Afternoon Tea at Fairmont Olympic

Wish I had more time! We had a lovely afternoon high tea before our show. Our waiter was very attentive and fun. The atmosphere was gorgeous. I do recommend letting them know in advance if you are lactose intolerant as many of the cakes and sandwiches have dairy

Must do in Seattle! Such a fun way to spend an afternoon at tea. The sandwiches and deserts are lovely! The biscuits and lychee were my favorite!

It was INCREDIBLE in every way. The food, the service, the setting. We looooooved it! And zenesh our waitress absolute 10/10!!! I also cannot say enough amazing things about the manager Ashley. She has such skill to lead in this capacity. She’s WONDERFUL.

Lovely tea experience! They were very accommodating for gluten free and nut-free options. Great service and very yummy tea and snacks. Would go again!

I'm not sure why this place gets such bad reviews but I had the BEST time at afternoon tea at the Fairmont. The hotel and where the tea is held is gorgeous! Simply gorgeous. The variety of food with the tea was great and everything was delicious. The waiter was attentive and very knowledgeable on teas. I had a lovely time and can't wait to go back.

I recently had tea with my girlfriends and had such a wonderful experience. From the service to the delicious tea sandwiches everything was perfect, we will definitely be returning!

Had my birthday celebration here with a few friends and it was so nice! Loved the atmosphere and the service was excellent, no complaints! The food was a little disappointing but overall had a great time.

My husband reserved the Fairmont Olympic afternoon tea to celebrate my birthday, and it was absolutely perfect. The setting was elegant and peaceful, and the staff (David and Ashley) made us feel genuinely welcomed and cared for. The standout? The scones. They were warm, moist, and just the right amount of crumbly—easily the best we’ve ever had. Paired with clotted cream and jam, they were next-level delicious. The tea selection was fantastic, and every sweet and savory item on the tiered tray was beautifully presented and full of flavor. It made for such a memorable and relaxing afternoon. Not to mention that the hotel setting itself makes for great photo opportunities! Highly recommend for a special occasion or just a luxurious treat in the heart of Seattle.

First time here and I loved it! The tea and food were great. Our server David was wonderful and helped answer our questions and explained how everything worked. He also did a great job taking our group photos! Highly recommend and ask for David!

We had the most wonderful High Tea experience at the Olympic Bar inside the Fairmont Olympic! From the moment we arrived, the staff made us feel so welcome and taken care of. I mentioned I had a food allergy, and they didn’t just accommodate it—they went above and beyond to ensure everything was safe, delicious, and beautifully presented. What truly stood out was how kind and thoughtful the team was with my child. They took extra care to make the experience special, tailoring the service and even adding thoughtful touches that made my little one feel like royalty. The tea selection was exceptional, the pastries and savory bites were exquisite, and the overall ambiance was elegant yet comfortable. Truly a memorable afternoon—thank you to the team for creating such a magical experience. We can’t wait to return!

What a lovely tea experience at the Olympic Bar inside the Fairmont Olympic Hotel! The setting is elegant yet cozy—perfect for an afternoon break or a quiet conversation. I ordered a pot of Earl Grey and was blown away by the quality and presentation. The tea was fragrant, smooth, and perfectly steeped, served with all the right accompaniments. The service was exceptional—attentive without being intrusive, and the staff genuinely seemed to care about the experience. It's such a peaceful escape from the bustle of downtown Seattle. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a refined tea moment in a beautiful setting!

I loved high tea here for my birthday! Cassie our server was wonderful. Food was good too! An expensive experience but was worth it for a special occasion. Thanks cassie!

The Fairmont tea experience is absolutely incredible! The staff is very friendly and engaging throughout the entire experience. And they are also wonderful with food allergies and were easily able to adjust for a nut and gluten allergy. Highly recommend great afternoon in the city!

My family and I went to the afternoon tea option at the Fairmont this Sunday, I was very pleased with the amount of care in explaining the menu and carefully guiding my family with ordering. The environment of the hotel was phenomenal and I wished that we took more pictures. All the more to do next time we visit!

