Kara W.

I was so hoping that this review would be different. But, here goes: I visited the Monday before Thanksgiving and dined in the lounge/bar area near the front desk. This hotel also features an actual sit-down restaurant with the same name. I believe that the food from the lounge and the restaurant come from the same kitchen. I ordered the crab mac and cheese which was just meh. It was like someone mixed macaroni with some really loose crab dip, then heated it up. One of my dining companions ordered the buffalo wings which she couldn't stop raving about. My other dining companion ordered the grilled chicken club which was highly recommended by the server. At first chew, I could tell that my second dining companion was not pleased with her sandwich. But, she was trying to be polite. When we asked how her sandwich was, she hesitated, then explained that she thought that the chicken was dry, tough, and hard to chew. When she explained her feelings to the server, he apologized, retrieved a fork from a nearby table and poked at the chicken He did admit that it was "a little tough". She asked if it was normally that tough and he said, :Well, it is grilled." She explained that grilled chicken was not necessarily dry chicken. He apologized again, but explained that since she had eaten half of the sandwich, there was nothing that he could do. He could replace it, but that was about it. She declined the replacement sandwich and argued with him that she had not eaten half of the sandwich and proceeded to attempt to put it back together to show him. (IMHO, she had eaten 20-25% of it.) He did ask if there was anything else that he could get her, she said, "No, thank you," and sent the sandwich back. A few minutes later, she decided to try the Maryland Crab soup and informed the server of her decision. He retrieved the soup right away, and she enjoyed it thoroughly. Problem solved, right? Nah! When the bill came, the server had discounted the sandwich 20% and charged her for the soup. She suggested to the server that the soup would replace the sandwich. After a bit more arguing, the server removed the sandwich from the bill. However, he added a 5% service charge to the bill!!! (Sneaky! Sneaky!) Though, we were still planning to leave a tip. We quickly changed our minds and considered that service charge as his tip, and left very disappointed at the level of customer service that was displayed. I have never dined at sit-down restaurant where the serve's attitude was so flippant and rude. The next day, I called the the hotel to speak with the Food and Beverage Manager, who assured me that the server was usually impeccable and that it was not their policy to add a service charge to the bills of small parties. I suspected as much, but was happy that she confirmed that the service charge was uncalled for. She also apologized profusely and mentioned that she would like the opportunity to make things up to us by inviting us back and offering to send me a gift card for our next visit. She explained that because the holiday was quickly approaching, she could not guarantee that it would be mailed before the holiday. But, it would definitely be mailed the following week. Three weeks later....no gift card. (Mind you, this place is less than 3 miles from my home and Baltimore mail is pretty speedy.) Could it have gotten lost? Maybe. but, this would be the first time that my mail had been lost (that I now of) I was really wishing for the opportunity to write a favorable review upon my next visit. But, if wishes were horses....