Kristen Bishel Browne

Review of Reynolds Tavern

My husband & I went yesterday with a group of 20 f...

My husband & I went yesterday with a group of 20 friends to experience one of their English afternoon teas. 1 star is for the tea & finger foods, which were delicious, & 1 star is for the friendly, helpful servers that waited on our group. However, the lack of 3 stars was for all the issues I encountered with the manager & the amount of miscommunication I received. We will not be returning to Reynolds Tavern for tea in the future. When I originally tried to book my reservation we had a group of 14 & I was told that if I brought at least 20, we'd be placed in a private room free of charge. But, any number under 20 would incur a fee for the room. So, we managed to pull together 22 people to get the private room, which was great. 3 days before our reservation, I sent a final headcount to The Tavern (now up to 24). However, 2 people got sick & felt it best not to contaminate the rest of the group & did not arrive. However, at the end of our reservation, I was presented with a $50 check to pay for the 2 sick individuals that we not in attendance. Nowhere in their paperwork does it state that you have to pay for any group members who do not arrive & I was furious. On top of that, when I booked the reservation I was told that the group could choose between the 3 House Blend teas, but when we walked in the door we were not given any option at all. Every table was automatically given a pot of English breakfast, but we had members in attendance that were pregnant & not drinking caffeine, so we had to ask for a second option that was herbal (which they nearly charged us for). None of this info is made clear on their website or reservation papers. In addition, when I booked the reservation, I was told that any number of people under 20 would incur a $12.50 charge for the room, but when I was sent official reservation paperwork, it said $15 per person. I really did not appreciate the miscommunication between the person doing reservations on the phone & the paperwork with conflicting information from the party planner. For a business that has been doing these teas for a while, it seemed like no one was on the same page or had any idea what was really policy. The party planner lied to my face, saying that she agreed to honor what I was told on the phone, but when I went back through the emails I'd received from her, there was no response or confirmation whatsoever. In the end, if you plan to bring a group, BEWARE - do not deviate from your final number AT ALL - you will be forced to pay extra for too few OR too many people! Absolutely ridiculous - I've never encountered such a policy at any other restaurants when group numbers shift by 1-2 (everyone else seems to understand that people can get sick sometimes). Thankfully, Tea on the Tiber in Ellicott City just reopened & they will once again be getting all our tea party business from here on out. Reynolds Tavern only seemed concerned with taking as much money from our group as possible.