The afternoon tea at the Fairmont Olympic was the best I've experienced in Seattle, by far. It included excellent food, a wonderful atmosphere, and outstanding service. We were served in the library room which was elegant, cozy, and quiet. David was our amazing server who went above and beyond to explain the menu and the teas and ensure we had everything we needed. The tea started with an amuse bouche of whipped cream with gorgeous fresh berries. The scones were fresh, warm, and delicate. The selection of sandwiches and savories were varied, delicious, and very fresh. We couldn't make it through all the desserts and brought them home. It was an absolute post-holiday delight.

We tried out Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont in Seattle for a birthday and had a great time! Our table was thankfully large so we didn't have any space issues, but 100% I can understand how other patrons have had issues based on the other tables I saw. Service throughout was exceptional, with recommendations and banter that sold the experience. The food and tea we received weren't the best I've ever had at an afternoon tea, but no real complaints. Would come back again if family was in town and they wanted to do tea.

I was fairly concerned about what my experience would be based on so many negative reviews on various platforms. I was mostly pleased with this afternoon tea. There was plenty of food and tea for two of us. In fact, we took our desserts to go. The finger sandwiches were delicious though the wheat bread on the egg salad sandwiches was hard, all the other breads were great. The scones were good but not as good as I had hoped, and the amount of lemon curd, jam and cream was not quite enough for the two of us. (Didn’t know if we could have asked for more?) The desserts were quite good. The tea was excellent, though I’m certainly not a tea connoisseur. My friend had the creamy Earl Grey and I had the hotel’s Centennial offering. The service from our server, Caleb, was perfect! He was extremely pleasant and knowledgeable, and even offered to take pictures of us. Our main issue with the experience, besides the high cost, was the environment. Our table for two was very small and barely fit the tea and dishes. It was also right on the walkway so there was the distraction of people constantly walking past. The sound level was very high and we found ourselves having to move in closer to hear each other, frequently having to repeat ourselves. About an hour in, a group of six was seated right next to us. They were loud, but that was to be expected from a group of that size and given the overall sound level they also had to deal with. Their closeness to us, however, meant we were constantly getting bumped into by the servers. It was overall a good experience but not one I’ll likely repeat.

I love tea. I love pastries. I love smol things. All were here in copious quantities, beautifully presented, and with excellent service in decadent environment. This was a wonderful experience that will impress family, friends, dates, or anyone else lucky enjoy to join you. The pastries varied widely and were delicious. Lemon, hazelnut, yuzu, peach, and more. The scone and accompanying condiments paired well with the tea. Sadly the egg tart was very dry and the savory mushroom puff pastry needed a touch of cheese or sauce. The theory seems to be that the dryness in some will be offset by your tea, but I prefer to enjoy each bite on its own and don’t consider tea’s moisture a pairing. The mixed drinks were hit or miss, and tho the champagne was good it started at $28/glass and we would have appreciated more options, including some for mimosas. The tea experience itself left a little to be desired. They didn’t have any samples you could see or smell and to me that’s everything. The descriptions were written to impress instead of accurately describing the flavor profiles, and so I ended up trying a new one that I didn’t enjoy very much.

Overall a fun experience but quite pricey. The food was very tasty. Wish we could have tried more than one tea option per person

The Seattle Fairmont was renovated in 2020, and its restored glory really adds to the ambience for afternoon tea.

Came here many times before and after the remodel. I love the new look. Today I would like to write a review of the Fairmont Afternoon tea! I was honestly disappointed, the quality did not meet the price tag. First, the food was pretty much blended and nothing unique, tea selection was good but our teapot was constantly empty and asked for hot water multiple times. Champagne Mimosa was pricey! 2 afternoons and 2 mimosae for almost $300 (including tax and tip). There are better places in town that are a better and more reasonable price. I probably will not come back here for afternoon tea because It doesn't meet the value per dollar sign, plus the service was attentive but very slow, and on top of that we have to pay for parking. They no longer offer validation.

