Costa Cruises - Costa Mediterranea

Let me first start by saying that this place is pushy, and I absolutely don't recommend it. I went here with a bunch of friends after being enticed by the pictures of the bar with cubana seating and pool right in the middle of the bar. While the ambience does live up the expectation I don't recommend the place for the staff and service. The hostess first told us that we need to take table service ( mandatory ) to get a seat. On asking her that why is this mandatory when we see a lot of other groups sitting there without bottle service , they said you can take the spot but if we get someone else who is willing to take bottle service you will need to get up. We concurred with this arrangement. She then told us that we need to move to a different section even with this arrangement, which was fine. We got one round of drinks and some nibbles. Soon after the hostess walked up to our table letting us know that the place is starting to get crowded ( which is absolutely not true , since we could see so many vacant tables ), we will 'have to' take bottle service to continue sitting there. Let me also add that the table to our left and right both did not have bottle service, and were peacefully sitting there with no botheration from the staff. We were the only group that 'had to' take bottle service to continue sitting there. She didn't bother asking us either if we were willing to take another round of drinks or for how long will we be there for. We then told the hostess that we will take the cheque, and leave instead and were not interested in the bottle service. I think this caught her off guard, since she was probably expecting that she would coax us into getting bottle service. However, she agreed and got us the cheque. We left to notice that at least 60 percent of the bar still had open seats with not even a single person queing up at the entrance either. Now I don't know if this was just a manipulative trick to force us into getting bottle service or just a bar policy that they did not know how to enforce and turn down guests who don't want bottle service but I definitely haven't felt this unwelcomed at any other bar. I know that I am not going there again and would like to give this heads up to any other person planning to visit this place.

This is one of my favorite places to go all time in West Hollywood. Drink options galore and the music is probably the best in West Hollywood (if you like hip hop, dance hall, and 90's music). It definitely gets packed Thurs and Saturday nights so dress comfortably, which is not a problem at Skybar.