Wolfeboro Inn?

[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by Heaven

We ordered drinks and asked to have one made again as it was an excessively watered down martini (from the "ice shake", we assume). .

THIS would be a TOTAL Negative for me. Can't make an "Honest" Drink...?? The meal dosn't matter at that point. I'm am not going back... Period. Don't care if they made another one..which was probably only a little less watery. A watery drink..like a Martini is stealing. NB

[Heaven]

Originally Posted by NoBozo

THIS would be a TOTAL Negative for me. Can't make an "Honest" Drink...?? The meal dosn't matter at that point. I'm am not going back... Period. Don't care if they made another one..which was probably only a little less watery. A watery drink..like a Martini is stealing. NB

I think the watery issue was lack of attention in the making process, not an intentional cheat. If that matters.

[Chris Exley]

For the first time ever, my family went out for Thanksgiving dinner. On the recommendation of my brother, who went there some 4 or 5 years ago, we chose the Wolfeboro Inn's Thankgiving Buffet. We will never do it again.
I had made the reservations in August or September. I know I was the first one for the 2:30 time slot, because the person taking our reservations told me so. The experience started out badly. I was the first one of the 2:30 reservations to show up. We were the last one seated. I could have understood if it was a table size issue, but 3 of the parties who came after we did had the same number in their party, and they were seated ahead of us. Not to worry, though, they had grapes/crackers/cheese for us to munch on while we waited. Ooops, the cheese was in very large wedges, with no utensils to cut them. So, once we at the cheese that had been cut, we could no longer enjoy that. After they realized that they had forgotton to seat us, they came and brought us to a rectangular table meant for 10 people. Then, they proceded to forget about us. 5 minutes later, a waitress came by and asked us if anyone had gotten our drinks yet. We replied, "No". She then went to find out who was supposed to help us. 4 or 5 minutes later, someone took our drink order, and told us where to go to get the food. We went into the "too small" are where the food was. There was no rhyme or reason to the flow of bodies, so people were knocking into each other....some were going one way, and some the other direction. They ran out of the steamship beef. There was very little turkey to be gotten. The rolls that they had our were hard as a rock. Half the deserts that were on the menu were not available. The food that we did have was not all that spectacular.

I did complain to waitress who sent the manager over. I told him our dissatisfaction with the meal and the experience. He gave us one of our dinners for free.

Not to be deterred, my wife and daughter made a proper Thanksgiving meal on Friday night. Granted, we didn't have ALL the fixins we normally would have, but, it was a much more pleasant, and tastefull evening at the cottage.

We were all 100% in agreement that we won't ever go there again. Curiously, one of our friends at the lake told us that they wish they had known what we were planning, because they would have told us not to bother.

Oh well, live and learn. I hope this review helps others who are thinking of going to the Thanksgiving Buffet.

Peace.

[camp guy]

When the Wolfeboro Inn re-opened following an extensive renovation they were bashed pretty heavily on the Forum, and, rightfully so, their service was terrible, their food was marginal, and worst of all, they seemed to do nothing about it. They did change chefs, but that didn't help, they changed beverage managers and that didn't help, but what they didn't change was management.

I spoke with the Inn manager several times and apparently it was like water off a duck's back. I suggested that she make a regular habit of reading this site and seeing what people were saying, some of the comments were very precise, almost to the point that you could use the comments to formulate a plan to cure the problem. Then there was a long period of quiet about the Inn, until recently, when it was brought up again. Guess what ? - a re-run of the past, poor service, poor food, and lack of management.

They deserve to fail. Unfortunately, the Inn is a big player in Wolfeboro and there is a mutual need to do well. What is it about management that they do not understand? Let's hope that they start 2011 with a new attitude and a new level of managerial energy. Why wait till 2011, start TODAY.

[Merrymeeting]

I find it amazing that a management team that seems to have a great reputation in running other establishments keeps stumbling here so consistently. It's a shame because they have a great location, a solid building to start with, and as has been mentioned, almost a monopoly on what they offer (perhaps that is the problem)

In my experience, it might help to seperate the dining portion from the lodging.

Last February, my wife and I stayed there for a weekend to attend an event for a friend in the area. Our place is closed in winter so we needed somewhere to stay. The room was very nice, the lodging staff very responsive, and the rate was reasonable. We would stay there again.

We didn't have any meals there, primarily because of what we had heard here. But we did have an appetizer at the bar after we arrived. It was a nacho, cheese, plate with other fixings, and it was delicious. The portion was very generous too. The experience though was dulled by the waitstaff who exhibited behaviors similar to what others have mentioned here.

We waited quite some time before someone asked what we wanted to drink. This was particularly irksome as we were sitting at the bar and there were 3 employees behind the bar! But they were too busy socializing to interrupt and serve us. Once one of them came over, the attitude was clearly one of us being a bother rather than paying customers.

The kicker was when another customer entered the bar. A nice older couple had been drinking at the bar before we arrived, and left about 30 mins after we sat down. They returned shortly thereafter and the woman was clearly upset. Apparently she had misplaced a new, fairly expensive pair of glasses and was hoping she had left them at the bar.

She had to ask twice before the triplets behind the bar interrupted their converstation long enough to say "no", and return to their conversation.

The woman was very nice, but clearly upset, and she started looking around the bar, under stools, etc. The other patrons all felt sorry for her and were similarly amazed at how indifferent and unhelpful the staff was being. Most started pitching in to help, looking around, asking what they looked like, etc.

The glasses were not found, and the couple left to retrace their steps to other Wolfeboro establishments, where they were hopefully received better. But the incident certainly left a sour taste for those still at the bar. It was even mentioned to the ones behind the bar. They didn't seem to care.