As an avid tea lover (and explorer of various afternoon tea sessions), the tea and food were only meh. You pay for the atmosphere when coming here. The tower nibbles were mostly dry and stale tasting. Our reservation was around 1pm but it's clear they made the items maybe the day before or like 7am and Sat out. All the bread or cracker components were stale or dried out. The egg salad and mousse were not moist. The scone was fresh and the starter sweet fruit cream mousse was good. But the rest was unfortunately a let down compared to the quality of other afternoon teas around town. Also the waiters seemed really confused and did our towers incorrectly a couple times and they never checked on us for more water or cream, we always had to flag them down manually. It's a shame the service and food wasn't good given the beautiful atmosphere and effort for parking downtown and the cost. I wish it was better quality. If so, I would go back. But unfortunately, it wasn't good enough for the effort.

We were looking forward to experiencing the traditional afternoon tea, however, seems like our expectations were too high. Overall, the environment is great, not gonna to pick on it. The food quality is average, and even though there are many tea selections but we were only able to choose one.

We enjoyed our afternoon tea experience. The service was efficient and attentive. My friend enjoyed her non-vegetarian items. The vegetarian options are very limited, so I would not recommend it Our server was awesome, and gave me extra desserts instead to make up for the lack of vegetarian options The desserts and scones are spectacular, and we had lots extra to take home The place has a positive vibe, and the decor is beautiful, will definitely go back for scones and desserts, and it’s a very fancy afternoon tea vibe

I think based on word of mouth, my expectations may have been a little high. Upon being shown to our seats (for 3), those expectations lowered considerably. The dress code is “smart”, but the seating is slouchy, lounge-y furniture situated around a comically low, undersized coffee table. The initial table setting is classy and traditional, but as soon as tea and food arrive, the undersized table becomes a completely jumbled mess. A little clutter at the tea table is perhaps to be expected, but this was exasperating Ready to push past the silly setup to the substance of the meal; my table-mate’s Imperial tea was great, though my earl grey was overtly floral in flavor and a bit weak. The food was a series of misses and hits. The scone was… bland and the raspberry jam unremarkable. The sandwich tier (the best of the 3) had an assortment of usual suspects (the egg salad, the cucumber, a thin roast beef on marble rye) and some nice surprises (salmon mousse tartlet, Boursin and pepita cracker). The desserts were varied and very much will work or not based on the individual’s taste, so I’ll hold judgement - though the mandarin glazed madeline and chocolate tartlet stood above the rest for me. The high end service staff were wonderful, warm, and ever present for whatever we might need! Certainly the highlight aspect of the whole tea. Ultimately, I’m glad I tried it for myself, but I won’t need to come back. For the tea and food (and appropriate furniture!), it’s the Queen Mary in Ravenna for me, or if you’re splashing out for a fun quick getaway, the Empress in Victoria!

Lovely service: pick your tea, and they will butcher it right in front of you! (They practice the "keep adding hot water" method of steeping tea, and you can't share teapots or stagger when they come out, so it gets oversteeped and bitter quite quickly. You also get the same hot water for green tea as black tea, etc. The food was well presented and most of it was delicious; as another reviewer said, the atmosphere is indeed the best selling point.)

My daughter's and I have attended the Christmas Afternoon Tea three different years. What a disappointment this year was. The service was its usual top notch. The food went drastically downhill compared to the high quality of previous years. The sandwich bread this year was stale, the fillings not anything noteworthy, the scones just so so, and the desserts not especially good. My daughter ordered the vegan tea and said her sandwiches were inedible. She left the tea hungry. I paid $427 for 3 teas. I'm still in sticker shock about that. There was an added 23% afternoon tea charge and they wanted a tip on top of that. Not only that, the tax was added to the afternoon tea charge! This was a beloved Christmas tradition that has now gone by the wayside. I'm so sorry to have wasted a significant amount of money.

