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| - OK, let's get this out of the way. The hotel itself was fine. It was clean, nice view, the front desk experience was good, the staff friendly at the desk, and it was convenient to the convention center. I have stayed at a Westin in Tampa, Cleveland and San Antonio since the first week of January, each for about 5 or 6 days. I tend to like the Westin Hotels, though Tampa and Cleveland's hotel restaurants leave a lot to be desired and make you want to eat out.
So let's talk about the bad part of the Westin Cleveland Downtown. Room service.
The menu has many things that are exactly the same dishes from the on-site restaurant Urban Farmer. They have the same names, and when they are served, they are presented the same way, and prepared the same way. I asked the Urban Farmer staff if they were the room service restaurant. I was told by hostess that the food was prepared in a different kitchen from the restaurant for room service, but yes, many of the items are the same. She toured both kitchens when she was hired. So, there is some kind of connection between the Urban Farmer on site, and the room service food. Because I had eaten the burger (to go) from Urban Farmer and it was "OK" but not great, and because I had eaten dinner there with a colleague and because I had breakfast in there each morning of my five-day stay, I decided to order room service one night when I was tired and had some work to catch up on with my laptop.
I saw many of the same items offered from the Urban Farmer, so I figured the room service would be pretty good. I was wrong.
I ordered the half-roasted chicken, which was supposedly smoked and roasted to perfection, and because I enjoyed the spinach at the Urban Farmer, and it was offered on the room service menu, I ordered it, as well as some deviled eggs not on the Urban Farmer menu. I also ordered a bottle of sparkling water.
It took well over 90 minutes for the food to finally arrive, and this was after being told 45 minutes, and calling down at 90 to find out what was going on.
It shows up. I'm starving and delighted. I tear into the eggs. they were actually pretty good, if pricey, but hey, room service.
Then I cut into the chicken. I take a bite. I'm starving, I just put it in my mouth and go. I take one more bite and start to realize it is a little chewy and rubbery... then look at my plate.
Blood.
Lots of blood.
Chicken blood.
Pools of chicken blood.
I had just eaten improperly cooked, uncooked, improperly handled 1/2 chicken.
This was not smoked meat pink chicken, this was blood. I cut further into the chicken, to open it up. Its raw.
I call "Service Express." They say they will send somebody up right away to get this.
An hour passes, nobody shows up.
I call them again, this time after just putting the tray of raw chicken outside of my door. 45 minutes after that second call, I finally hear somebody come and get it. The 2nd time I had to call "Service Express" about picking it up, they at least asked if I wanted something else.
I had lost my appetite by then.
I had, lets call them, gastrointestinal disturbances, for the next few days. It was, in a word, unpleasant. Thanks, Westin Cleveland!
I posted a review about Urban Farmer and this experience. They deny having any connection to the hotel's room service, even though many of the menu items are exactly the same, named the same, same price, presented the same way on the same dishes. So I don't know, who do I believe. Let's pretend for a minute that Urban Farmer has nothing to do whatsoever with the room service food at the Westin Cleveland Downtown. Let's pretend that they allow the Westin to serve identical dishes with identical names to hotel guests. OK, maybe that's some ongoing battle between the hotel stealing the menu from Urban Farmer and the room service crew. Bottom line, Urban Farmer got my review removed because it was "technically about room service at the Westin" and not the Urban Farmer proper, in the same building.
I will say this, Urban Farmer, on site when I ate there, was good and i didn't get bloody, raw chicken. I only bring them up because one should know that the imposter menu offered that copycat's Urban Farmer in many areas, might make you think you're getting food prepared by Urban Farmer, or at least that the kitchen for room service at the Westin Cleveland is operated by people with something to do with Urban Farmer.
Bottom line just don't order the chicken from room service. The service itself was terrible, so just go downstairs and eat at Urban Farmer or leave the hotel for some other place to eat.
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