For those interested, here is my “review” of the Party Suite tickets purchased through the “Suite Seats” program (and other comments about the day).
We purchased three tickets through the team’s SuiteSeats web page for yesterday’s (Sunday) game against the Yankees. The Party Suite tickets, I think were $125 each.
Traffic was not very bad at all. There was the typical backup on the Roosevelt Bridge to get through the Stop sign onto Independence Avenue. But traffic around the stadium on M Street was actually not that bad and I was able to park our car with plenty of time to get something to eat and to get to our seats.
Since out tickets gained us admission, we tried out the “Grill” within the Stars and Stripes Club. Very disappointing. The food in the S&S Club is typical ballpark fair found elsewhere in the stadium (hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, etc.). The only advantage is that it’s air-conditioned inside and that there are tables to sit down at. The view through a glass wall to try and watch the game is extremely small and limited. Maybe there is room for four people at each end to watch the game. (There are TV monitors and the radio feed piped in.)
A big problem as I see when selling individual suite tickets to games is that there is no assigned seat number. So, when we got to the box, there were no three seats in a row for my me and my children to all sit together. Once considerate man (and his son) moved however so that we could all sit together.
But when we got up to go to the bathroom or to get a snack, someone was sitting in “our” seats so we had to sit somewhere else. Luckily those people did not come back or, if they did, they also moved.
There has been a lot of discussion here about what the percentage of Yankee fans were at the stadium. In our box there were four or five Yankee fans and about twelve Nationals fans. I’d say, in my estimation, that about matches the crowd overall ... about 25 to 30 percent Yankee fans. I also did not see any large “sea of blue” in the stands, especially in what has been described as the Phillies area in the right field bleachers.
Overall, I don’t think I’d buy Party Suite tickets again. I don’t think they’re worth the money. If I was arranging a party at the stadium I think they’re a great idea (without knowing the cost). In fact there was a Bar Mitzvah party two suites down from us. But for just attending a ballgame, it was nice to try once but the team needs to sweeten the deal a little more or I’ll skip it next time.