|
Review content:
My now fiancé and I went to Salish Lodge to get engaged. I decided on Salish Lodge because of the view and I read that they had private tables available. When I called to make a reservation, I was told that table 5 and table 6 were both good options but that table 5 was a little better. The catch was that it would cost $25 to reserve table 6 and $50 to reserve table 5. This is in addition to the cost of the meal. Ridiculous but I wanted to ensure a nice view. I decided to go with table 6 since the hostess taking the reservation said it is almost as nice as table 5 and honestly, I expected to be spending big bucks on the food and I didn't want to drop even more money just to pay for a seat.
Anyway, I was so disappointed. For one, you couldn't even see the Falls from our table. All we saw were mountains and mist. In fact, the view from the main dining room is much better. Our view was blocked by another part of the building jetting out. The second problem was that our table was right next to the kitchen and the workers were so noisy. You could hear everything they were saying and singing the whole night. In fact, this alone spoiled the feeling of a quiet, romantic dinner. Not to mention, lots of foot traffic walking by our table.
Besides the location of our table causing issues, there was general issues with the service. We had a late reservation (8:45) and the restaurant officially closes at 9:30 (mid week). Well, also at 9:30, the kitchen closes which means, no more orders after around 9:15 or so. This wasn't a huge problem since we just ordered everything upfront and dessert was pre-prepared and ready. However, the bigger problem was with the bar. It closes at around 10:00. Well, when I finally popped the question (after the dessert came out), it took an extra long time to get some champaign. Apparently, the manager had to come unlock the bar since the bartender went home. I do however want to say that I'm at least grateful that the waitress (Lori) stuck around all night to accommodate our long dinner (we didn't leave until around 11:15). She was nice, although I wish she was a little more enthusiastic, showing interest in our evening. I left with a sense of "What would you like to order?" as opposed to "How may I help you?" (diner waitress vs. high-end restaurant waitress).
Finally, to top off the end of the evening, by around 10:45, I guess the cleaning crew had started cleaning the upstairs (The Attic?) since we heard what sounded like moving chairs and tables (sliding across the wood floor) for a good 5-10 minutes. Again, a noise disturbance that really shouldn't have occurred and just hurt the overall ambiance.
When we were ready to pay, I noticed a mistake on the check (they initially charged me $50 instead of the agreed upon $25 for the table) after I already handed the waitress my credit card. Well, when I went to tell her (she was at the register), she said it wouldn't be a problem. However, again we waited a while to get the mistake corrected since it required calling down the manager to the register again (apparently, the manager doesn't stick around in the restaurant).
In short, I guess I am really disappointed with the lack of attention to the customer. Had the hostess warned me about closing times and whatnot when I made the reservation, I probably would have made an earlier reservation or stayed away. I think the Salish Lodge should really not allow reservations any later than at least an hour before closing (recognizing that in my situation, more time is needed than expected).
|