Windsor Arms Hotel Afternoon Tea Review

Not long ago, I went for afternoon tea at Windsor Arms Hotel with a few friends. Overall, it was a nice experience but I can't say that I will actively seek an opportunity to go back. 

When we arrived to the hotel, we were taken to a small room directly to the left of the lobby. It was lined with black wallpaper with a cozy fireplace against the wall and a grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The room was pretty but I had read from a review that there is another room that is more spacious and ornate. Indeed, as my friends and I went upstairs to the washroom, we were able to see that they had a larger hall which had not been opened. Since we had gone on a weekday, I'm guessing that there wasn't enough people to open the other hall. So if you want to be seated in the other room...then perhaps go on a weekend when there is more people? (I could be terribly wrong though and the room may never be open, hahaha) To be fair, I am already satisfied with the ambiance of our smaller room. 

The pretty chandelier in our room. 

 As expected, a myriad of silverware was placed before each person and um...good thing I didn't have any English spectators during our high tea - I couldn't figure out what to do with some of the utensils, hahaha. 

The aftermath after we "ladies" devoured everything - but yeah, as you can see, our table was filled with silverware, dishes, teapots and cups. 

Now onto the food.

The menu for our high tea was set in that we do not have a choice in what to order - the menu is provided on this link. The only exception was that we were given a choice for tea...there were at least 5 pages of different teas on the menu (I had wanted to try something new so I just picked the one whose name I could not pronounce, LOL.) 

In general, I was happy with the taste and appearance of the food. The scones were delicious and the sandwiches were moist and flavorful!  However, the "petits fours" desserts were too sweet and heavy for me. Below are just a few pictures to make your mouths water, haha. 

These  were the "petits fours". They looked very appetizing but unfortunately, they were too sweet for my liking. 

Anyways, most of my comments have been positive so you might wonder why I probably won't go back again. Well, we had to wait quite a while for the waiter to come take our order. The waiter was polite and there was nothing wrong with his service, but there were only two waiters servicing the room. This was a problem because we were limited in our sitting time and our orders were taken last. As a result, by the time our sitting was over, we had still not finished our food. Perhaps we had lost track of time while talking with one another but I also think we lost some time because of the slow service. 
 
Also, throughout our high tea, there was an extremely unpleasant drilling noise that originated from the neighbouring room. It was disturbing; people were startled. I felt that the hotel could have arranged for the construction to happen at another time when there wasn't anyone dining in the next room. If that wasn't possible, they could have arranged for us to dine where the noise would be less disruptive...not the room right across the wall. 

Overall, I did enjoy this experience since it was fun to just dress up and have a good time with friends. I don't have any complaints about the food (the Petits Fours may not have been my favorite but I don't have a taste for sweets in general) and the décor in the room was pretty. However, the service could have been quicker and the construction could have been done without causing so much disruption.

I would recommend this place for those who have not had high tea before (since the construction probably won't last forever) but I think once was enough for me. I tried to give my honest opinion about my experience and I do realize that my feelings are mixed (um...at least I'm not biased?). Anyways, hopefully this review would be useful for anyone who is thinking of going to Windsor Arms. If anything, just give it a try! Perhaps you'll get quicker waiters and no construction next door, hahaha