Brilliant location. Excellent service. Breakfasts were awesome. We especially liked the fruit! The bar & live music also good. It seemed to be a little bit like time stood still, but I liked it. The reception were very friendly as we arrived without our cases which were left at Chicago airport - not uncommon apparently!!
My first visit to Madison. My father was born in Dane County hence the reason for the trip from the UK. Being from the UK I suppose is why I liked the hotel as it is the kind of hotel with traditions - lovely linen & table silver & proper service.
When I come back to the beautiful Madison I will not stay anywhere else!!!

Spent an evening at Edgewater for my cousins wedding. One thing is certain, a great view from the bar and dining area makes this a nice place to go regardless if one is spending the night!

The room was decent, although the emphasis of this location is just that....LOCATION! SInce it was summer, we were in walking distance of everything, so that made the weekend more of an adventure. Union is a few blocks away as is State Street and the Capital building.

As far as the ballroom, it was smaller than I might have wanted for my wedding. The food was standard wedding entree. Really just enough to have a location for dancing and drinking, which was fine for my family.

Thanksgiving evening. This was our second stay at the Edgewater. My husband relies on a walker to get around and we like to stay here because of the ease of getting from the parking garage to the room. There is an enclosed parking structure adjacent to the entry way. The end parking spots are designated for "handicapped parking." Then it is only a matter of walking a few yards to the passage that contains an elevator and a keycard-protected entrance to the hotel proper. Similar parking is available on every floor. We requested a room near the entrance and were given a very close room with a splendid lake view. The only negative with this arrangement is that the door cannot be opened easily and there is no automatic door.

In the morning I made inquiries at the desk about additional accessibility features. I was told that there was a room that had some bathroom accommodations, but there were no rooms with wider doorways to accommodate wheel chairs.

I hope this information will be of use to other travelers with our concerns.
Best wishes to all.

The $ 38.95 Thanksgiving Buffet at the Edgewater hotel in Madison brought back many childhood memories – of frozen pot pies, canned vegetables and chemical whipped topping to name a few. We had a 4:00 seating – but from the looks of the buffet you would have thought we had arrived an hour after closing. Some bins were empty, many “hot” dishes were room temperature at best and the soup tureen was downright crusty.
Highlights of the meal (and I do say that with the utmost sarcasm) included:
Appetizers: soggy fried cheese sticks and equally soggy fried mushrooms; a whole smoked fish that was so picked at it looked like dogs had been gnawing on it, and cream cheese spread with crackers. Not good crackers – just salad bar variety crackers.
Entrees: turkey (which was very good), sad, barely warm ham and a dish labeled ‘Beef Chasseur” that in texture and taste was exactly like the tiny cubes of spongy “beef” I remember in frozen pot pies, circa 1974. Except these beef cubes were much larger – so you could really appreciate just how bad it was.
Sides: 2 kinds of stuffing: wet and gloppy, or, strangely apple pie flavored. Green beans and corn – that were once fresh, maybe a year ago. And surprisingly, thankfully, very good mashed potatoes.
“elaborate dessert table” – a few varieties of very sad, very mass produced fruit pies, a so-so pumpkin pie, and for a final insult – “Parfaits” of room temperature chocolate pudding with imitation whipped topping.
Expensive disappointment-- at $38.95 per person. The Edgewater must define “Chef” as “Can open cans”. All that history and all that view – just can’t make up for poor quality food.