Dinner at Mr. C Cipriani Hotel Beverly Hills (But We Should Have Gone Elsewhere)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 While in L.A., we gathered a great group for dinner. But if only we had gone somewhere else besides the Mr. C Hotel. The Cipriani name is legendary & this is their first foray as hoteliers, opening a 138-room property in an odd area where Tower Beverly Hills used to be. Doing what I do, I had heard a lot of pre-opening buzz and was excited to see what they created in Beverly Hills. I can't speak for the rooms yet, but based on dinner, I don't really care about the hotel.
Exterior of the hotel Our well-traveled group agreed that it was the most inconsistent service we had every experienced. And not one of us has a tendency to complain.
I'm not going to go into the cost because we knew what we were getting into by going to a Cipriani restaurant. But still...$18 for a tiny scoop of green beans, corn & tomatoes?
Our group of 6 (myself, boyfriend, best-selling author, three fabulous Hollywood types) sat down & here's how it went:
- Throughout the night, 7 people came to our table. We weren't ever sure who our main server was.
- Each person that came to our table had no idea what the other 6 had already asked us
- Drinks remained empty even if we asked-two bottles of water that we asked for 3 times never arrived
- 5 different people brought us the main entrees and mixed up every one of them
- One friend at the table didn't get his entree & it took 30 minutes for it to come out (after we were basically done)
- When his food did come out, it was undercooked so he didn't eat it. But we couldn't find anyone to tell, and the bus boy took an untouched plate of food away so no one noticed he never ate it
- Main things: Inconsistent, harried service. Absurdly expensive for what it is. Forgotten food & drinks. Never, ever an apology. Way too many people coming to our table.
Still, we had a wonderful, long dinner with great people, all with fun stories to tell. We ended up staying for hours and just laughing about everything. Maybe they are still having just-opened jitters. I'll be excited to hear what others think.
