Capital Club

As a guest at the Hilton Garden Inn I came down to the Capital Club for breakfast. I was greeted by a nice hostess who took me into the dining room and told me I could pick any table I wanted. She then explained that the buffet was $19.99/person and could be charged to my room. The dining room is beautiful. Gorgeous chandeliers hang all over the room & you get a view of downtown. The food however is lackluster. It's basically 1 step above a continental breakfast. The sausage were good with a hint of maple flavor. The breakfast potatoes were also seasoned well. The oatmeal was runny and tasted bland. I tried to add some brown sugar but it was rock hard. I did enjoy the green yogurt with granola and cranberries. If it wasn't so cold I would have walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.

I stayed this Christmas weekend at the hotel wherein the Capitol Club is located (DoubleTree Suites, Columbus, OH). In all fairness, I only had one meal in the restaurant and that was on Saturday, late morning, for brunch. The restaurant, working with only a "skeleton" staff, was closed Saturday evening and on Sunday. Ordering the omelette with breakfast potatoes from the menu, my meal was served quickly, hot, and excellently prepared. It was a good breakfast experience. The dining room was decorated upscale, included crystal chandeliers and sconce lighting on the walls. Because of the holiday weekend, there was no wait, and seating was certainly adequate with the few other patrons who were probably also guests at the hotel. What I learned from this meal was that the restaurant certainly can prepare very good food and quickly. However, I do realize that under pressure (particularly with more diners), it could likely test their "metal" and the outcome and the subsequent rating would then result in a slide. Solve all of that by picking a different weekend and bringing in more and experienced staff.

My boss took another co-worker and me to lunch here the other day. If The Stanely Hotel from The Shining was envisioned as a restaurant - this would be the place. Tall ceilings, proper silverware, really old waitresses. The dining area was filled with old fat business men wearing glasses and reading newspapers. Real Republican, out-dated vibe. The food was okay. I ordered the fish sandwich and it tasted just like a fish sandwich - nothing special. I don't think I'll ever come back, it's just an "old money" kind of place. Not my definition of a classy or romantic place either.

The Capital Club is right in the middle of downtown Columbus. It has a bar and dining room on the first floor and a gym on the second floor. It is connected to the Doubletree Hotel and allows guests to use the gym at no charge, and so this is a review of the gym.As gyms go, the Capital Club has a complete set of machines, a few treadmills, a full set of weights, and a squash room. The equipment is quite dated, compared to a place like 24 Hour Fitness; but compared to hotel gyms, this is the largest I've ever seen.In the evenings, there are only a dozen people here, and so it is a nice and relaxing place to finish the day with a workout. Again, the equipment isn't all that great, but at a cost of nothing (for Doubletree guests), it's a decent gym.

Expectations were greater than reality. After dining here two nights, I think I will only return if I don't want to go outside & I'm willing to overpay. The first night was slow service & small amount of slightly overcooked protein in my entree (maybe 3 oz). There was a mistake when I asked for the Zinfandel and was served a glass of white zin, but mistakes happen and the server returned with the correct wine. The second night, I opted for the roasted beet salad which was underwhelming. It was like diced beets from a can and kind of soft candies pecans. I also ordered the steak and was able to substitute the mashed potatoes for sautéed mushrooms (as I'm gluten and dairy free, this was a great option). The steak looked good. I asked for it medium well and while I don't have a picture of it after cutting into it, it was medium (pink all the way through and red on my plate). The server was nice and comped my entree. The food was good but it takes a while and doesn't exactly meet expectations. If you're in a hurry, this is not the place for you.

This place seems to be closed. Their website is down and their phone rings busy. This is sad, it was a great place. I hope it can be reopened and restored to its former glory.

We really enjoyed playing squash at the club. They let us play as guests for $5 per head. Loaner racquets, balls, and glasses were available. They have one squash court that's usable along with weight equipment and treadmills.

Horrible!!!! Ordered the filet with a side of mashed potatoes, and the mashed potatoes were literally so cold like they just came out of the refrigerator. Asparagus that came with it was shriveled up, dry and oversalted. Coworker had a bacon Burger that didn't have any bacon on it, and with served a chicken tortilla soup which we were told did not have beans in it and had beans in it. Service was decent and waitress was very apologetic for the bad meal... Not her fault though. She compensated us on our bill for it so I guess that was a good thing. Too bad it's terrible because it's a super convenient place to eat if you stay at the hotel. It's so bad we actually went out of our way to go somewhere else.I will never eat there again. And don't be fooled by the sign for the Starbucks... They have Starbucks Coffee but if you're looking for a real Starbucks this is definitely not it. Doubletree.... I am extremely disappointed and surprised this is what you're offering to your guests compared to the other Hilton hotels.

I went to the bar last night and the restaurant this morning to try to get breakfast. This place has the worst service I have ever experienced. At the bar, there were two waiters for maybe 12 people, which does not seem unreasonable. However, as new people came in, the waiters paid no attention to them whatsoever- didn't take drink orders, didn't even acknowledge them. I saw a stream of 5 people come in, wait 10 minutes without so much as a hello, then walk out disgusted. At the restaurant for breakfast, their podium says "Please wait to be seated." But no one was attending it. After 5 minutes, a lady, who I assume was the manager, called to me from across the room. She sat me at a table next to the window that had no coffee cups, glasses, or silverware, then walked away. I sat there for almost 15 minutes, and not one staff member ever came to my table to take my drink order or provide silverware. I ended up walking out without eating. This is the restaurant connected to the DoubleTree hotel. Avoid this place if you can.