Peacock Alley Tea

In an effort to celebrate Mother’s Day, we came here today for tea. The ambiance is so pretty and elegant– harp playing, beautiful china, flowers, etc. The tea was superb and the desserts and sandwiches were delicious. The service, however, was completely atrocious. We had a party of 9, but the place wasn’t overly crowded and didn’t warrant the excessive wait to be addressed or for ice water to be brought to the table. Our server barely checked on us throughout the meal and it was even a bigger ordeal to get the check. I can’t even say how long it was to have our credit cards returned because I lost track and had to go chance someone down only to wait some more! I guess for the cost of $ 49 each and gratuity automatically included, they don’t care about customer service at all. To say we were disappointed on such a special day is an understatement. I do not recommend going here for tea and will never come back.

You can’t beat the ambiance. It’s gorgeous. The tea is great. The food is tasty. With all of these things going for High Tea at Peacock Alley the reason for the 3 stars is the service. This is not because the staff is not attentive. They are just overwhelmed. I actually felt bad for them. If you aren’t in a hurry or require tons of attention, but looking for a great location, then I recommend high tea in Peacock Alley.

Over the top in tradition, elegance, charm, atmosphere, ambience. High quality organic teas await anyone with the time and money to enjoy a bit of class in this historic hotel near the White House. Finger sandwiches and fresh pastries are simply phenomenal and change with the season. The service is impeccable. The harpist adds to the mood by playing some music that you will recognize and appreciate. Truly a class act.

My longtime friend and I stumbled upon Peacock Alley when we were looking for something festive and different to do a couple days after Christmas. We were thankfully able to snag a late reservation for the next day, which gave us time to enjoy the Willard’s beautifully decorated lobby (once we finally found parking after 45 minutes!).
The overall service was slow and not very attentive for the expensive price tag. However, the house Christmas blend tea was deliciously sweet and every sandwich, scone, and dessert tasted as if it were flown in from London.
I’d happily return to celebrate a birthday, engagement, or other special event with a friend or a small group of friends. Beautiful ambiance and a memorable experience!

$ 52 + tip for tepid tea, stale scones, open faces sandwiches with dried up chicken salad, and other tasteless treats. Our teapots were refilled one time, and we were never asked if we needed anything. The Willard is a gorgeous, historic hotel. Peacock Alley where the tables and mismatched chairs are set up is not calm or elegant at all. Scores of tourists troop through they «Alley» to use the restrooms or go the hotel’s back entrance. So disappointed since it was a special get together with good friends.

I went here with my co-​workers as a holiday treat. What a lovely place. Everything feels so elegant. It’s also great that you can have a glass of Moet with you tea. It’s a wonderful way to get relaxed before you have your tea. The food was really tasty. I am not a huge bread fan but the scones and toppings were amazing, I loved all the little tea sandwiches and the dessert in the shot glass was great too. The attendants were attentive and made sure we had hot water refills when we asked.
Overall you are paying for the ambiance and location but if you are looking to impress this is the place to be. I would return again but only for a very special occasion.

Hmm maybe I’m just not an afternoon or high tea kinda girl. My friend organized a small group of us (5 of us total) to go to tea at the Willard. I had been to tea before, but not at a fancy iconic DC hotel, so why not? I was surprised that the «Peacock Alley» was literally a hallway that hotel guests walked down from their rooms to go outside. Though the hallway was decorated very pretty, the random tourists/​hotel guests took away from the ambiance. Anyways once I was past that, I got excited for my first cup of tea. I got a loose leaf tea blend called Equilibrium and it was delicious. This seemed like a good sign for the afternoon tea, if the tea itself was so good.
Then the server brought out our towers of food out. 3 tiers full of finger sandwiches, scones and desserts. The sandwiches were kind of meh in my opinion. The scones were very good and the desserts were hit or miss. My palate may had been overloaded with sweets that the latter desserts weren’t as good. When we asked if we could get more scones, we learned it cost an additional $ 10 per plate of more food. This meant $ 10 for 2 scones. (We were already paying $ 49 per person.) Don’t get me wrong, it was still plenty of food to fill me up, but I was hoping for another scone or two.
The server was also hard to track down most of the time. I understand you don’t want to be constantly asking how things are going, but having to wait 15+ min for more hot water wasn’t fun either. Plus we only got one refill of hot water.
Overall, I am giving the afternoon tea at the Willard 2 stars since «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»