I’m including photos from the last time 2 times my close girlfriends and I had afternoon tea inside the Georgian in 2019. The first was spring tea in April and the final time during the Christmas season. Christmas tea had been our tradition for over a decade. Like many others who’ve lived or frequently visited Seattle, the Fairmont was known for the place to celebrate with afternoon tea. Just before Covid the dining room was closed for remodeling. Where the Christmas trees and warm original woodwork led to the dining room has been remodeled into a bright vintage-style bar and eating area called the Olympic Bar. The space was breathtaking the first time I saw it in early 2022. The decor is truly fantastic and is a nod to the 1920s when the hotel opened. The drinks and snacks I’ve had each visit since have been fantastic. However, having the afternoon tea here was awkward and disappointing. The tables in Olympic Bar are TINY and afternoon tea already takes up so much space. The quality of the offerings at tea have unfortunately gone downhill. Tea now feels like an afterthought instead of THE destination. Due to the space and table sizes, The Olympic Bar has limited space for tea. We weren’t able to bring in our group of 9-10 people as we’d have to sit separately. My hope is the leadership at the Fairmont Olympic reads all of the reviews posted here and takes them as a sign to reimagine the tea experience. It truly makes me sad that there aren’t any high quality afternoon tea destinations in Seattle now. The options that are available are mediocre to tasteless while also being close in price to the Fairmont.

I took my 11yo son to High Tea as his birthday present, hoping for a stellar experience because this is the Fairmont. Unfortunately, the service was shockingly disappointibg. I think this was mostly the result of not having a server assigned to our seating area. The scones weren't served until the end, but I had to point out we never got them. I didn't get any refills of my tea pot. We were never offered milk for our tea. We asked for water that never came. It felt like we were invisible. I thought these other poor reviews would just be one-offs. I hope that returning to the Fairmont for High Tea could become a tradition. It's the Fairmont. There shouldn't be subpar service, but my experience was terrible for a place that should be excellent.

This was super “meh”. Server was completely bitter for whatever reason.. you’re making $140 tip per hour .. just super checked out and short. We didn’t even have any exceptions or anything. Food was just meh.. stale sandwiches and stuff. Not like Queen Mary, not like fairmont Banff or Lake Louise. We were lucky to get the only table in the place otherwise you’re crouching over a coffee table thing. Super awkward and in the middle of a lobby? Whole thing wasn’t worth the price. Also they leave the tea leaves in with no timer. So tea was all burnt and bitter. Was excited but was just subpar.

The food and tea itself were both very disappointing. The bread for the sandwiches was stale, the cakes were strange and or stale, and the tea itself was so weak. Judging from the variety of items posted in reviews I think they reuse food from events/ other menus/ don't make fresh sandwiches or desserts. Our server was really rude, dismissive and did her best to ignore us. She somewhat ruined the pleasant vibes that come with enjoying a tea ritual. I also ordered a glass of sparkling rose. Which was flat and old. The scones were nice and warm, but nothing to write home about. If you like afternoon tea and understand and appreciate what it should be like, and understand what to expect out of a five star hotel. Don't waste your money because this will disappoint you. I have also decided not to stay at a Fairmont in future based on my experience at the tea and bar. The hotel is really beautiful but you can just go to the bar and enjoy a glass of wine rather than blowing $70+ on a very poorly executed and delivered tea experience.

I've been to the Fairmont in Seattle before for their tea so I already knew it was expensive but worth the splurge for the whole experience. I went with my wife and two daughters this year before Christmas and came away feeling genuinely conned and ripped off. Our reservation was the last sitting of the day so we weren't too surprised to not be seated until 15 minutes after our reservation time. After being served a glass of prosecco we waited a further 45 minutes without any sign of food or a server. I had to go and find someone to let them know we hadn't received any food yet. 10 minutes later a frazzled looking waitress delivered our tiered food stand (see pic). Each stand was for 2 people. So at $105 per person each stand cost $210 minus the price of a teabag and some luke warm water. (See pic). There were 4 tiny sandwiches for each person which if put together would have made one fairly small sandwich. One of the 4 fillings was beetroot which was as disgusting as it sounds. Then there was 1 egg , 1 cucumber and a tiny shaving of fillet. The cakes were boring and looked store bought. And that was that. Oh sorry, there was a scone each with butter jam and cream in a thimble sized container to share between 2. I know you pay for the location etc etc but is there any need to rip off your customers like this. It doesn't take much to present a decent food stand to go with the experience and if you make a big deal about your service how about providing some service. It would be difficult to make this experience any more disappointing.

