Resort pool chair saving is getting out of hand.

[gerryburguera]

I refuse to set an alarm for 4 am and head to pool with a flashlight to reserve chairs.
It is surprising the lengths vacationers resort to in this article. This is a vacation?

The Cutthroat Game of Snagging a Pool Chair on Vacation

Travelers wake up at 4, work in shifts to secure seating in prime locations without getting on the wrong side of the lounge-chair law

www.wsj.com

 

[klpenny]

I refuse to set an alarm for 4 am and head to pool with a flashlight to reserve chairs.
It is surprising the lengths vacationers resort to in this article. This is a vacation?

The Cutthroat Game of Snagging a Pool Chair on Vacation

Travelers wake up at 4, work in shifts to secure seating in prime locations without getting on the wrong side of the lounge-chair law

www.wsj.com

So agree. If I have to do that it is not a place I want to go. I was at Hyatt Vacation Club resort this week in Puerto Rico and went down about 10am to the pool, which is my vacation schedule after a nice breakfast on my balcony overlooking the ocean. Was able to get two chairs together with an umbrella, no issue. I know this is not the norm, but I prefer to go to this kind of resort. 9am is the earliest as a night owl I am willing to go down to the pool. If there is so much stress to get a pool chair, not a vacation.

 

[pedro47]

There are pool hog everywhere at resorts, hotels and on cruise ships. They liked to go down to the pool area before 7am and place a book or a towel on a chair and write this chair has been reserved.

 

[Luvtoride]

So agree. If I have to do that it is not a place I want to go. I was at Hyatt Vacation Club resort this week in Puerto Rico and went down about 10am to the pool, which is my vacation schedule after a nice breakfast on my balcony overlooking the ocean. Was able to get two chairs together with an umbrella, no issue. I know this is not the norm, but I prefer to go to this kind of resort. 9am is the earliest as a night owl I am willing to go down to the pool. If there is so much stress to get a pool chair, not a vacation.

Kl, I agree. We also vacation at Hyatt Vacation club resorts (Secrets, Dreams, Ziva, etc.) and never have an issue getting good seats at the pools after breakfast.

Gerry, thanks for posting the article…we’ve been there (literally at the resort in Aruba referenced in the article) and done that. In order to avoid that early AM alarm, we’ve paid for and reserve the private vendor umbrellas and chaises in the front row of the beach. It’s part of the cost of being on vacation.
I’ve shared the article with our family members who have all suffered thru the chair hog game!


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[gln60]

Kl, I agree. We also vacation at Hyatt Vacation club resorts (Secrets, Dreams, Ziva, etc.) and never have an issue getting good seats at the pools after breakfast.

Gerry, thanks for posting the article…we’ve been there (literally at the resort in Aruba referenced in the article) and done that. In order to avoid that early AM alarm, we’ve paid for and reserve the private vendor umbrellas and chaises in the front row of the beach. It’s part of the cost of being on vacation.
I’ve shared the article with our family members who have all suffered thru the chair hog game!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The Aruba Ocean Club has a very good system in my opinion..At 7am every morning you can go on their site and pick the Palapa of our choice…We head down to the towel hut around 9am to get our towels and 2 tickets to give to the young man to set our loungers up Under our Palapa...we have been there twice in the last 2 years and haven’t been disappointed yet…we usually get either the 4th or 5th Palapa from the water…which is fine for us…very easy and stress free.

 

[dioxide45]

The Aruba Ocean Club has a very good system in my opinion..At 7am every morning you can go on their site and pick the Palapa of your choice…We head down to the towel hut around 9am to get our 2 tickets..to givand towelsWe have been there twice in the last 2 years and haven’t been disappointed yet…we get either the 4th or 5th Palapa from the water,which is fine for us

They have the same system at the Surf Club. What the Ocean Club has going for it is a lot more beach area and many more palapas per guest.

 

[dougp26364]

I read through a good portion of the article and have to wonder, do these folks really relax on their vacation? Has vacationing become a competition? I especially worry about the woman who admittedly “wore down” another guest who had removed her sunblock from a chair she wasn’t using. Who wants to relax by fighting with other guests over a chair?

We go on vacation to relax and get away from stress. Unfortunately, it seems it’s becoming harder and harder to be spontaneous while on vacation. If you have a must do on your list, it nearly always requires advanced planning rather than spontaneity.

 

[pedro47]

We vacation to relax, to enjoy new local sights and local restaurants.
This is why we enjoy vacationing off season.

 

[jp10558]

I read through a good portion of the article and have to wonder, do these folks really relax on their vacation? Has vacationing become a competition? I especially worry about the woman who admittedly “wore down” another guest who had removed her sunblock from a chair she wasn’t using. Who wants to relax by fighting with other guests over a chair?

