Palma — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Don't go out of your way to visit this restaurant. My husband and I were guests at the hotel and went two times to Palma for breakfast and cocktails- both times we were extremely dissatisfied by our level of service. The problem started with the hostess seating us next to a rowdy pair of gentlemen even with ample other tables available- seems like they seat guests towards the front to make the restaurant appear busier. Eventually we asked our server if we could move tables- apparently this was the largest ask, and took the backburner on her priorities. We must have waited 10 minutes for the approval to move- my husband and I constantly trying to make eye contact with one of the multiple servers standing around having conversations, seeming to ignore the fact we were unhappy and uncomfortable. At our new table, we were served the wrong cocktails, no communication was had, 30 minutes later we had our mediocre drinks. Both occasions, we felt the carelessness of the workers.

We went back for breakfast to give it a second chance- big mistake. Slow slow slow service, no water upon arriving- we were asked if we had been helped multiple times before seeing our server- probably waited half an hour for running eggs and a smoothie. I think our biggest disappointment was the fact that there were so many workers, but none willing to help the customers.

Go to Ardor in WeHo instead- price...

The only reason this gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because the food was tasty albeit very overpriced. There was an attempt at a theme, maybe a couple themes, but they fell flat. First of all, the description says there is art. There is no art, there's hardly anything on the walls, there's weird chairs for you to sit in, but that's about the only thing that isn't part of the design of the building that they can take credit for. Second, we were led to very deep couches around a coffee table for our dinner reservation. Most of the seating was this configuration. There was 1 proper dining table in the restaurant only, and it was taken. I picked the most couch friendly entree I could find, which was cacciatore. No idea how someone is supposed to eat a steak on a coffee table whilst reclining in an oversized chair. The worst offense was the music. It was as loud as a high school prom in a gymnasium. It was impossible to talk with my dinner guests, and my ears hurt so much that I finally got up and paid for the check at the bar because I couldn't bear waiting for them to come back. Mind you, we had been left to our own devices for about 20 minutes since the last check in, so I'd say we suffered. Overall, $215 for 2 cocktails, 1 vegetable appetizer, and 3 pasta dishes with no proteins. My appetite was gone way before...

The atmosphere and service was very good. The food was average. The worst thing is how they deceive you by listing the wine on the menu at one price and then add some kind of extra "wine tax" on top of the actual price of the wine. Case in point, I ordered a bottle of the Sancerre for $80. When the bill came it was listed at $106 on the bill(which happens to be 20% additional). I pointed this out to the waiter that the menu listed price was $80. He got his manager involved who came over and explained that there was a "wine tax". They had also charged this on two glasses of wine listed at $20 but charged on the bill at $23. I said I had never heard of this in my entire life and no one on the westside has ever charged a "wine tax" that I am aware of, and I eat out often, and that the price listed on the menu was the price I should pay. He changed the price on the bottle on my check but did not do it for the two glasses. He never gave me any good explanation of why other than mumbling something about the upstairs restaurant. There is nothing anywhere on the menu to indicate this additional "tax" while we were also taxed on the full total including the "wine tax". I will never go to this place again and I strongly advise that if you do, look at your bill CLOSELY. Oh, and there was a also a "wellness"...