I rarely write reviews, but I had a terrible experience at Trevi 5 and wanted to bring it to light. Here's the story: After cancelling our original plans to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary because of the pandemic, we decided to still try to make it special by celebrating at the Hotel Hershey. We booked a table for 7 outside at Trevi 5 for the evening of their anniversary. We expected a few changes because of the pandemic, masks, plain outside table, no complimentary bread, no Hershey's Kisses. No problem.
A couple days before our dinner, I called the meal reservations line to see if there was anything special we could do for my parents' anniversary. The woman on the line informed me that they do a complimentary "petit fours" plate with chocolate covered strawberries and "Happy Anniversary" written out in chocolate. Lovely. Sold. I was grateful for this small, but thoughtful addition to our meal and was excited for it to arrive after our entrees as a surprise. So imagine MY surprise when our entrees were finished and the waitress came over to ask if we'd like dessert menus. Hmm. They must have forgotten.
So, I put on my mask, and went to the hostess stand to politely ask what was up. The hostess informed me that because of the pandemic they no longer offer the complimentary petit fours plates because they are "handmade." (Not sure what tools they are using for the rest of the food, but whatever.) "Okay," I said, "Well, I literally called two days ago and this is what they suggested. That was well into the pandemic." The hostess asked if I called the reservations line or the restaurant. I said the meal reservations line (does it even matter?? It's all the Hotel Hershey) and it was implied that it was my fault that I got the wrong info because I called the wrong line.
Okay. Fine, no petit fours plate. But what else can we do? In this instance, it is completely the restaurant's responsibility to make good on a promise to the customer that THEY SUGGESTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Instead of offering an alternative, I had to ask if we could have a complimentary piece of cake with a candle instead. They refused! I asked again and explained that it was my parents' 50th anniversary, polite the entire time, mind you.
The manager finally came over (I didn't ask her to), informed me that they no longer offer the petit fours plate (yeah, I got that), and suggested that we can order dessert off the menu. At that, I broke and got tears in my eyes. This nice gesture that I was looking forward to surprising my parents with, turned into an awful conversation. After spending thousands of dollars on two nights at the cottages, and racking up a $300+ bill for the meal we had just eaten, they made me feel like we weren't worth a complimentary piece of cake. Humiliating.
After she saw the tears in my eyes and heard my pleading voice, the manager finally acquiesced and told me they'll bring a dessert out to my parents. I thanked her profusely. At least 20 minutes later, the waitress unceremoniously brought out a piece of cake and offered a curt "Happy Anniversary" to my parents. Not special at all. In fact, very upsetting.
Besides this terrible experience, the meal was generally good. My chocolate martini was outstanding. The burrata, bruschetta, and arancini were all very tasty. The desserts (yes, we ordered at least 4 more) were all good. The entrees were generally good. However, my mother and I both ordered the cacio e pepe and it was the worst pasta I've ever had. Definitely not cacio e pepe. My mom, who isn't normally picky, disliked it very much. Instead of a velvety sauce of cheese and black pepper, it was like pasta covered in slightly burnt garlic and oil. Just awful. Stay away from that dish for sure.
Hey, I can live with a bad $22 pasta every now and then, but the experience I had with the hostess and the manager put a serious damper on an evening that was supposed to be celebratory. For an expensive, "upscale" place, they really need to take a course in customer service. I've had better service at the Olive Garden. read more