The Willard is an iconic hotel, centrally located in Washington D.C. However, the Peacock Alley afternoon tea does not live up to the standards one would expect from such an icon. The afternoon tea feels forced and unfairly priced for its quality. In particular, the baked goods leave a lot to be desired. «Stale» and/​or «dry» are fitting descriptors for the bread used in the sandwiches. One sandwich was garnished with American caviar which left an unappetizing blue hue on the egg salad. This is a clear indicator of at least poor quality control and a severe disinterest in the quality of ingredients. Scones were adequate but, again, suffer from similar freshness issues. Tea is good, but not outstanding. Service is not up to the standard of other tea rooms (Mandarin Oriental or the Ritz-​Carlton). A tremendous disappointment.
For excellent tea and pastries, I’d definitely recommend checking out Tea Cellar at the Park Hyatt.

If you’ve read some of my other tea room reviews, you’ll know that I am a huge tea drinker/​lover. I’ve been to Tea Cellar, Empress Lounge, Lady Camellia, and The Grille at the Morrison House for tea, and I have always wanted to add Peacock Alley to that list. The way some people guzzle coffee in the mornings is how I feel about tea. I’ve heard of the Peacock Alley Tea at the InterContinental The Willard for quite some time and this afternoon, I was able to come here with my boyfriend for afternoon tea.
First of all, Peacock Alley is aptly named. All the tables are literally in this long hallway of the hotel, meaning guests and passersby will walk back and forth. To me, this was not the ideal afternoon tea situation. I could not fully relax with all these strangers coming by minute after minute. I wish they had their afternoon tea in a dedicated room and not as if it was an afterthought, like having a drink in a waiting room.
Secondly, food was average. Maybe my expectations were high, given that it is the Willard, but I was thinking some quality tea sandwiches and pastries to go along with my tea. That was not the case. It was edible, but not what I would see as the «Crown Jewel of Pennsylvania Avenue» quality. My tea, spring Darjeeling, was good but they put way too much tea leaves in the pot and the tea would become increasingly stronger past the first pour, to the point that it became too bitter to drink. Even when they added more hot water, it was still too bitter.
Sandwiches:
+Egg salad with American caviar and chives on sourdough
+Smoked salmon with lemon caper cream cheese and micro greens on pumpernickel
+The French with ham and brie on a mini brioche
+Cucumber and cream cheese with dill butter on seven grain
+Orange sesame chicken salad with green onion on whole wheat
The egg salad with the American caviar was scary. Scary because there was BLUE coloring oozing from the caviar onto the sourdough. Okay, I’m not expecting the best caviar but not blue caviar. Some of the other breads were pretty hard and overall, none of the sandwiches stood out to me.
There were two types of scones served — vanilla and chocolate chip — served with lemon curd, devonshire cream, apricot and raspberry preserves. My favorite was the raspberry preserve.
Pastries:
+Raspberry swiss roll
+Lemon meringue tart
+Earl Grey chocolate mousse
+Almond biscotti
+Hazelnut cream puff
Cost is $ 49 per person or $ 65 per person with a glass of champagne. For this price, I expected it to be on par or slightly below the afternoon tea of Empress Lounge at Mandarin Oriental, and afternoon tea at Empress Lounge was $ 41 before tip, cheaper than Peacock Alley! Service was just average too. It took awhile for them to come and get our orders and even longer to get our credit cards back to us. I’m highly disappointed.

Elegant tea service accompanied by cherry blossoms and springtime weather makes for a great afternoon out with girlfriends. It’s a bit pricey ($ 85 includes a glass of Moët, tax, tip) and the food was more like 3 stars but overall, a fun splurge for the ambiance. They also feature a live musician in keeping with the Chinese theme.
Big plus= valet parking is included. With the traffic and tourists during peak cherry blossom time this was actually probably worth the price of admission alone.
Only complaint, they confirmed in advance that each person would get a separate check. At checkout time, they said parties of 6+ get only one check. Shuffling 8 credit cards around in the billfold (some had champagne some did not) put a slight damper on an otherwise pleasant experience.

