The Parlor at Heights House — Restaurant in Raleigh

I visited for years now, always 5 stars, but I have changed my review as I have over 10 million views on Google and I love being honest with my viewers.

Update for Afternoon Tea Only.

I absolutely love this place; I visit pretty often and recommend this location to a lot of social influncers as well as friends.

However my previous Afternoon Tea experience definitely was not good.

I'm sure I will still attend the bar space, but I will not take any chances in bringing in a larger group for Afternoon Tea after what happened.

I paid in advance for Afternoon Tea. The date arrived and I showed up without my friend as she had a last minute family emergency. The first host stated that it would be no problem in refunding the $100.00 dollars. Great news right!? However when I sat down a different young lady arrived and stated that she can not refund $100.00 from the total $200.00 paid in advance.

I didn't like that it was in the open while others were dining, however it happened at that point. I felt that it could have been handled better.

The young lady told me she can still give me the full Afternoon Tea service for two, which basically included two of everything. That didn't make sense to me, and I could not eat it all alone, so I advised to only bring out my individual serving. Once the young lady returned she offered a free cocktail and two Tea selections, and stated if I wanted anything else let her know and that she apologize for not being able to refund me due the last minute cancelation. (I simply do not like to be told two thing and they are not aligned, it's a bit unprofessional)

My service thereafter was pretty awkward 😬 😅. I always purchase a jar of Rishi tea to take home and a cocktail during Afternoon Tea anyway, so it was another surprise when I requested a jar of Rishi tea to take home and I was asked to pay for the jar of tea. (After she stated earlier if I needed anything else to let her know)

At this point all I could do was smile and just keep in mind to inform anyone, that in the event of an emergency you will not be refunded nor will you be offered another day to return or partial refund?

Original cost for one person Afternoon Tea $97.00 taxes included.

My cost for my previous visit of Afternoon Tea including jar of loose Rishi tea, $221.00 (By myself, no refund for late cancelation.)

Just could have been...

As soon as I arrived in town my sister brought me to this beautifully crafted hidden gem. This place falls into so many categories from a Speakeasy, Great Gatsby Vibed Hotel Bar, bed-and-breakfast everything you’ve never thought of. The intentionality of every single detail staff included was pure Genius. Speaking of staff, I had the pleasures of meeting Lydia and Donnie (I hope I spelled it right) being served by Donnie the BEST mixologist I’ve ever encountered. She is a Beautiful spirit inside and out you can tell she truly enjoys people because her smile lights the room and makes you feel like you’ve known her forever. Her knowledge of the types of alcohols and proper pairing, depending on your likes or mood, the suggestions were so on point, the attention to detail, making the customer feel like the only one in the room while still catering to every one else. She has a gift! Yes, the mansion was breathtaking, but Donnie was for sure the star of the night. Whoever the owner is you have hidden gems in every staff member I encountered last night 12-21-23. I would hands-down travel 12 hours again to come back to this place, that’s how amazing my experience was. Thank you for starting my...

Went with some friends here for afternoon tea recently. First off, The Heights House is a lovely lovely spot and the experience was overall enjoyable. But this tea service is way overpriced.

The tea itself sat in the kettles the entire time, oversteeping and ultimately making the teas (especially green and black) bitter.

The bites were all pretty good, but nothing was all that memorable or really reached a level I expected based on the price tag. I also asked in advance for no red meat, and the one sandwich that normally comes with prosciutto arrived to me exactly the same just without the prosciutto. For $100/person it was extremely disappointing to see this lack of effort, even with the advanced notice.

The highlight for me was the scone, but we each only received a very small mini-scone which was disappointing.

There are other tea services in the area that are similar in price or cheaper where you can find a better experience. I’ll go to one of these next time. (Fearrington...