. The gentleman I spoke with on Wednesday was great, he confirmed that there would be two gluten-free meals and also asked us about the birthday we were celebrating and if that person also needed a gluten-free treat. I then told the gentleman that the birthday we were celebrating was for a two-year old with Celiac Disease. When we arrived today the food was brought out and I asked if this was the gluten-free food or regular. The waitress gave a significant sigh and not so nicely remarked that she was not told we needed gluten-free and then took the food she had already sat down away without even saying another word. It was evident we were being a burden to her. The gluten-free tray was eventually brought out about 10 minutes later and the food was delicious. My next area of frustration came when our other waiter, a younger gentleman, brought out a birthday cupcake for my daughter. Myself and my friend both asked him if it was a gluten-free cupcake and he said no. We both repeatedly said she can't have that and to please take it away before she noticed. Remind you this is a two year old child. The waiter just remarked oh just let her blow the candle out and I'll bring a gluten-free cupcake. He then proceeded to sit a regular gluten cupcake down in front of her against our wishes and left it there. He then came back to inform us they were having to make her a safe cupcake. By this time we had moved the other cupcake away from her so she wouldn't touch it. By this point my daughter was extremely visibly upset because again she is two and doesn't understand why a cupcake was just set down in front of her she could not have and there was no replacement cupcake coming. Had the waiter listened to our request to not give her the regular cupcake the entire situation would have been avoided. We then waited 40 minutes and were past our 90 minutes allowed table time before the correct gluten-free cupcake was just brought back out and set down, no candle or anything special for a birthday, it was just set down on the table. During this time I had to give her my phone to play with because again she was upset about not being able to have the first cupcake. No one came by to check on us during this time. I will say that the lady who was refilling water was very attentive. Otherwise the lack of proper service was extremely disappointing given our previous experiences and the reputation of the Brown Palace. Celiac disease can be difficult for us to manage and we have to take extreme precautions to ensure our child is not further injured any time she eats outside of the house and we felt comfortable given the discussions mid-week the Brown Palace staff would be on notice. It's unfortunate but not unexpected when sometimes these precautions are overlooked or forgotten but the actions of the staff would indicate that there was a lack of communication in our reservation as well as a general lack of understanding of what precautions need to be taken for a disability such as Celiac Disease. While this is an unfortunate experience I would not feel comfortable recommending your services to others in the community with Celiacd Disease due to the general lack of disregard to safety concerns for this disability at this time. I would hope that more education for the wait staff will take place to ensure this would not happen again. I have sent multiple emails and have not received any response regarding...