We go on vacation to relax and get away from stress. Unfortunately, it seems it’s becoming harder and harder to be spontaneous while on vacation. If you have a must do on your list, it nearly always requires advanced planning rather than spontaneity.

It really depends IMO. If you go to cities I find there's always something you can just go and do - museums, last minute tickets to a show, heck just browsing the cool shops along the street. Some TS resorts really aren't in locations where there's stuff to do that doesn't need more pre-planning. That said, I also think it's the idea of "vacation" being sit by the pool. Seems strange to me. Like, go in the pool, sure. If I just want to sit somewhere, I can do that in the room, anywhere anyone in the group wants to go, I can do it at home without traveling.

I also agree with pedro - off season is way less stress. Though it does limit going places in the summer months.

 

[Ski-Dad]

I play the game and go out early to secure two chairs, usually around 7 am. We are up early anyway.

The key difference is we actually camp out for the day from that time. Its our favourite time of day. We also tend to let the chairs go around 2 per 2:30. Nap time

 

[pedro47]

I play the game and go out early to secure two chairs, usually around 7 am. We are up early anyway.

The key difference is we actually camp out for the day from that time. Its our favourite time of day. We also tend to let the chairs go around 2 per 2:30. Nap time

Good for you. There are so many people that will get up at 7am and will place a book or beach towel on a pool chair and reserve that chair. Liked There are no other guests at the resort or on a cruise ship but them. IMHO.

 

[dioxide45]

Perhaps someone needs to start selling "pool chair saving kits". Buy some books at a library book sale, save some old empty lotion bottles and perhaps some cheap flip flops from the dollar store. Sounds like a good business opportunity.

 

[pedro47]

Perhaps someone needs to start selling "pool chair saving kits". Buy some books at a library book sale, save some old empty lotion bottles and perhaps some cheap flip flops from the dollar store. Sounds like a good business opportunity.

LOL. dioxide45, please do not give pool hogs , any more new ideas.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

What's all this about resort pool hair shaving? That's disgusting. Who wants to swim in a pool that someone shaved in? All those little whiskers floating around, getting on my legs. And god forbid someone nicks themselves. Then you've got blood to deal with.

Umm, Rosanna ...

 

[dayooper]

There are pool hog everywhere at resorts, hotels and on cruise ships. They liked to go down to the pool area before 7am and place a book or a towel on a chair and write this chair has been reserved.

I guess I’m not sure why people expect that the chairs will be saved? Whose to just go and take the chairs?

 

[davidvel]

Remove items place on other "reserved" chair, lie down, relax, ignore when they return.

 

[Dean]

I guess I’m not sure why people expect that the chairs will be saved? Whose to just go and take the chairs?

Remove items place on other "reserved" chair, lie down, relax, ignore when they return.

I've seen several confrontations related to doing this. The interesting thing is that in several of the instances the staff was the one that removed the items. I'd suggest asking the staff rather than doing the deed oneself. IF a resort enforces this for a while then most people will get the message. My vote is for staff to remove the items left for whatever the cutoff is, usually 45 minutes to 2 hours and charge for towels not returned personally.

 

[pedro47]

I agree staff should remove the unattended items and be place , where everyone can see them for violation of the resort pool chair rules. No item should be reserved before 7:30 am and left unattended for more than 30 minutes; unless you are using the resort pool or at the grill bar.

 

[Luvtoride]

What's all this about resort pool hair shaving? That's disgusting. Who wants to swim in a pool that someone shaved in? All those little whiskers floating around, getting on my legs. And god forbid someone nicks themselves. Then you've got blood to deal with.

Umm, Rosanna ...

Never mind!


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[davidvel]

I've seen several confrontations related to doing this. The interesting thing is that in several of the instances the staff was the one that removed the items. I'd suggest asking the staff rather than doing the deed oneself. IF a resort enforces this for a while then most people will get the message. My vote is for staff to remove the items left for whatever the cutoff is, usually 45 minutes to 2 hours and charge for towels not returned personally.

Totally agree. But when this is a problem, it means the staff isn't doing a thing. We've been brushed off too many times to ask anymore. Never had anyone physically confront us, maybe a few times they'd ask "did you move our stuff?" "Nope these were empty when they arrived."

One time a guy said "Hey buddy those are our chairs. We reserved them this morning." "Sorry, they were empty when we arrived, and you aren't allowed to reserve chairs." People next to us said they were empty when they arrived (that part was true, as we removed 8 towels.) He walked away muttering and I smirked at him every time I saw him.

