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| - This review of the Madison Marriott West focuses on the group event services of this facility and not the guest rooms. I recently attended an evening Board meeting and a one-day conference at this hotel.
The majority of the sales and catering staff at the Marriott were wonderful to work with. This was the first time we hosted at event at this location. The responsiveness of the staff was superb in setting up the event. There were proactive in keeping our group on track with logistical issues leading up to the event. On the day of the event, they checked in on us frequently and promptly addressed any concerns our group had.
We had some problems with the reservations agents indicating that no rooms were available at the conference rate. The other problem has to do with the layout of the conference rooms. There is one conference room (the Monona Room) located by the front desk, far away from all the other meeting rooms. On the day before the event, you guessed it; the Marriott staff moved us to that room. The calendar of events is not conspicuous, so on the day of the event, all the conference attended entered the facility through the conference center doors and wandered about searching for the Monona Room.
Like most conference facility, the food was a mixed bag.
Things I liked:
* I enjoyed the caesar salad served with lunch with fresh greens (no iceberg lettuce), tangy dressing and herbed croutons that did not go overboard with the salt or garlic.
* Other than the overcooked noodles, the penne pasta with mushroom, spinach, goat cheese, pine nuts and roasted red pepper cream was a well-executed dish.
* While the filling had a bit too much citrus flavor, kudos to the kitchen staff for serving us a cannoli with a crunchy shell, a rarity on the conference food circuit.
Things I didn't:
* The rigatoni with fennel sausage, roasted peppers and arriabiatta sauce lacked the finesse of the aforementioned penne pasta dish. With its mushy noodles, overcooked sauce and under-seasoned sausage, there was little to like.
* If you enjoy a heavy does of garlic powder on bread with the texture of a teething biscuit, you would love the garlic bread served with the pasta course.
* My least favorite dish was toasted cheese sandwich served during the planning session the day before the conference. For $14.95, I expected aged cheddar served on gently grilled slices of artisan sourdough bread. What I received was very different. Served barely warm, the bread was soaked in butter and toasted to a brick-like texture that left cuts on the roof of my mouth. The institutional grade cheddar and provolone cheese had started to congeal by the time the staff served it to me. The server did not check in with us because she didn't want to interfere with our meeting, preventing me from sending this dish back for a replacement. The roasted tomato soup, though cool, was the redeeming feature of my meal.
Overall, the experience with the Marriott Madison West was A-OK, based on the positive interactions with the staff, which offset the spotty food quality.
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