The Tavern at The Henley Park — Restaurant in Washington

The Henley Park hotel is a beautiful, historic hotel in downtown DC. After years of visiting tea venues in the Capitol Region, it was the only hotel left in DC where my friends and I had not yet enjoyed afternoon tea. We were all very excited for this experience. Making the reservation for the tea was challenging because Henley Park was offering a special Valentine's tea according to their website, but the person I spoke with on the phone did not know what I was talking about and referred me to the manager. I left a message, and 3 days later I received a response from the manager that we could do the Valentine's tea and that she was sorry for the reservation confusion. These reservations were made a few weeks in advance, and the day prior I received confirmation for the reservation and that we would be having the Valentine's tea. When we arrived, however, no one was aware we were there for a Valentine's tea and the waitress expressed concern about not having items ready, which I think is where the ensuing problems originated. The waitress eventually relocated us to their front parlor where they do afternoon tea. This is a very nice space and a true afternoon tea setting, which is surprisingly unusual to find. We received our individual pots of tea, but when the food arrived the sandwiches looked like they'd been sitting out for at least a day based on how the moisture in them had soaked through the bread. The sandwiches also had a stale flavor, and the scones where incredibly dry. The Devonshire creme was good, but one of the jars of preserves served to us which should have been sealed had been previously opened. The sweets were also tasty, but we did not initially receive some of the items listed on the menu and had to ask for them. Overall, the food looked and tasted as if it was left over from at least the day before, and it was certainly not freshly made. Again, I believe this was due to their reservation confusion and then scrambling to accomodate. One of the people in my group said she wished the hotel had told us up front they'd made a mistake and could not serve us rather than serve the stale items we received. For her part, the waitress did her very best through the experience and always remained friendly and helpful. At the end, another person in our group asked to speak to the manager because the experience was so disappointing. Ultimately the hotel refunded half our cost. I hope this was an isolated event, but I do not think I would want to attempt trying...

Went with a nicely dressed big group for a birthday celebration. Going out of my way to leave a review for this because it truly felt like highway robbery. The tea was nice and the spread of food and sweets (we paid for the premium option) was okay at best, but the price for the experience was abhorrent. The finger sandwiches, like other reviews, make Costco ready-made deli trays look like a delicacy. The desserts or just fine, nothing special. About what you'd expect at a four-star hotel lobby, not something anyone should pay extra for. The service was decent but nothing extraordinary or special, especially considering the price, we expected quite a bit more. $16 for a tiny mimosa. We had a group of 10 people and the table was pressed against the wall with no room for the waiters to access a quarter of it, so they were leaning over people for the few times they served us. My review would be very different if this was a $20 deal, but at $65 per person plus tax and tip, I wish I stayed home and wished my friend happy birthday at a bar later that night. I don't think that this was particularly classy or a "fine" experience. If you're looking for something nice, I would...

Afternoon tea here is not worth the expense. The staff did their best to accommodate my parents and I with what was clearly an overpriced and uninspired tea service. We were forced to pay extra for the seasonal cherry blossom menu ($55 per person) because that was the only offering—essentially the bonus was a cherry-blossom-themed sugar cookie for each of us. The standard food (scones, sandwiches and desserts) were all fine if not particularly memorable, but the tea service itself was pathetic. No instructions about how long to steep the tea, no explanation of the food items when they were served, no offer of milk served with the tea, basic sugar packets on the table, no follow-up to refill the teapots or check-in with us—again, not the fault of the servers who were kind, responsive and the only redeeming part of the service. It’s clearly a lack of proper staffing and structure from a cynical management. You’re paying for those extravagant details, for a lavish and polished experience, which I’ve had from numerous other tea services that care about creating a great, memorable experience. This was not one of those...