One of our favorite family adventures is afternoon tea. Recently, we headed to Hotel Paseo del Norte in downtown El Paso, Texas for their afternoon tea experience. Here are our thoughts on this adventure as afternoon tea lovers…
I’m going to start with a gentle reminder for those of you not familiar with the American Southwest that afternoon tea is not a thing here. This is the land of striking deserts, windstorms, and all things green and red chilies. So when I came across this seasonal afternoon tea offering, I immediately booked tickets.
To go to afternoon tea at Hotel Paseo del Norte, you’ll need to book in advance. The tea is held in The Dome Bar area of the lobby, which is beautiful. Tables are set for exactly the number of reservations for the day and no more. Tea is $35 per person, including gratuity at the time of this post.
I appreciated the opportunity to book in advance because we didn’t have to wait for the check when we were done and had time to work through the tea treats at our own pace. This system also made check-in very prompt and the single hostess had every party seated within 10 minutes of 2:00 p.m. when the afternoon tea opened.
The tea portion of the tea was odd. Two waiters rolled around a tea trolley asking everyone to select their teas. They then give you a very large, quite stuffed, bag of loose leaf tea that they set directly on the table next to your teacup and saucer. A few minutes later, they return with 2 very small pots of hot water for the table for you to pour over the very large bag in your teacup.
There are a few challenges here:
- The bag is half the size of the teacup, so the tea is never fully submerged to properly steep. It’s also packed into the bag quite tightly, which is also not the done thing from my understanding.
- Once your tea has steeped and you remove the bag so the water doesn’t become bitter, there’s no place to put it other than your saucer. Then you have no place to put your cup other than a wet saucer or the table.
- Tea needs hot water to brew properly. The pots aren’t refreshed with hot water regularly, so you’re trying to refresh your cup with tepid water and an overstuffed tea bag. Each guest should have had their own small pot to properly brew their tea. I’d even be okay letting the big tea bag sit in the small pot indefinitely to avoid cluttering the table. The tea will get a bit bitter, but we won’t be snobs about it.
We had to hunt down our server for more hot water too. Looking around the room, their goal may not have been to encourage tea drinking, instead focusing on selling cocktails and champagne to go with the tea? I’m not sure.
On to the food…
I do love dainty tea sandwiches, good scones, and the tiny desserts. Food in miniature is always more fun, and many places offer items that are locally and seasonally inspired. I didn’t get that here. The food was good, but not wow. Again, I think the focus is more on the ambiance.
Overall, this is a good afternoon tea for the area. It’s a fun outing in a beautiful space, and a value compared to the cost of other afternoon teas in large hotels around the country.
Happy adventuring, darlings!