I've been to afternoon tea in a lot of places around the worldand in the states. While the hotel is beautiful the food and service for this Holiday Tea was terrible. It is not worth the price. And the "Teddy Bear Room" was a bit creepy with all the sad looking bears and no color. There are far better places in Seattle to get afternoon tea. Just Google it. We won't be making the Fairmont a tradition sadly.

Spectacular and stunning atmosphere! However the food is underwhelming for the cost and level of presentation expected with the Fairmont name! Not in alignment with its brand. The Petit fours and mini bites were stale and dry. At least the atmosphere is magical. The service was also not warm or inviting.

This is one of the worst afternoon teas I have been to. I’ve been to many, some in grander hotels and some in small family-run venues. All were better than the one at the Olympic Fairmont. My friends and I paid $75 for one tea selection each, a few sandwiches, and mediocre sweets. The sandwiches were average in both taste and appearance, and the scones were not really scones—they tasted like and had the consistency of a biscuit-y croissant, and the cream that accompanied it was described as crème fraîche, but it tasted like sweetened whipped cream. The desserts were attractive but lacked good flavor. This afternoon tea is over-priced, and there is honestly nothing to recommend it.

Do not go if you have severe allergies or dietary restrictions. Earlier this year, I had afternoon tea at the Fairmont Olympic. I told the staff ahead of time that I had severe allergies that can lead to anaphylaxis. They assured me that the vegan meal would be allergy safe. When I arrived, we confirmed this again. I then ate half of a scone and began to have an allergic reaction and had to go to the emergency room to be treated. The staff denied that the food could have allergies or cross contamination and have still not accepted that they did anything wrong despite evidence of my reaction. Their responses read as corporate denial. I do NOT recommend this experience for anyone with severe allergies, especially given how little of the food led to a reaction. Also, their tea quality is poor (and you can get better teas in Chinatown). The seating area is next to their bar, so you don’t feel like you’re having a unique experience. The take-home tea packets you get at the very end are sweetened with stevia, which suggests they try to hide the poor quality.

My husband and I treated ourselves to afternoon tea at the Fairmont as an early Christmas present. We had afternoon tea on a trip to London last year and loved it, so we were hoping to recapture some of that experience at the Fairmont. Our hopes were dashed the second we walked into the hotel. I understand that the afternoon tea service used to take place in a more traditional dining space, but now takes place in the lobby. I assumed that a hotel as reputable and established as the Fairmont would have only made this change if their lobby were an adequate replacement for a dining space—wrong again. When we stepped inside, we were immediately confronted with hoards of people. There is also a bar in the lobby, and it was packed, and other hotel guests and patrons were wandering around, making it difficult to figure out where to go. I eventually stopped a busser to ask where we were supposed to go for our tea reservation. She flagged down another employee who checked our reservation and escorted us to our “table.” Our reserved space was a small, round, knee-height table with one seat on a crowded bench (another guest had to be asked to move so we could sit down) and the other seat in the midst of the crowd, which resulted in several bumped elbows throughout the course of our dining experience. Our server, Caleb, was wonderful. He did his best to talk over the din of bar guests and clattering dishes to guide us through the menu. It took a while for our tea to come out, and quite a bit longer for the food to arrive, to the extent that we had both nearly finished our quickly cooling tea. The tea was fine, but nothing to write home about. When the food arrived, I noticed there were two of everything on the tray. When I made the reservation, I selected a table for two but only one afternoon tea menu. The fact that I was able to make the reservation this way led me to believe it would be fine for two of us to split one serving of food. We did it this way because our reservation was at 2:30 in the afternoon, and we didn’t want too much food. Before eating anything, I explained to our server that we were only expecting one serving of food. He explained that they “don’t really do that,” but told us to enjoy the food and he would take care of it. The food was… disappointing. The scones tasted like KFC biscuits, the bread on the finger sandwiches was stale, and the desserts were nothing special. Though we only ended up paying a little more than $100 (thanks, Caleb!), it is shocking to me that the Fairmont thinks what they served us that day was worth $200+, especially given the horrendously loud and chaotic environment in which it was served. It was probably foolish of me to assume that an afternoon tea service in the United States would be as high quality as the one we enjoyed in London (home of afternoon tea), but I thought an establishment as reputable as the Fairmont would take more pride in the quality of their product. To the hotel’s credit, all of the staff with whom we interacted were kind and helpful, but that is the extent of the praise I can extend. I won’t be returning, and I urge everyone reading this to find somewhere else to go for afternoon tea, unless you want to spend multiple hundreds of dollars for bad food and mediocre tea in an unpleasant environment.