(3.5 stars)
So I would give their tea (specifically the cherry blossom blend they serve for a limited time during the duration of the festival) 5 stars. It is simply one of the best teas I have ever had. But I give 3.5 stars overall because the sandwiches and pastries that come with the tea are just 3 stars. I don’t know… the scones were too floury for my taste, the sandwiches did not stand out and it is kind of a small space directly across from the main entrance to the Willard. I mean, I am definitely going back again this year for the cherry blossom blend but if I could just get the tea without actually having to do tea time here…

Having high tea is always a fun girly experience. Now having tea at the Willard? You can expect it to be an even more glamorous experience. So, the girls head to the Willlard… facinators and all.
The overall experience is about a 3. The food is really what brings it down. I’ve had tea before, but with the exception of the egg salad and tuna salad everything else, including the desserts were a bit boring and flavorless.
The service was good and the staff very nice. The tea options were excellent and it’s always nice to add a glass of champagne with tea. With champagne it was s$ 61, $ 45 without. Overall good experience… food is the only downer.
One awesome surprise… free parking with validation!!!

I went today with my girlfriends to catch up for the new year. There was 5 of us. The service was excellent but slow. But, we didn’t mind. I mean, it’s high tea and a ton of finger sized carbs! The cucumber sandwich was the blandest of the bunch. The scones were great. I would switch out the chocolate chip scone for a fruit based one so that all the jams they offer goes with both scones. The offering for high tea can also come with champagne for an extra cost. Overall, tea is the company you keep. I had a great time. Great place for good conversation with a live harpist playing in the background.

We did not reserve but still got in. However the chair were so small and uncomfortable. I’m tiny (5“2) even I felt like almost falling down from the chair. We were told the seats have chairs with Arms were reserved and this table cannot change chairs. Seriously? As an afternoon tearoom, these kind of chairs just shouldn’t exist. Really bad experience. Thought this would be a nice real tearoom but maybe I was wrong.

My friends and I enjoyed a nice Cherry Blossom festival high tea at the Peacock Alley Tearoom in the Willard Intercontinental hotel. It was all class and charm and we were dressed to the nines in our high tea best. We enjoyed a nice sampling of pastries and finger sandwiches with our tea and also enjoyed the peaceful ambiance of the hallway (adjacent to the equally-​classy hotel lobby).
At $ 45 (it’s an experience worth having at least once), our tea came with:
–Sandwiches:
Tarragon Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries (Whole Wheat)
Cherry wood Smoked Salmon with Dill Cream Cheese (Pumpernickel)
Egg Salad with a Cherry Tomato Wedge (Sourdough)
Goat Cheese, Sour Cherry, Arugula Roulade Cucumber with Cherry Cream Cheese (7-​grain)
–Scones:
Cherry Scones
Ginger Scones
–Tea Pastries:
Red Bean Éclair
Japanese Moon Cake
Brandied Cherry Short cake
Lemon Rice Tart
Green Tea Shortbread
–Condiments:
Devon Cream
Cherry Jam
Apricot Marmalade
Lemon Curd
Everything was delicious and the service was both friendly and efficient. I’d highly recommend tourists and non-​tourists alike to visit the Peacock Alley tearoom during early April for their refined and enjoyable Cherry Blossom afternoon tea.

My Mom and I went to The Willard for the Peacock Alley tea on a Saturday afternoon for her birthday. While the tea and food were delicious, there were a couple of small service problems that took away from the experience.
Overall, it was a fun and fancy tea… though on the pricey side at $ 59 for tea with a glass of champagne ($ 48 without the champagne).
The little problems were first, the Willard’s parking garage was full, so we had to find another garage which made us a bit late. I called and explained the situation, and later noted I had a voicemail from the Willard telling me that there was complimentary valet parking for those with tea reservations. This information would have been more helpful when I first made the reservation or called. to tell them we would be late… not after I had already shelled out $ 17 for a garage spot.
And second, of the three employees I spoke to (including the woman on the phone when I made the reservation) none of them were able to grasp that I had a seafood allergy and couldn’t eat the salmon sandwiches. We got it straightened out when the food was served, but I think this might have been a language barrier thing.
So while The Willard presentation and food is spectacular (we had the special Cherry Blossom Tea menu), the high price and the service issues will probably have me seeking another venue for the next afternoon tea trip.