All it would have taken is a little bit of effort. "Sorry about your glasses", "Can I take your name in case they show up?", etc, to completely change the whole scenario.

It's called Customer Service. Apparently the staff at the Inn still need more classes.

They must have this poster hanging in the office http://www.despair.com/cudi.html

[camp guy]

I have read a lot of your posts in the past and you are generally right on target with your comments, and you certainly are with respect to your most recent post about the Inn. I wrote the post just before you, so there is some coincidence with the two. Sadly, I spoke with Karen Beranger several times, and nothing seemed to happen. The bar at the Inn has been going down hill for a number of years, long before the renovation. The clientele is predominately local drinkers, stopping off after work to get half in the bag before going home to whatever homelife they have. Actually, a very sad situation, reinforced, I'm afraid, by the somewhat unprofessional behavior of the bar tenders. Over the years the bar has been a place to drink, chat up a bar tender, and maybe get lucky. This is certanly not the style of citizenship the Inn should be fostering if they expect to attract families. Furthermore, drinkers usually don't spend much, if any, money on food, and the chances of them returning with family and friends for an actual meal are slim.

Sorry to rant on like this, but your post about simple common courtesy just got me going.

My best to you during this Holiday Season.

[Coolbreeze]

Some things and people are beyond helping and must face a certain fate.
I'd hate to be the owners...

[tis]

They make much more money on drinks than food, camp guy. And it is so much easier. Probably they like it that way.

[camp guy]

You are absolutely right, tis, in the short run, but I question the long run, and I have to hope that the Inn is in it for the long, if not very long, run.

The bar crowd does spend money, but do they return with their family for a meal? I seriously doubt it. And, as soon as another watering hole opens up, whoosh, they are gone, at least part of them. Also, socially, the bar crowd doesn't do the Inn any favors. This is not to say they are bad people, but alcohol has a way of bringing out the worst in people, and this is certainly not the atmosphere the Inn needs to be creating.

However, none of this is THE PROBLEM with the Inn. IMHO, the real problem rests with a lack of attention to detail by management, top, tipity-top management. Until top management is working the dinning room actively addressing poor service, or auditing the performances of bar personnel, the Inn will continue to suffer from this type of posting. Every day is lost time, the service hole gets deeper, and the reputation will be harder to recover, and the Inn can't say they didn't know it was coming.

[BrownstoneNorth]

After an awful brunch experience at the Wolfeboro Inn in the off-season, my husband and I vowed we'd never go back. But one summer evening we really, really wanted lobsters, they're only show in town for lobster dinners, and the price was right: $20 for twin lobsters, including sides.

So we dared to try the place again, and it was like they'd had an exorcism -- everything was perfect. The reason was undoubtedly the 'visiting' manager, a teacher at the UNH hotel school, apparently just there for the summer. He was checking on everything and stopping by every table *twice*, first to make sure that customers were being served and then to see if they were satisfied with their meals. We went one more time over the summer while he was there and it was just as good.

Too bad the permanent management didn't learn anything from the teacher and reverted after he returned to UNH. Hope he's back next summer -- we
wouldn't even consider going there while school's in session. :-)

[camp guy]

Thank you, BrownstoneNorth, I rest my case. The answer is just plain simple, and staring them in the face. Let's hope they get it.

[secondcurve]

This is just a guess but I think the problem with the Wolfeboro Inn is that the company that bought it did so right at the top of the market and likely significantly over paid. They then missed their targeted opening date, a deep recession followed, etc. Given this fact pattern, it is likely over extended and doesn't have the resources to run the Inn properly. That is the only explanation I can come up with for the consistently horrible service. The good news is that the facility was done over nicely and at some point it will likely fall into the hands of an operator that can afford to operate it in a proper fashion.

[secondcurve]

A quick google of Hay Creek Hospitality (The Wolfeboro Inn's parent company) came up with this little nugget. It tells you a little bit about the owners' philosophy toward its employees and it might at least partially explain the poor customer service attitudes of the Wolfeboro Inn's employees??


$240,000 Preliminary Settlement Reached in Hotel Employee Class Action

Williamstown, MA: A $240,000 settlement has been proposed in a wages class action lawsuit brought against The Orchards Hotel by 150 current and former hourly employees.

The suit alleged that the hotel had withheld tips and wages. State law dictates that food establishments found to withholding either or both, must play employees three times as much as they're owed. According to the lawyer representing the class, the settlement is not only the recovery each employee is owed, but a multiple of what is owed.

The case reportedly involved a portion of service charges, which are added onto bills at the end of banquets, weddings and large events, being withheld from servers, and all hotel and restaurant staff working at least eight-hour shifts were having 30 minute meal breaks deducted from their paychecks even though they weren’t receiving them.

The listed defendants in the case are HCC Orchards LP, Hay Creek Hospitality LLC, Hay Creek Management Company, and former General Manager Scott Frankel.

JUL-19-10: Hotel, employees settle lawsuit over back pay [BENNINGTONBANNER]

[Merrymeeting]

Originally Posted by secondcurve

This is just a guess but I think the problem with the Wolfeboro Inn is that the company that bought it did so right at the top of the market and likely significantly over paid. They then missed their targeted opening date, a deep recession followed, etc. Given this fact pattern, it is likely over extended and doesn't have the resources to run the Inn properly. That is the only explanation I can come up with for the consistently horrible service. The good news is that the facility was done over nicely and at some point it will likely fall into the hands of an operator that can afford to operate it in a proper fashion.

I've considered that possibility too. But especially in the current economy, I would think it would be just as easy to find a bartender who knows what good customer service is, as opposed to one who could care less. Most often, the pay for both would be the same, and the good one would realize better pay through tips. (Assuming they aren't withheld )