Didn't feel like a guest at the sole

decided to overnight at the sole to enjoy some live music and to celebrate a friend's birthday. no complaints on the accomodation and facility, it was modern and well-kept. the high-end finishes in room/bathroom were a nice touch. getting in and out of the hotel with your vehicle was slightly inconvenient due to the lineup of cars resulting from their one-way entry/exit to the valet-only hotel (must say the valet did a great job of handling the space issues and quickly handing over your vehicle). however, our overall experience at the hotel was tarnished due to unwelcoming practices aimed at making everything "exclusive" where you are pushed to pay a premium for just about everything...even to sit around the pool. at check-in the valet immediately greeted us with "hotel policy does not allow you to bring beach chairs and umbrellas (we had brought one beach chair to enjoy the concert from the sand in the evening) at the public beach a few yards away. then proceeded with "no cooler bags on premises either". they didn't seemed to care when i explained that my toddler had special dietary needs and that i had packed a small cooler lunchbox with her drinks and snacks for the day. i was told to remove the items from the cooler bag. despite finding it insulting and unecessary, i decided to go along with it and make the best of our day there. never imagined that our attempts at enjoying a meal at the hotel would also become a demeaning ordeal. we were hoping to enjoy a bite by the pool and listen to the live music, but the very limited menu of bar bites and bottle service didnt seem like viable options since we were with young children. the server kindly offered us their special of four bottles of water for $15 (basically promping us to either consume or leave - and it wasnt like the place was full and there were crowds of people pouring in for the music either). we decided to try our luck at the restaurant upstairs. the restaurant was empty at the time. we requested to sit at the balcony to enjoy the view and again were told "bottle service only". keep in mind the restaurant menu was comprised mainly of burgers, pizza, and sandwiches - definitely not fine dining. to no avail, we explained to the hostess that we would be consuming well over their so-called limit of "$60 per every five people" but just no alcohol as we were with children (just having to have this type of conversation when you are a "supposed" guest of the hotel is insulting in itself). what was the big deal? the place was empty and you drove our business away because of the alcohol requirement? we ended up having a lovely meal at el gran inka where we didnt have to settle for burgers or sandwiches and our business was greatly appreciated. great customer service far exceeds having a curteous staff, it is about making all your guests feel like "vip", those small gestures like "let me see what we can do", to accomodate hotel guests at times really goes a long way. wish we would have encountered more individuals like ignacio at checkout who inquired about our stay, actively listened to our concerns, even apologized and tried to provide a small incentive for our inconvenience. all in all, our plan of making a friend's birthday memorable was diminished by distasteful management policies and the hotel staff's inability to make reasonable accomodations for guests who are paying a hefty premium to stay onsite. our experience at the sole would have been totally different had we encountered more staff like ignacio, who genuinely took the initiative to help. at $350 per night, there are far better options than the sole.

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