Aria

Booked an afternoon tea for myself and a friend but the service was slightly disappointing as we were left sitting without a drink for about 15 minutes, I asked for a drinks menu but everybody seemed to disappear so I went and found one off another table. Eventually a lovely waitress did offer us some water and apologised for the wait.
I thought the afternoon tea was expensive for what it was, not much effort in the sandwiches, we had a vegetarian selection and it wasn't brilliant. Also we asked for soya milk with our tea and apparently they had none, which I find very disappointing for a hotel of that size.
The room we had tea in was lovely but quite messy when we walked in, they still seemed to be clearing up from another service.
It may well have have been a bad day as Celin Dion was staying at the hotel and was leaving just as we were so obviously there was quite a commotion and possibly the staff had been very busy and stressed but even bearing that in mind i was not that impressed and would have expected a better experience.

Superb restaurant. Fantastic food. Welcoming staff. Couldnt fault it

Nice afternoon tea, lovely sandwiches but the cakes weren't great and service was very slow. Overpriced

We booked afternoon tea for our party of four which was a birthday present for one of the party . The food was excellent and as much tea as we wanted and a great selection of sandwhches and cakes . Very pleasant atmosphere and staff were most attentive ,

I liked the airy, light space, and good placing of the tables. We both rated the food good, especially my friend (the host on this occasion), who praised the cod dish. I found my duck quite dry and tough, but not without taste, and served with a nice dark cherry sauce. This was in fact the only shortcoming-- all the other dishes were good. It was a very quiet lunchtime, which worked in our favour. We agreed that we might well re-visit at some point, because we meet up periodically for a lunch in Birmingham, and we were certainly happy with Aria.

Lovely experience of afternoon tea and staff very friendly and helpful.

Had afternoon tea. Competitively priced and good food items. Unlimited supply of tea. Outstanding staff attended to every detail and were on hand but not obtrusive. Lovely surroundings with a great ambience. This was a lovely afternoon that was greatly enjoyed by my guest and me. Great central location and transport links.

Ideally situated near Symphony Hall. A nice pre-concert meal in a pleasant restaurant. Friendly, efficient staff.

Sensational! Everyone does afternoon tea now, sadly not all as good as they should be. For me its about the quality, and this had it in abundance. The service from the outset was exceptional; "more tea?" - the waitress tended us without hesitation or request for four hours... So, setting is charming, contemporary, relaxing and cool. The product served was perfect (usual drill of sandwiches, scones and individual cakes and dessert) and the choices of tea were very good (I've stopped short of excellent as there was no Ceylon, though the Assam was an excellent substitute so maybe I should say "very good and a half"). Nothing was too much trouble, it was a bargain four hours of excellent service and refreshment at £21.50.
One tiny improvement - the toilets need a sort out, for such a beautiful venue the toilets were disappointing and shall we say "worsened" as time went on. Please don't let that detract from the fabulousness though

Lovely place. Table not ready despite having booked. Would have been nice to have a description of teas rather than just names. Also the vegetarian option was very limited - just cheese and cucumber. Adv at time of booking that needed a vegetarian option so more could have been prepared.