The Hilton just completed a transition from a Hilton Garden Inn to a proper Hilton. This is a big deal. I expected great things from this for the Pensacola Beach resturant named H2O. No such luck.
H2O used to be the only real fine dining experience available on Pensacola Beach. Delightful food and an intimate atmosphere are tough to find on a beach oriented primary around family tourism. The decor had a warmth to it and I used to go just to get the riblets.
Times have changed and in my opinion, not for the better. The decor is now hard and cold- literally- glass, stone, and tile. This creates some significant problems with noise, spurred on by gaudy beach music (think Buffet and Marley). It is difficult to hear those in your party talk (there goes intimacy). The food was well presented. My fish was actually very good (Crusted Grouper), hers was not (the Wahoo special). The Ceasar salads were tasty, if a bit… runny. The wine was a good selection (Echelon Pinot Noir). The server wisely downsold us from the more expensive but same class Noir.
Both my significant other and I occasioned the restrooms. To get to these one, must travel past the very drunk and noisy hotel bar, and through a less drunk, but more chaotic, and equally loud hotel lobby. She found a stall sprayed with vomit. I couldn’t tell if the pond on the bathroom floor was urine or pool water.
The resturant is adjacent to the hotel pool, which is served by a few bars, which get the guests very liquored up throughout the day. They stroll inside to get drinmks and use the bathroom before going back outside to gander at each other. This destroys any sense or style that H2O could create. The decor is very hip and very Miami, but if it was Miami the music would be lounge music all day long, the servers would be wearing white, and the drinkers would be encouraged to drink mojitos, not Jagerbombs. Some sound deadening could go a long way to improve things as well.
Bottom line: A party place with the friends on Spring Break. Not a destination for a romantic evening, or to impress a business contact with your sense or class. The menu says “fine dining”. The wesbite says, “casual dining”. The sense of confusion is apparent.
Name: H2O
Location: Off the lobby of the Hilton Pensacola Beach
Phone: 850.343.6795
Price: $$$-$$$$
Website: http://www.h2ocajunasian.com/
1 response so far ↓
Ken // August 11, 2007 at 4:21 pm
There are so many good to very good restaurants in the Pensacola area that the first visit, and the first impression is very important.If the first impression is bad it will be a long time before I can give the place another chance.The food was ok on our first and only visit to H2O. Typical upscale beach lunch. But the place was dirty. Under the table was food spilled from at least the night before — crusts of bread, dried french fries, etc. — along with dust and sand and dirt.Service was lacking, too. The bill was incorrect. I pointed it out and got major attitude from the waiter, so I paid the $3.25 (instead of the $23.25 it should have been) and left H2O $20.00 richer.