I really, really, really wanted to like this place!  I brought my two daughters here for afternoon tea service as a little treat for us over Christmas break.  I'm glad that they are such wonderful sports.  I was just a bit unimpressed by this alleged high tea service.\n\nYou're certainly paying for the ambience - and not much else.  There are 3 options for afternoon tea service:\n\n- standard service for $17 for 3 very small tea sandwiches, 2 scones, 3 petit fours and a pot of tea\n- Royal service for $24 - everything above plus your choice of a champagne cocktail, kir royale or a mimosa\n- Mad Hatter tea service for $10 (kids 10 and under) - includes 2 cookies, one small PB&J and a small banana sandwich\n\nThe service was very inattentive.  It took about 10 or 15 minutes for our server to arrive and take our order.  With only 3 items on the menu, there's not much suspense here for the server.  There's a pretty good chance I'm going with one of the two tea options and since I came with two girls aged 4 and 7, they're going with the kid version.  \n\nThe treats were tasty enough, small portions and it took quite a while for them to arrive.  The kids were pleased as can be to be on this outing and they were just taking it all in, as they should.  Daddy on the other hand was wondering where our server was with my check and then what was taking so long to process my payment.\n\nWhen I hear afternoon high tea service, I was hoping for something along this lines of this recent experience in Victoria, British Columbia at The Fairmont:\nhttp://www.yelp.com/biz/the-fairmont-empress-victoria-2#hrid:xpD2ILdG1yszsgbdTKHtsw\n\nJudging from the other reviews, clearly this hotel is an institution.  But, for the price, I was hoping for something more in the food and service departments.  \n\nYou can come out ahead if you just sat in the lobby and ordered a tea and scone from the Starbucks that shares the same space.