LUCIE drink + dine

Great French onion soup. Service was terrible, having to flag down the waitstaff every time. Sat outside and felt largely ignored. Had the pork and it wasn’t good.

Food was fair at best. Service was lacking, you practically had to beg for a drink. The worst is that we were overcharged and never refunded. We asked to speak to the manager who never came out to talk to us. We received numerous stories and assurances the problem would be resolved. Numerous calls and no return call or email. This happened to others in our group. Horrible I would not recommend this even if you stay at the Colonnade

Service was fine and it’s a cute environment, but the quality of the food and drinks was disappointing. My partner and I both got hot chocolate ($7 each), and they came as mugs of lukewarm milk with an undissolved pile of Swiss Miss powder at the bottom… the overall price for the quality was just significantly mismatched.

Pancakes are great

tl;dr If you’re considering the Colonnade or its restaurant Lucie for an event, don’t. I booked the Colonnade as my wedding hotel in October 2023. My stay, unfortunately, was one of the worst hospitality experiences of my life. For convenience, we decided to host the rehearsal dinner and welcome drinks at Lucie, the hotel restaurant. Between booking and our event, Lucie had a staff changeover and never notified us (we spent several weeks trying to contact a dead email address). The day-of execution of our event was so spectacularly poor, I struggle to find the appropriate words to describe it. Our day-of contact for the Rehearsal Dinner was not present, and there was no hand-off of our event to any qualified staff member. The entire event was seemingly run without an event captain, and at no point were we told that our contact wasn’t even on site. The service was so subpar, it felt like the staff had never worked an event before. As guests arrived, no drinks were served, no orders taken. I brought a special meal for one of my relatives with specific dietary requirements, which we confirmed with our planning contact was something the kitchen could heat and serve, but the staff only brought out half of the meal, the other half disappeared. The dinner was a full hour behind schedule, which meant the rental space could not be turned over for the welcome drinks, leaving our out-of-town guests stranded in the bar with no idea where to go. We had ordered food for the welcome drinks, but it was never set out. When I pointed out the missing food, it did eventually appear, but by that point our welcome drinks guests had already eaten food they ordered themselves. On top of all of that, the amount I was charged was higher than the bill I signed for after the meal. My contact never reached out to see how the event went, or offered an apology for the abysmal service we experienced. The hotel itself also had many issues. Check-in was confusing - the front desk staff mischarged guests and many didn’t receive our welcome bags upon check-in. When I checked into the rather expensive bridal suite, several of the amenities were either broken or damaged. I was locked out of my room several times (including upon returning to the hotel from my actual wedding) as the keys and replacement keys provided by the front desk continuously stopped working. The suite was never turned over or even tidied at any time. I had arranged a late checkout with my planning contact, but the front desk staff was not informed and told me that I needed to check out by 11am (even as I sat on the floor of the hallway in my wedding dress, waiting to be let into my locked suite). As I mentioned, many of the welcome bags I prepared by hand were never given to my guests, and when my husband and I returned to pick up the extra bags, they had been torn apart by the hotel staff, everything of value taken. When I raised these issues with the staff at both Lucie and the Colonnade, the staff acted as if this was everyday service, no sympathy was offered, no apologies forthcoming. I was made to wait to hear about what modest recompense they would consider offering for what they called “inconveniences.” I was and continue to be extremely unhappy with the level of service at the Colonnade, especially considering the extraordinary rates they charge for the rooms and suites, and I would not return again or recommend the hotel to anyone visiting Boston. I especially urge all event planners and brides to steer clear of this place - they are not set up for events and lack even a modicum of understanding about hospitality standards. Find another venue, find another hotel. Don’t make the same mistake I made.

So salty and not fresh

Very disappointed in LUCIE. Service was inconsistent; servers were walking around with dishes, asking diners what they ordered. My first cocktail came with no garnish (as expected from others ordering the same). Then my $30 dish was missing three ingredients listed on the menu. Definitely not coming back.