 

[easyrider]

On our last trip, from the view on our deck, we would watch all of the people toweling the best spots every morning even though there are multiple signs saying this is not allowed. The pool guy came out every morning with a few staff and removed any unattended items. The chair towelers realized they had to have at least one person watch the chairs. So these wipes would save a row of chairs with one person present.

Until.....

I watched a couple go down to the saved chairs and move the items while the chair saver person was yelling at them. The pool guy came over and told the yeller there is no saving chairs.

To me, the pool doesn't really matter. If it's early morning and I'm up and out, it's going to be for fishing or an ocean activity.

Bill

 

[Dean]

Totally agree. But when this is a problem, it means the staff isn't doing a thing. We've been brushed off too many times to ask anymore. Never had anyone physically confront us, maybe a few times they'd ask "did you move our stuff?" "Nope these were empty when they arrived."

One time a guy said "Hey buddy those are our chairs. We reserved them this morning." "Sorry, they were empty when we arrived, and you aren't allowed to reserve chairs." People next to us said they were empty when they arrived (that part was true, as we removed 8 towels.) He walked away muttering and I smirked at him every time I saw him.

I'm not sure it's fair to say the staff isn't doing their job unless management has given them specific instructions to do this. Even if it's posted that they will remove items, often management doesn't instruct them to do so consistently. I'd put this on management in most cases. I understand they need to balance these issues for staffing and to minimize conflicts but I think in most cases they should do better than they do. Not all pools have an attendant or towel exchange booth but for busier pools during busier times, they should IMO. Still it seems that people are more selfish and less courteous than ever as a group and more easily upset or offended. Conflict is a risk in this situation and I've seen examples. Fortunately none of them turned violent but I'm sure there are examples where it did.

This is a problem at any resort where the pool is a focal point and cruises as well. Lately cruise companies do seem to be becoming more aggressive in enforcement though to some degree.

 

[Superchief]

I'm not sure it's fair to say the staff isn't doing their job unless management has given them specific instructions to do this. Even if it's posted that they will remove items, often management doesn't instruct them to do so consistently. I'd put this on management in most cases. I understand they need to balance these issues for staffing and to minimize conflicts but I think in most cases they should do better than they do. Not all pools have an attendant or towel exchange booth but for busier pools during busier times, they should IMO. Still it seems that people are more selfish and less courteous than ever as a group and more easily upset or offended. Conflict is a risk in this situation and I've seen examples. Fortunately none of them turned violent but I'm sure there are examples where it did.

This is a problem at any resort where the pool is a focal point and cruises as well. Lately cruise companies do seem to be becoming more aggressive in enforcement though to some degree.

I agree and people are more aggressive everywhere. At least it is harder to 'conceal' and carry in bathing suits, but I've even seen a guy with a gun in his locker at our Planet Fitness. I never asked him to hurry up and stop texting while on a machine.

 

[jbman]

There is the other side of the coin to consider, how many people really want something like a 45-minute rule enforced?

If we are at a resort, we're not necessarily going to be spending much time sitting in a pool chair, we are going to be swimming with the kids, or going for a walk on the beach, or playing ping pong, or walking around the resort, but you (a) still need somewhere to put all your stuff and (b) you do need somewhere to sit throughout the day,

Having to pack up all your things, especially with young children, anytime you want to do anything is no good, nor is constantly having to watch your time to ensure you're back to the chairs before someone takes all your stuff away.

Maybe they need two sections, one section of prime chairs that are use them or lose them and have very strict rules that are enforced, and then the rest of the chairs be more relaxed for the drifters.

 

[dayooper]

There is the other side of the coin to consider, how many people really want something like a 45-minute rule enforced?

If we are at a resort, we're not necessarily going to be spending much time sitting in a pool chair, we are going to be swimming with the kids, or going for a walk on the beach, or playing ping pong, or walking around the resort, but you (a) still need somewhere to put all your stuff and (b) you do need somewhere to sit throughout the day,

Having to pack up all your things, especially with young children, anytime you want to do anything is no good, nor is constantly having to watch your time to ensure you're back to the chairs before someone takes all your stuff away.

Maybe they need two sections, one section of prime chairs that are use them or lose them and have very strict rules that are enforced, and then the rest of the chairs be more relaxed for the drifters.

You time your non-chair time around your pool time. If you are taking up a pool chair for more than an hour and not using it when there are multiple families that are waiting to use it, I'm not sure how I feel about that. If you want to go for a walk or play ping-pong, do it after your pool time. The only difference is when you are actually using the pool. This is still different than someone coming down at dawn to place towels on a chair and not come down until late morning to use it. If you want unfettered access, than rent a cabana if they are available. We have done that several times at resorts and we come an go as we please.