Forget the Romance Package and hang on to your hats for the limo ride

Posted by Donna from Collingswood, NJ on 10/13/06

On arriving we were told we were VIP's and our room had been upgraded. Our room was spacious but somewhat run down. We were looking forward to the perks of our package. The following morning breakfast was delivered to our room. No bacon, they ran out. Our toast was cold. The young lady who delivered it was clearly unhappy. Dinner time came. We felt the gift certificate for dinner at the Circle Bistro downstairs was quite generous. After being seated we were told that since we were there on a package we only had two choices for our dinner. The gift certificate was only for their bookkeeping. It covered our soup or salad, entree, dessert and gratuity. My husband ordered soup that was to have croutons and sausage. Imagine his surprise when the soup came and there was one crouton sitting in the middle. When he asked about the other croutons he was told that they had run out.(Where did I hear that before?) Fortunately the entree we wanted to order was on our allowed list. Our coffee and tea that we desired with dessert was not covered and we were over charged for each. We never knew whether to expect the employees to be attentive or rude because we encountered both. The limo ride was a highlight for us. As we got into the car it smelled like a smokehouse. We thought our driver would have a route planned. He didn't. He took off and we weaved in and out of the streets. We did catch a glimpse of a couple of the monuments lit up but this just wasn't what we thought it would be and it certainly wasn't romantic. Back to our room and we received our champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. We had hoped that the Romance Package was going to be a real treat since this was a gift to each other for our anniversary. The package plus parking fees and taxes made this an expensive weekend. We wish we had booked at a different hotel and put together our own package, one with quality. Oh, on Sunday there is no free newspaper. If you want one you have to pay for it.