Quote:
Originally Posted by Marilyn Bevilacqua-Potenz
On Nov 12th--my school of Nursing had a luncheon at this hotel. Our group has been having our Alumnae Ass luncheon at this hotel for at least 30yrs. This time was not a good experience. I am not sure that it is because we only have about 300 people at this luncheon. We first have a Mass at 11am. At 12noon the same room is used for the luncheon. This was on the third floor. We had a cocktail hour at 12noon. We were offered produce for this cocktail hour. 1/2 glass of wine was $14. You could not receive any liquid without paying for it. The food was mostly produce. Tables were difficult to find. We were not offered any hot finger foods. I did see one table get cocktail franks. The luncheon never started on time. It is supposed to start at 1pm. We were not told that the room was ready until 1:30pm. When we did go back to the 3rd floor, we found limp arugala with some type of cheese and walnuts. We had a menu that stated that it was supposed to be winter greens with poached pears. We did not receive it. The salad at any other restaurant was presented as stated. The main meal was supposed to be chicken stuffed with some type of stuffing--which also did not appear to be what was on the menu. By the time the meal was served many of the nurses had to leave due to the late hour. Dessert was served to vacant places. We continually asked for coffee but got no response from the staff. I had to get up and serve our table. This experience was not what I think that one should expect from a Marriott Hotel. I have always felt that we were overcharged by Marriott. We pay $100 per person and our board has to subsidize the cost to keep it affordable for many of the nurses who are retired.I hope that next year we have a different venue. I am not sure why the board tolerates such poor treatment.
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Did you or anyone from your group actually go back TO THE MARRIOTT to complain about any of the stuff you said above?
As far as paying $14 for a glass of wine, well, that sounds right in line with NYC prices. Did your association not tell you that you would have to pay for drinks? $100 a person is, again, not a whole lot of money for an luncheon in that neighborhood, but the Marriott would have had the association sign a contract that spelled out exactly what you would get for that money. What happened when you spoke to the association and asked what the agreement was with the Marriott and found out whether they failed to keep their end of the agreement or not? Because surely you did THAT before you posted on City-Data.
ETA: I just looked at the website. A cocktail hour with appetizers is $42 per person for one hour. There are two chicken entrees listed for lunch at $84 and $87 per person. It sounds as if your association got a deal, but if the Marriott still did not provide what they were supposed to provide, whoever arranged the luncheon should speak with them. Wines start at $13 a glass.
Now, you can't really complain that it costs a lot if you're going to set up your event at a place in the most expensive part of the city in the first place, but someone should complain if they didn't get delivered what they contracted for. Not being able to get coffee, not starting on time, etc., are all examples of just plain poor service.