Information from Hotel Nest website re High Afternoon Tea: “Our classic fashion-ista High tea is the hidden gem of Hotel Nest. Offering you a sophisticated, vintage inspired classy space, Hotel Nest’s High Tea is a unique old school idea, teamed with a modern and edgy twist. You can enjoy this exclusive afternoon event every Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday from $40 pp. We also cater for groups of 15 or more on any other day.”
My best friend and I went there for afternoon – there are two costs one that includes a glass of sparkling wine and one that doesn’t. They serve Tea Tonic http://teatonic.com.au/ – they have a wide variety including black, white and fruit infusions. You can have as many teas as you want – we had white rose tea which was served in a vintage fine bone china teapot and mismatching tea cups and saucers. They provide you with a three tier stand of treats including small cakes, macrons and sandwiches – the sandwiches stay on the table and you can order more throughout the afternoon – they bring out different sweet treats throughout the afternoon but you can’t order more of a particular type (ie if you want more macaroons then you can’t have them).
We were given Rose Sparkling Wine and it was delicious – the first good one I’ve tasted – it was well chilled and very crisp.
The tea itself was impressive – high quality white tea it was a very delicate drop that suited the sweets were having.
The cakes and macaroons were delicious and of a high standard – they were all really well made and not sickly sweet.
Their was a bridal shower happening at the same time and it did feel like they forgot about us – when we asked for a second pot of tea it took over twenty minutes , I also asked for another glass of wine (you pay for additional drinks) and it took so long that we were done with the afternoon and went to pay before I got it – but it was put on the bill – which I asked them to take off.
The high afternoon tea takes place on the top floor both indoor and outdoor seating – the outdoor seating is on the balcony and you can see the beach from your seat it’s a really beautiful view. The day we went it is warm with a nice sea breeze – I would definitely recommend booking the balcony because when groups come they get inside as there are only about three or four seatings available on the balcony. There was only one spot left as we hadn’t reserved a particular location when we go back I’ll definitely book on the balcony.
Despite the lack of attention by the staff we had a lovely time and in fact not being bothered was fine with us as we just talked the afternoon away – however if you do like a high standard of service and importantly do like what you pay for then just keep this in mind because we did miss out on some of the different cakes because they forgot – that was fine with us as we’d had a lot and we really liked the sandwiches.
Would recommend for groups – like a birthday or bridal shower because they focus their attention on the groups and they seem to have a really good time. Also recommend if you want a quiet relaxed afternoon with a friend. I’ll be going back again.
The rating for this was hard because of the different factors so here’s a breakdown:
Tea: 5/5 both in the quality of the actual tea served and the quality of the way it was made and served – obviously made by people who love tea, served in a teapot with teacups and saucers.
Food: 3/5 both the sweets and sandwiches were well made and of good portion size, however they did seem a little stingy on the sweets and as we didn’t get our full order from their forgetting us I can’t really comment on their whole range.
Service: 1/5 they weren’t particularly friendly when we arrived, the person who served us couldn’t give us any information about the taste and quality of teas on offer (there were lots we hadn’t tried and wanted to know what they were like but she hadn’t any of them), we were forgotten about and not given any information on the timing of when the food would arrive or what to expect.
Atmosphere: 5/5 you just can’t beat sitting on a balcony over looking the beach!
