Hemispheres — Restaurant in Pocono Township

I had been hoping for a special dining experience with my family for Christmas Eve. This buffet was special, but not in a good way.

There is no free parking at Camelback Resort. Valet parking is $20, and paid self parking is a long walk from the lobby and costs $12. All other parking is designated for the resort's overnight guests.

The restaurant is in the lobby of the resort. It was clean. The staff was pleasant, except for the ones who ridiculed my mother-in-law for requesting mayonnaise.

The ambient music was essentially Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas" on a loop.

I'll go with positives first. The cannolis and the cream puffs were delicious. Non alcoholic beverages were unlimited. The hibachi grill offered fresh shrimp and/or shredded pork cooked with soy sauce, rice and egg. There was a plentitude of peel and eat jumbo shrimp and cocktail sauce. That's about it.

The cost was $50/head before tax, and 18% gratuity was added to the bill, so the cost for four people was approximately $250.

The crab cakes were overcooked, under seasoned, and mostly bread. The "prime rib" at the carving station was actually steamed beef and was so tough it could barely be chewed. The clam chowder wasn't completely awful, but presented more as ham chowder. The salmon wasn't bad. There was a vegetable medley in which the asparagus was ok but the squash strips (I think that's what they were) were undercooked and inedible. There was a pasta bar that looked limited but inoffensive.

The "ice cream bar" was a freezer full of low quality ice cream bars. Next to that were sundae toppings, but no scoopable ice cream, bowls or spoons. There was panna cotta that was edible after removing the layer of apple cider gel that topped it. There were strawberries to skewer and run under the chocolate fountain, but the strawberries ran out and weren't replaced.

I made my reservation on Open Table, which generally has high quality restaurants. This presented as a high quality restaurant, but served low...

Trust the Bad Reviews! NYE Dining Disaster! I made the mistake of only looking at the menu for their Special NYE $70/person buffet. While we did chose to eat toward the end of the evening to enjoy the resort celebration activities, it was short lived when they basically ran out of their advertised menu items like Tomahawk Steak and Chicken and Beef Selection at the Asian station. Additionally the crowd of people mixed with the servers trying to push through carts of dirty plates next to food station was disturbing, especially when they just left carts unattended. The food stations were not clean never mind “refreshed” with new food. Most of the food was dried out from sitting, even the bread was hard. The only vegetable was the “bang bang cauliflower” - no other vegetables besides salad bar”. Too many people touching the serving utensils, making them gross to touch and many dessert trays had none, leaving people to assume you grabbed with your hands, yuck! (Our server tried her best at least getting me ranch dressing for the salad as they only had 3 limited dressings available and got us the check out fairly quickly realizing our disappointment) We sat down at 9:20pm and were cashed out at 10:04pm. They added an 18% tip and then taxed us on top of the food and 18% tip. If you think Orlando is chaos, Hemispheres brings crazy town to a whole other level in the worst way, $179 for two measly sliced of Tomahawk steak. The green grapes were the only food that looked clean and were delicious! The icing on the cake was when we called ahead, they said they had valet for $20 verses $12 self park but when we pulled up they said their lot was full and only overnight guests could valet… and it was pouring! Should have taken...

Not going to get into the very negative slamming over the food. The breakfast buffet was good to me and adequate. The huge beef I have is the 18% gratuity added without any notice or warning. Don't mistake me for a cheapskate. I'm glad to tip when service is good. There was three of us. Three breakfast buffets. We got three drinks and our plates were taken away. I don't even know if this is legal. It sounds like they are to cheap to pay their own help. If I don't have a choice but to pay it, it's not a tip. IT A CHARGE. I wonder how the taxes are done at Camelback. That's alot of money over 365 days times all their customers. Could possibly be tax evasion. Someone should contact the IRS to double check that. This business practice is only going to leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Even customers that were happy with everything. PEOPLE DOE NOT LIKE TO BE HUSTLED OUT OF THERE MONEY. I always tip even when it isn't deserved. HOWEVER, I DON'T LIKE MY MONEY BEING TAKEN FROM ME AT GUNPOINT. The internet is not a lawyer but what I could fine says..... it isn't legal unless it is stated in plain view or you were notified in advance. I didn't see a sign and was not told in advance. There is just nothing good about this practice. You will continue to get bad reviews over this. Even if they don't mention it, they will leave disgusted over it . Think about this... people come . Love the food. Love the service. Love the atmosphere. A 5 star review is coming.... AND THEN....... they get held up at GUNPOINT. They were going to leave a tip anyway. THEY JUST DONT LIKE BEING...