JW Marriott Grand Rapids

As a frequent traveler with a predilection for quality food I always seek the best dining experiences a city has to offer. On this particular weekend 11-2-12, I traveled to the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan with my husband who sits on the Board of Directors for one of the largest Credit Unions in the State. Since we have visited this area several times before we were quite familiar with many of the wonderful Hotels and restaurants around the downtown area. Shortly after the JW Marriott opened its doors in 2007 the breakfast buffet at the popular Six One Six restaurant had become one of our favorites. They offer a delightful selection of breakfast items and the chef is very gracious and detailed in explaining the wide variety of specialties. However, this morning was a very unpleasant experience from a service stand point. From the hostess to the waitresses none of the high standards that we have come to expect from a JW Marriott hotel were met. The breakfast buffet opened at 7:00 am and we arrived shortly thereafter. There were many open tables in the front with a view of the water however; our hostess never asked if we had a seating preference she just proceeded to seat us in the back of the restaurant. I immediately requested we be seated up front and soon after one of the waitresses asked what type of beverage we wanted before we proceeded to the buffet. My husband enjoys the smoked salmon that the chef had accompanied with red onions, capers and chopped boiled egg. On one side of the smoked salmon was a variety of cold cuts while on the other was an assortment of cheeses. We only noticed one utensil to handle the individual selections and asked the hostess for some assistance. She advised that she felt one tong was there to handle the meat, fish and cheese. Since we are vegetarians I did not think this was appropriate to touch the meat, smoked salmon and cheese with the same utensil. She reluctantly went to the back to retrieve only one more tong. After the chef made a wonderful omelet with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions and local goat cheese from the Dancing Goat farm in Byron, Michigan we proceeded back to our table. This is where our service fell short, our plates were stacking up on the limited space we had at the small table for two. Our waitress had passed our table several times without asking if we needed anything or inquire how our meal tasted. I finally had to call her over to remove the noticeably empty plates that were stacked. We were so disturbed by the lack of service I asked my husband to take a photo of this appalling display. Although I highly recommend the food at this establishment I would also recommend customer service training and/or replacement for some of the hotel's staff. Not to mention I requested one white and one red wine glass as we checked in we did not receive until we left the hotel for dinner and came back and asked again. If I wanted a three buck dining experience we could have stopped at one of many fast food restaurants. Fortunately, my gourmet cooking skills do not warrant anything less than a palatable savoring meal.

Yours Truly, The Tasting Tattler