We got home yesterday after 10 weeks of watching life around the pool. Grande Ocean on Hilton Head and Ocean Pointe in Florida.
Some people get down early and claim the same location every day to the point that it was intimidating to even think about sitting in "their chairs". Because we don't know the regular Winter/Spring crowd at GO we weren't aware of this there. I'm only aware of this at OP.
Most days we didn't want to spend the full day sitting by the pool so we didn't claim chairs. On the days we thought we'd be joining in the water aerobics, visiting with friends and spending a significant time lounging I sent DH down early to make sure we had chairs with that lovely combination of sun/shade. Sometimes this was at the pool but at OP it was much easier, less dense, and quieter to just find lounges out on "Sod Beach".
We were at Grande Ocean both before OP and after. The reconstruction of the large Dolphin pool had a major hunk of pool lounge area fenced off. The last 3 weeks we were there during highly dense Spring Break & golf tournament 3/26-4/20. The majority of guests had families and congregated around the heated pool near the bar that served light meals. This area incorporates a sun deck that looks over the dunes towards the beach. On our stay 2/6-18 it wasn't so dense with families but there was THIS ONE GUY.
Daily he carved out his spot by taking a lounge by an umbrella. I always saw him on the full sun side of the umbrella. He would angle his lounge to command more space and keep others from getting too close. Lounges to either side were missing but the row of lounges behind were suspiciously packed in together as though the ones from the front row were moved back there to make space on the front row. If you're there long enough you notice his stuff is spread out onto the lounge in the shade side of the umbrella and there may also be a chair in the mix. He's a regular and has a bag of kitty kibble which he shares with the feral cats that live in the dune. February and this was rather amusing.
Come the end of March and the start of 3 big Spring Break weeks it was less amusing. Many days for the next 3 weeks there was rarely a lounge to be found. One day after my family took grands up for lunch I thought I'd relax in a lounge for a while. Nothing. But there was THE GUY, his empty chair and extra empty lounge with stuff on it. That night I had to visit the front desk for something. While I was there I saw one of the security people who helped us move on a room change. I asked him to help me with this irritation because if I understood more what was going on I could get past it taking up mental space. He knew who I was talking about. Never clarified if it was a day pass user or a long term guest. Told me the extra chair was for the guy's wife but rarely, if ever, saw her. The security guard said he had never seen day pass users denied entry even during peak weeks. I asked about this because OP had a policy that limited day pass users during peak times. I'm not even sure he was either day pass user or guest because he pinned his own personal beach towel to the lounge, it wasn't even a resort towel. Locals come to eat and drink at the pool bar. Sorry I never looked to see if he had a wrist band. But I rarely wore my own wrist band for that matter.
On the brighter side of humanity, when I couldn't find a lounge I sat in one of the swings. Shortly, a woman approached me and said she was moving to a shady lounge that had opened on the other side of the pool and asked if I'd like the one she was vacating. I thanked her but my lounging time was at an end as the grands would be finishing their lunch. One would be napping and the Mommy would be looking to us to entertain the 3 yo so she could have a nap or break.