In summary, this is not a serious institution for tea. Darleejing was unbelievably rancid, and I sent it back. The second tea was as bad as the first one - I gave up at that point and just said it was better than the first. I had no hope that they can remedy the problem. The "loose" leave tea were just from tea bags. For those who wouldn't expect high quality tea from a place that charges 100+ per person, let's talk about the atmosphere. Sure the hotel lobby was nice, but it was marred by the fact that we were sharing the space with the hotel guests - this guy was on the phone next to us. Did I expect more from this? I have two nice things about the experience: (i) dynamite cocktail, hats off to the barkeep, and (ii) the live plants. I thought the plants were fake, but I dont think so. The leave were transplanted to the live trunk of the tree, I think... I am no expert in this, but it looks like it was done by a highly competent person. I forgot - good, friendly staff also.

Underwhelming. Let’s start with the fact there was trash under the armchairs we were seated at which set the wrong tone. The tea. I’m ok with a small selection of the tea, but a refill here means just adding boiling water to an already brewed tea - for a tea ceremony this is just offensive. The food: The scones these were the best out of the whole tray, but too sweet to be proper afternoon tea scones. Cucumber sandwiches were reusing a nutmeg-forward chantili cream that was served in the amuse bouche as a base and rendered them inedible. The rest of the tray was too dry (due to being exposed to air) and unremarkable. The egg salad had potatoes in it which just didn’t compute for me… I guess eggs price hike is real. Last, the service - this was a group of people who could not care less about serving the people who were celebrating occasions all around them. Hard pass.

​We visited for their afternoon tea, expecting the classic elegance and high-standard service the hotel is known for. While the tea service itself was traditional, the experience was completely overshadowed by what I can only describe as deceptive and predatory pricing tactics. ​During the service, we were offered a glass of champagne. This was not listed on the tea menu, and the price was not mentioned by the server, but how much can a glass of low to mid tier champagne really be? We were happy to pay for a premium experience, but the bill was a shock. ​We noticed the champagne that was offered to us was available at the adjacent Olympic Bar for $16 a glass. However, because we ordered it while sitting at the tea service, we were charged $35 per glass. This is a 118% markup for the exact same pour, simply because of the "service" we were currently seated for. ​When we politely confronted our waiter about this discrepancy, we were met with a dismissive "there is nothing we can do." ​It is deeply disappointing that a historic institution would resort to "upselling" items without disclosing a price that is more than double its standard value. It felt like a bait-and-switch. If you choose to go for the tea, I strongly recommend avoiding any verbal offers from the staff and sticking strictly to the printed menu. Better yet, save your money and enjoy a more transparent experience elsewhere in Seattle. The lack of integrity in their service makes it impossible to recommend this experience.