Jill Haskell

Review of Delaware North - Gideon Putnam...

Very disappointing experience at the Gideon. The b...

Very disappointing experience at the Gideon. The brunch is a trip we look forward to but this year's Father's Day brunch was a disappointing experience. So many people scheduled for the 11:00 seating and the food so poorly arranged that the line was out the door to even get to the food. The breakfast foods were all crammed into a far corner with only one tray of each food set up to feed everyone (one tray of French toast, one tray of bacon & sausage, etc) the very first items on the serve line were tarter and cocktail sauce? Yes shrimp was next but there was also cod across the room with no sauces so you had to slip into the line. Same with syrup for the French toast, it was located at the very last stop in the corner. The food selection was not what it has been in the past, not filled quickly, and the desserts were not even labelled despite peanut butter products sitting right next to other foods with obvious cross contamination. The worst part was when our daughter dropped a coffee mug which broke on the floor. We were told, don't worry about it we will clean it up when we reached down to get the pieces so no one got hurt. No one came and there were big pieces of jagged broken ceramics on the floor, under the table, and in the walkway. We pointed the pieces out, expressed concern that someone would slip, moved pieces that were large, but after 30 minutes we left and still no one had come. As we walked out we found that despite the main room being uncomfortably full of people, the other rooms were almost empty and the wait staff was standing around chatting. Finally, on the way out there was a group trying to assist a woman into a wheelchair. There was no staff from the hotel outside and no parking attendant despite the fact that it was pouring rain and a large number of older people attend. After realizing the problems the group were having I left my car and went to help them inside. The Gideon used to be an experience to enjoy a piece of history and luxury in our own beautiful park. Now I fear it's just another hotel with overpriced, poorly customer designed, lack of quality services that's resting on the laurels of who they used to be - A painted lady of Saratoga whose slip is showing. I hope this was just a misstep.