Tea Lounge, The

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  2      Service  4      Value  1     

I want my money back. I was so looking forward to spending a Saturday afternoon enjoying a 'high tea' experience at the Hyatt but instead we got a sub-standard buffet and tables of rowdy women celebrating a hen's day! I cannot believe what I thought would be a sophisticated polished indulgence that turned out to be women celebrating a hen's day yelling out suggestions to the bride-to-be re the 'must have' for her first night. As I was biting into a scone I could hear 'baby oil' lubricant' hand-cuffs! Needless to say the atmosphere was appalling & whilst the buffet looked great, that was where it started and ended.

It looked great but was very very tasteless. The savoury pies (yes pies would you believer) were cold. There was very little savoury food and the desserts I thought were straight out of a packet or from the bakery down the road. I cannot recommend not one item of food from the buffet and sadly I cannot recommend high tea at the Hyatt in Canberra at all. A terrible experience. When we mentioned our complaint of the hens group (there was more than one hens party) to the receptionist we were told this was the norm at high-tea at Hyatt Canberra. Well we will not be back. Hyatt Canberra lift your game - re-assess the meaning of high tea.

Sep 17, 2011 

5 Average

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  2     

I visited here late June 2011 and almost a year since I was last there. It's obvious they have made cut backs to the buffet quality (eg. whipped cream instead of double cream, smaller selection) and cut back on staff. There was a constant wait to see food re-filled on the buffet and after being there over an hour, one of us had to go to the counter and ask for a tea/coffee order to be taken.

By the time all 8 orders arrived, it was over 30 minutes later and none of us had time to have a second cup before service would finish at 5 pm. Yes we had the sparkling wine first but had finished that easily half an hour before, and with the $45 price tag, value for money was sorely lacking. I am happy to pay this for a special occasion which this was, but will look at other options next time, not worth going back for.

Jul 10, 2011 

5.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  2     

$6 for an extremely weak & tasteless capuccino; got to be kidding me. They perhaps need to organise a different coffee brand/blend and teach their staff how to prepare it correctly. Even tho, I would never go back even for the best coffee at $6 a cup. I looked over the afternoon tea buffet and decided that it didn't offer the variety I was seeking however noticed that there were many large groups indulging in it. The ambience here is delightful, very comfortable seating both indoor and in their undercover garden setting. The service is very friendly and accomodating.
Very relaxing yet over-priced.

Feb 24, 2011 

4.3 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  1      Value  3     

Had afternoon tea buffet 3 times here. The food was not impressive compared to all the other park hyatt and hyatt food I had in the past. The setting is nice, with outside garden to look out. Spacious lounge and big chairs. Even though they call it buffet, the variety of food was not there. Good cucumber sandwich and hubby enjoyed the champagne, but that was about it.

The service was really a let down here. Waiters don't come back after you order. Not just once, but 6 times in total. We just had to keep asking, which was tiresome. We had a toddler, but only once they offered baby seat, other times, we had to ask once or twice to get the toddler seat. The lounge senior staff had this carefree attitude which clearly rubbed off to the other staffs.

Had a go 3 times, but never again. Come on Park Hyatt, this is way below 2 star hotel service you're providing here. Shame it's part of the park hyatt family. They have a monopoly in Canberra as they are the only one who offer afternoon buffet, and Canberra being the visitor's city, I rarely saw "regulars" there, whereas other restaurants do have regulars.

Apr 20, 2009