Arctic Club Hotel Seattle Reviews
Reviews
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4.7 out of 5 rating
4.7 out of 5 rating
19 Reviews
95% recommend it
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![Piyali]()
Piyali Sent on 04/02/2013We LOVED this venue where we had both ceremony & reception on 3/23. Of course the dome room speaks for itself and we were totally in love with it, but the service of this venue and the ease of working with them is outstanding. We worked with Daneka Sarkies the entire time and she was phenomenal - responded to emails instantly, answered the thousands of questions I had, helped figure out many details, and was organized and dependable. We also worked with Chloe to help book rooms for guests/figure out where we were going to get ready for the day, etc. and she was amazing as well. From the front desk people to the bell service, everyone was truly outstanding and guests mentioned this repeatedly. The food tasting was so fun, and the items were all delicious, we were very impressed (and this is coming from a family of foodies!) and had trouble choosing! Everything was easy and flawless working with the Arctic Club - thank you!!! -
![RMJohnson]()
Robyn Sent on 12/30/2009We were very pleased with the service we received from The Arctic Club Hotel. Brooke, Director of Catering, was phenomenal! She was so easy to work with and very understanding of our needs/requests. The day of our wedding, we did not have to worry about anything!!! We were able to enjoy our day to the fullest! We are so grateful to Brooke and her amazing staff for helping to make our wedding a day we will never forget!!! -
![Theresia]()
Theresia Sent on 03/06/2012Despite the 3 times change of the wedding/sales coordinators (from September 2011-February 2012) from the Arctic Club Hotel. Michelle & Maya were very helpful and experienced for my February 18th wedding- they know what they are doing! The staffs were very courteous and accomodating. All my guests enjoy the food. It was warm, the tenderloin was tender, so was the salmon well seasoned. Very pleased with them and will definitely recommend them for every bride if you want stress-free wedding =) -
David Sent on 09/24/2018Overall, a lovely experience working with the Arctic Club staff. Laura is a pleasure to work with and always provided feedback in a timely, professional manner. The food was wonderful, as well as the table service on our wedding night. The valet service had a few challenges keeping track of guest vehicles and lost someone’s keys for several hours. They are independent from The Arctic Club, but a stronger valet service would add value to the overall experience. The ambiance of the lobby, Polar Bar, and the dome room was fantastic and each area was managed very well. We felt like the hotel was ours for an evening, and are so glad we chose the Arctic Club!
Arctic Club Hotel Seattle's reply:
Thank you so much for your review! Your wedding was absolutely beautiful and we were honored to have played a part in that. Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness!
-Laura
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![Christine]()
Christine Sent on 10/25/2015We chose the Arctic Club for our wedding after walking in the door. It was the only venue we looked at (probably not smart) but after doing online research, we fell in love with the venue. We loved the art deco building, it's story and of course the ridiculously beautiful Northern Lights Dome Room. We booked with Elaine - who was wonderful to work with. We later worked with Nicole after she came on board and found her to be just as helpful, flexible, responsive as Elaine. They are an amazing team. They shared their resources with us and it was through them that we found our wedding coordinator. The day of was amazing. The food was beyond delicious (I had guests tell me they were surprised that a "hotel" could deliver such an amazing meal). The logistics went off without a hitch, the staff were super friendly and Elaine made us feel like we were her favorite couple in the world. :) Value is the only area where I marked them down a bit. They are one of the expensive venues for details like overnight parking and the banquet pricing. But not that much more than any other hotel in downtown Seattle. It was well worth it for us because the evening was just what we wanted. A great party with great food, great booze and a wonderful vibe. I would definitely recommend the Arctic Club. -
![Julia]()
Julia Sent on 07/25/2011The Arctic Club is a beautiful, recently remodeled hotel that has kept it's vintage charm. The hotel room made a great setting for "getting ready" photos and the Dome Room was the perfect setting for our reception. The catering and event planning staff were friendly, responsive, accommodating and easy to work with. Parking on the days surrounding our event was a bit difficult as the hotel only provides valet parking and we had a lot of various items to unload (as would be expected when arriving for your wedding) and the bell hops/valets seemed confused about where to have us park and how to help us. This made our arrival at the hotel feel a bit chaotic, but everything else seemed to run smoothly and without a glitch. Excellent food and service was enjoyed all evening. -
![Chelsea]()
Chelsea Sent on 10/18/2018Unbelievably beautiful, and unbelievably expensive
When we set out with planning a 1920s-themed Gatsby styled wedding, I came across the Arctic Club's Dome Room and immediately knew it had to be our venue. When I asked about pricing for roughly 100-150 guests, they said it would be a $5k deposit and then $15k after that (and the deposit would go toward that amount). I'm no math expert but I assumed that meant I could anticipate another $10k in expenses after deducting the $5k deposit, for $15k total after all was said and done. Nope.
When we were days from the wedding, they said we owed $23k. My jaw hit the floor. I had been constantly asking them throughout this process if the $15k amount would cover our anticipated guest list number (which turned out to be about 100 people). Over and over they assured me, yes, it will cover them. Then they also added an additional $3690 for "overages", which I only got a couple hundred dollars back from even after being told that we had met my bar cap and not gone over for the evening. I didn't fight it because I was tired of arguing and feeling misled. And yes, I pored over the contract many times and reviewed every page before signing it.
