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Curtiss Hotel – A City Comes Full Circle
by queenseyes July 1, 2017
Last night marked the soft opening of Mark Croceÿs Curtiss Hotel. While there were a number of minor ´pardon our dust¡ issues, for the most part, the place looked incredible. It was also fully staffed, ensuring that the optimal customer experience was at hand… starting with valet service under the porte cochère, extending past the LED and torch-lit indoor-outdoor ‘Roman Bathÿ hot springs soaking pool, and onto the point where guests are greeted by a series of fountains at the ‘grand entranceÿ. It only gets more posh after that.
Upon walking into the lobby, guests will notice a beautiful custom-made chandelier – itÿs a real show stopper, as is just about everything else that is original to the hotel. From there, the world is your oyster – guests can check in at the lobby (68 room hotel), grab a seat in the dazzling foyer, or head straight for the rotating bar at Chez Ami Restaurant (200 seat, with patio). Last night, we headed straight for the rotating bar. Par for the Croce course, the experience was nothing short of delightful, from the professional staff to the barÿs lavish black tourmaline beaded backdrop.
It didnÿt take long to notice that the counter was slowly moving clockwise around the room – one rotation per hour. It was a strange sensation to say the least, but everyone appeared to be loving the unusual feature (a nod to the original Chez Ami). We found it funny that the staff could only enter and exit the interior of the bar station after one full rotation was complete. Thatÿs because the only time that the portal appears, is when the opening in the bartop aligns with the opening in the barÿs face (or something along those lines). So if you ever notice that the bar has stopped rotating, it means that the bar staff is making a series of pit stops, and refueling before the next circle around the room.
While I did not eat, I did scope out the menu. Menu items of interest include Charred Asparagus (crispy egg, bacon lardons, frisee, potato, dijon vinaigrette – $12 app), Compressed Melon (smoked prosciutto, mint, pickled cippollini – $12 – app), Gnocchetti (ricotta sauce, summer black truffle, parmigiano reggiano – $16), Garganelli (crab, prawns, Calabrian chili, tomato, breadcrumb, basil – $18), Oysters (1/2 doz. daily selection with cucumber ponzu – $18), Beef Tartare (traditional flavors, egg yolk, horseradish – $15), Margherita Pizza (Buffalo mozzarella, plum, tomato, fresh basil, Sicilian EVOO – $16), ´Chez¡ Burger (onion bacon jam, tripple cream, tomato, frisee, dijonaise), Scallops (large plate – celeriac, green apple, almond, brown butter vinaigrette – $34), Striploin (variation on onions, bone marrow, roasted garlic, red wine – $46), and Aged Duck (orange, heirloom carrot, pistachio, fennel. duck jus – $34).
Once fully operational, Curtiss Hotel will feature a boutique menÿs salon, and VUE Rooftop Lounge (soft opening July 15). In the meantime, this place is raring to go. Itÿs great to see someone put so much time and money into a building of this nature. At one point in Buffaloÿs history, it was commonplace to pay this much attention to luxury and detail. Itÿs nice to see some of that class finally coming back to a city that deserves these kinds of accommodations and amenities. It looks like weÿve come full circle with this one.
I'm reviving this post. Came here searching for more information about "Mark Croce" because it appears he's a "big deal" in Buffalo. Went to the Curtiss Hotel recently and had just the worst experience. After we went (and before coming here) I decided to look up reviews for the hotel and try to see if what we experienced was an anomaly. When I search reviews I usually sort by most recent. But this time I purposely wanted to know the substance of what negative complaints were talking about to compare to my own experience - I could clearly see there were quite a few happy people, so I didn't need to read but a few of those.
I expected to see standard people nagging about ridiculous stuff and a lot of people with no writing or spelling skills. That's typical. What's not typical is the insane responses to the negative reviews from the owner! I found hundreds of 1/2/3 star reviews with well written context and people explaining their terrible experiences. Things about how the hotel urged them to reach out and call them, but would never return their calls. Every single negative review just about has a disgusting reply from the owner. It's crazy to think the guy owns businesses and has some idea this is how you respond to guests, potential guests, customers. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cu...759777!9m1!1b1
Is anyone else here already aware of this? Does he really own the "chop house?" What other establishments are owned by this guy so I can completely avoid his idea of "service?"
Thanks for reading and replying.
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