Rein at the Garden City Hotel, Garden City

My husband had made a reservation for brunch this past Sunday, this was a splurge for us and it was to celebrate an anniversary. When we first pulled up, it was not clear where the valet was so we never received the free valet service. We were greeted by a cranky hostess who tried to seat us at the worst table in the room. It's a table up against a column so my husband would've been facing the column and I the door, not very romantic and for the heft price of this brunch this table shouldn't even exist. When my husband asked to move to another table, she gave a huff and an attitude, mind you we had a reservation and there were plenty of open tables. We then are told coat check is necessary because coats are not allowed to be put on the back of chairs because it gets in the way of passing servers. After we had our coats to the hostess we glance around and realize that almost every chair has coats on the back of their chairs. Our waiter was very pleasant, however at the end of the check you get billed a mandatory service fee (aka 15% gratuity fee) which on this bill for the 2 of us is just about $20. It's a brunch buffet so the service you get is the same as at a Chinese buffet - drinks refills and clear your plates - hardly worth a $20 tip. The food was cold, left out too long and considering the price not much variety. There was sushi available which I liked and thought was done well. You could have waffles and omelets made which as is usually the case creates congestion and takes too long. If you want french toast or waffles that were pre-made, both are very cold. The only sliced meat available was prime rib. The salmon was cold and definitely left out way too long. There were no crabs out, but there was lobster claws as well as shrimp(which tasted rubbery and ironically enough not chilled even though all the other food was cold). The dessert was not impressive either, the only good option was the fondue. There was no ice cream which I was disappointed, I had heard there was gelato made on premise however it should probably be noted on their website that this is only in the summer. There weren't many cakes(no cheesecake), 2 types of cookies and that's about it. We were hoping to walk around the historic hotel a bit afterward but again not much to see and they don't allow you to see anything other than the very small lobby. Overall, it was not worth anywhere near the price that is charged. We will not be returning and I would not recommend to anyone else.