The way they do their contract is real slick. You will pay out the nose whether you end up having 1 guest or 300 guests, because they go by a minimum, not per head. There is no way to reduce the cost by having a smaller amount of alcohol, appetizers, guests, etc because of this food & beverage minimum.
Long story short, if you're even thinking about using this venue, on your first meeting demand an itemized bill showing EXACTLY what your final cost will be based on the head count and bar cap that you want, including their taxes, extra fees, overages, room fees, and 20 other hidden costs, so they can't spring an amount on you directly before the wedding that's several orders of magnitude more than you were budgeting for.
Now that that's out of the way, let me just say that the hotel itself is stunning. Our photos in the Polar Bar and Dome Room, and on the steps of the hotel, looked absolutely gorgeous. We and our guests were all very happy with the food, drinks, and service on the day of the wedding. I was not allowed to stay in our hotel room the night before the wedding, which was very inconvenient as we were driving from Olympia to Seattle two days in a row as a result, for the rehearsal dinner and then for the wedding. They said that 25 small candle votives were included in setup, so I asked them to line the sides of the aisle with them. They said it would be hard because "people kick them over", yet I've seen countless photos of people having weddings with giant candles, flower arrangements, floor runners, and much more. When I emerged to the ceremony, they had not put any of the candles out, so it was just a bare floor. The room still looked beautiful, but I'm sorry, when I'm paying this much money (and in fact, much more than I had ever anticipated), I do expect to receive what I asked for and what we had agreed upon in advance. Also, when we arrived to the rehearsal dinner at the agreed time of 7:00 PM, they were confused and said they thought it would be at 5, so we were late. Again, I had told them a million times it needed to start at 7 because my friends and family in Olympia had to get off work and drive up to Seattle for this. Not sure why there was so much miscommunication when everything is recorded in emails.
Everything else about our day was great. Our comped room for the evening was beautiful, and the setup switch from ceremony to reception went flawlessly. I only wish someone would have advised me to have them itemize every one of their costs, and that each of my requests had been honored.Arctic Club Hotel Seattle's reply:
Hi Chelsea,
Thank you so much for providing your valuable feedback! It is reviews like yours that assist us in our on-going efforts to provide exemplary customer service to past and present clients. I personally enjoyed working with you both very much and am thankful that you selected The Arctic Club for your big day! I enjoyed working with you so much that I took on a few duties that would typically be handled by a day-of Coordinator. I loved being able to setup your escort card table and welcome table. Your decor items were beautiful! I must agree, our venue is A-MAZ-ING for Great Gatsby themed events.
I'm very sorry that you felt our contracts were misleading. I am always happy to discuss contracts in detail, as I understand that they contain verbiage that may be difficult to decipher if you don't deal with them regularly. I would like to address all of your concerns, comments and questions below.
First, I must note that your deposit was $5,000 and you had a $15,000 F&B minimum. You did not mention the contracted $5,000 room rental. These fees bring you up to $20,000 rather than $15,000. You also had guest rooms the night of the wedding, which were contracted and added on an additional $1,500+. It would not have been possible to hold your wedding for a flat rate of $15,000 when the contract amount well exceeded that.
As noted on pg. 1 of all contracts, "Client must meet a food and beverage minimum of _____." (typically $15,000 for Saturday Weddings) This is the minimum amount of revenue that must be achieved via food and beverage purchases only. While we do have a food and beverage minimum that must be met, our pricing for meal service is per person. As a concession, I am thrilled that we were able to reduce your food and beverage minimum mere days before the wedding. I hope that took some of the stresses away leading up to the wedding day.
Please note that pg. 1 of the contract also states "**Does not include service charges, labor fees, applicable federal, state or local taxes or any other fees outside of food and beverage product sales.**" The possibility of incurring any additional fees are clearly noted on the contract and there is no intent to deceive our clients.
Yes, you're correct that we do charge a 15% overage on the cost of weddings. The overage is utilized to cover unanticipated costs that are incurred leading up to and on the wedding day. The overage is typically used for things such as an increased bar cap day-of or an increased guest count after final payment is received. It can also cover incidental charges or guest room charges. Overages are 100% refundable, provided they're not utilized. You did not receive the full return of your overage because you had guest rooms that were not filled. We actually had a room reserved for you the night before the wedding (as you had requested) but that room was not utilized. You were sent a full billing breakdown which reflects the final overage reimbursement.
I'm so pleased that you and your guests were very happy with the food, drinks and service on the day of the wedding. We're so lucky to have an amazing Chef and highly skilled service staff. Our teams are truly the backbone of the hotel and we're very grateful for them. I'm also happy that you loved your suite the night of the wedding and hope you enjoyed the Champagne and hand-written note. Also, I must agree that your photos were stunning! You two are a beautiful couple!
I would like to address the rehearsal dinner mix-up. Again, please accept my sincerest apologies. That was absolutely my error and I am grateful that our staff was able to accommodate everything, just as you had requested. Dinner service still took place at your desired time and the room was beautiful and ready to go when you and your guests arrived.
I am also sorry that we were not able to place our votive candles on the floor, as it would've posed a potential fire hazard and we must abide by fire code. It is correct that you have seen giant candles lining the aisle in photos. These are acceptable, as they range in 12"-36" in height and are clearly visible to all guests in attendance.
I hope that I have addressed all of your comments and concerns and provided clear and concise information in regard to our wedding practices here at The Arctic Club. Thank you again!
Laura
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