Peacock Alley — Restaurant in New York

I had a bad service experience here that really stuck out to me, given the hotel is inordinately expensive and purports to be at an extremely high service level. Keep in mind that I was coming from the hotel’s other restaurant Lex Yard, and had just charged my bill to the room there. The server at Peacock Alley, after trying to charge me, came up to me and asked if I gave him the right room number. I confirmed I did, and then he went back and forth with me repeatedly telling me my room number was not valid and that it was “denied”. I was shocked and embarrassed that this was happening and that I was having to pull out my phone and prove my room number to this person when the hostess at the front had already found my name from my phone number, and presumably could have already seen my room number and relayed it to the server before we sat down. After we got around and around 4-5 times of him not understanding my room number and not clearing the check, he seems to realize very late that he can look up the check based on last name. Again, the hostess knew my name because I gave my phone number before sitting down. Also, my name is written twice on the check. The server had multiple ways to process my check and not bother or embarrass me about this. It felt rude, intrusive, uninformed, untrained, and the farthest thing from what I would expect when going to the bar to grab a $40 cocktail at a $1600+ hotel. I do not...

My wife was excited to check out the Waldorf's, much anticipated, renovations. Prior to the closure, she hadn't been there for years. Born and raised in NY, I had only walked past the place, never giving it much thought. But, admittedly, I was curious to see the Waldorf's inside, for the first time. I knew about its storied history, and I was curious to see what dey ahh, did ta da place:

2 Saturdays ago, we went for drinks at Peacock Alley and had 0 complaints with the service (our waiter, Deivis, was kind, attentive and engaging—we enjoyed speaking with him) and the jazz music (e.g.: renditions of Lauren Hill and various Neo soul artists). We had old fashioneds and martinis, and both were smooth but strong. I'm not a brown liquor guy, but I liked her old fashioned; next time, I might order one for myself.

-As for decor, we read that it was restored which is good to know, as we appreciate the historical. -It was my first time there, so witness I couldn’t bear to artisan's faithful observance to architectural grandeur. -So, conservators don't despair: the restoration wasn't performed...

We went for the 'world famous Sunday brunch'. On the whole we left disappointed as at 100 dollars per person plus service we expected great things. The hotel invented eggs benedict, red velvet cake and the Waldorf salad. The eggs benedict was probably one of the worst I'd had, I was gutted as its my favourite breakfast! The salad didn't blow me away but the cake was good. The selection on offer is amazing......lobster, crab, beef Wellington, fry up, omelettes, baked Alaska, cheese boards, salads, chocolate fountain......the list goes on! In summary I'd say the setting and selection are great, but the execution in the cooking of some of the dishes are not at the standard you'd expect in a hotel of this calibre and at the prices charged. It's sad writing this, but we really expected it to be one of the highlights of our trip, but unfortunately it didn't...