Nice setting off of the Willard lobby. We didn’t have a reservation on a saturday, but the hostess was able to seat us anyways. The tea selection is about average. The china was very fancy and definitely added to the elegant atmosphere. The harp music is a big plus. Now onto the food. The scones were above average, though I’ve definitely had better. The toppings for the scones, however, were excellent and I loved every single one of them (devonshire cream, and three other fruit jams). The tea sandwiches ranged from good to excellent, each one had distinct flavors. I did not care much for the wrap though. The desserts were a good combination of various flavors and textures. Overall, my tastebuds were satisfied and I was very full by the end.
The service, however, could definitely be better. Our server forgot our order of tea. I had to wait a while for the server to refill my tea, and we also waited 15 minutes for our check. For such a place and the price, we expected much better service.

I took my mom out for a belated Mother’s Day celebration, and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon, High Tea at Peacock Alley at the Willard.
Looking back at some Unilocalers’ photos, I think High Tea used to take place in the red, «peacock» hallway. Some other Unilocalers complained about tea being in a hallway, which *yes* sounds potentially annoying, but the tea we had was in a definitive room that was OFF of the front lobby. It was a beautiful room with a harpist and definitely not in a hall, and the view of the lobby is lovely. (Do walk down the red hallway where the gift shop and restrooms are, just to see it).
The food, drinks and service were all excellent, and I was full at the end. We added a glass of champagne to our tea experience – definitely worth it: o)
In my mom’s immortal words as we dined and chatted Downton Abbey style, surrounded by other ladies socializing, «I feel like a woman!» And I don’t think that was the champagne talking.

Had an absolutely lovely time for tea for my mother’s birthday. We had the Willard custom blend tea which was a departure from my usual Early Grey but it definitely did not disappoint. Brewed the tea twice and it kept the delicious aroma and flavor of spices and fruits. Opted out of the champagne.
As already commented on, tea comes with a three-​layered tray. Top tray has several desserts, middle small English sandwiches, and bottom two different types of scones. One of each for every person in the party. Everything was good except one of the desserts (the tall cup of cream and jam) which other tables seemed to enjoy but tasted like medicine to both my mother and I. If I could choose, I would decide on less sweets and more tiny delicious sandwiches.
From a previous review I had read that when you see the tray you will think that you will net get full, but no worries, you will. Well, even knowing this I thought there was no way I would get full when I saw the tray. Guess what ;) We got an extra birthday dessert for my mother and we had to take that home with us.
I will definitely come back next time I’m in the mood for some tea time.

Picture it — a lovely pre-​spring Saturday afternoon, when suddenly, breezing through the doors of The Willard, stands a vision in a hot pink fluffy dress, a big white peony the size of a small baby in her hair, 4.5″ heels, a silver and white brocaded shrug, and vintage beaded white gloves. This vision (I didn’t say a pretty vision), heads towards the famous Peacock Alley amist the soft heavenly music of a small harp.
«Clearly, you are here for tea,» murmers the hostess. A quick glance at her book shows that this vision has reservations and gently guides her to a lovely settee and arm chair setting, where the thin white and gold matching tea set was already laid out.
Before the vision could fidget (as her party was running late), the hostess quietly appears with a bottle of champagne in hand! Clearly, this is a hostess that can read her clients well!
By the third glass, more visions appeared! A platoon of women, mostly in large hats that one would expect whilst attending the nuptials of William and Kate. These visions made a bee-​line for the seated lady in pink… nay, they were making a bee-​line for the glasses of icy cold champagne that were already being poured the moment the hostess spied this group coming!
And so began an epic afternoon of drinking, chattering, and oh yes, the delicious slurping of tea!
The towers of lady like finger sandwiches (the only thing that was lady-​like, at this tea table… heh), scones, and petite fours magically appeared. Our tea orders were taken — and yes, the teas were loose leaf, not bagged (thank goodness), and after much confusion, the ladies figured out what the silver strainer, resting in it’s own dish, was for (heh).
The food was delectable, and the service was attentive. Once the deliciously moist and flavorful scones were gone, the silent but eagle-​eyed server, quickly replenished the dish with more. Yum!
A lovely and perfect place for a delicious afternoon tea… even if one isn’t quite a lady.