Chair Hogs

[Sandy VDH]

Some places have limited the pool towels you get. When you check in, they give you towel cards. You exchange each card for a towel, at the manned towel stations. You get 1 pool towel per person in the suite. You can exchange it as many times as you like during your stay, dirty towel for a new clean one. At the end of the stay you hand your towel back in and they give you your cards back. When you check out you hand your cards back in.

Although some think it is a pain, it does have some pluses: It cuts down on the use of towels at the resorts, which cuts down on washing of towels. It does make people responsible for their towels, and they are NOT as likely to leave them lying around, and thus hogging chairs. If there towels are lost or not returned, there are towel charges incurred for lost towers.

I have stayed at other places that have a cabana rental. The price of the cabana rental is actually a food and beverage credit for the day. So if you plan on ordering anyway that is a great way to work it. Then the cabana is yours for the day.

Since I am always looking for shade, and NOT sun, I appreciate umbrella or cabanas, or some sort of shade.

It is annoying, but I guess I have NOT stayed at a lot of resorts where the pool is the center of everyone's attention, and chair hogs are common practice. Thankfully.

 

[Tacoma]

My favorite kind of chair hog takes the best seats for their entire group at BOTH the pool and the beach. That way they can be at either place or most likely none of the above all day. I have witnessed this behavior at Hacienda del Mar during Xmas/New Year's. Could you think of a busier time to do this?

We ski regularly at a resort in a national park so the resort can't expand to meet demand for seats for meals. Every weekend there are several non skiers who take an entire table and hold it all day for when their group comes in for a break. I usually force myself in if I have to by saying I will move when their group comes. Often I have had my lunch and entire break before their group appears. The only problem with this behavior is I do not want to talk to people who are so selfish.

Joan

 

[dioxide45]

Some places have limited the pool towels you get. When you check in, they give you towel cards. You exchange each card for a towel, at the manned towel stations. You get 1 pool towel per person in the suite.

The Westin Lagunamar in Cancun has a similar towel card setup. Though it is not necessarily all that effective as at one of the towel huts you are free to return your towel and grab your own cards. So, return two towels, take four cards. Next day you pick up four towels. I actually returned with some towel cards from our last trip and will probably take them on our next. NOT so I can be a chair hog, but so I can get four towels instead of just two for two people. We like to sit on one and have one to dry off with when we get out of the pool.

My favorite kind of chair hog takes the best seats for their entire group at BOTH the pool and the beach. That way they can be at either place or most likely none of the above all day. I have witnessed this behavior at Hacienda del Mar during Xmas/New Year's. Could you think of a busier time to do this?

Marriott's Aruba Surf Club had a similar problem. People reserving palapas and then also reserving chairs at the pool. They instituted a chair tagging system. Where they give you tags for the number of people staying in your villa. Then if there are chairs with stuff on them without a tag, they take it away. You can thus only reserve either a chair at the pool or a chair at the beach, but no longer both.

 

[rog2867]

We went to Lagunamar last year and loved it! The staff was attentive, charismatic and helpful.

I would say one hour is not long enough to move someones towel. When we go to lunch we leave our stuff on the chairs and we are always gone a little more than an hour. If my stuff was moved by another person I would be pissed.

 

[theo]

I'm more glad at this moment than I have ever been that we usually have little interest in hanging around the pool at our places.

 

[dioxide45]

I would say one hour is not long enough to move someones towel. When we go to lunch we leave our stuff on the chairs and we are always gone a little more than an hour. If my stuff was moved by another person I would be pissed.

If you are going to lunch though, shouldn't you remove your stuff and just find a new place to sit upon your return?

 

[DavidnRobin]

If you are going to lunch though, shouldn't you remove your stuff and just find a new place to sit upon your return?

Sad that this even has to be stated...
goes to show the inherit problem.

... but what about me and my needs?

Unless there is an abundance of chairs, this why rules have to be established, clearly communicated, and enforced.

We have actually helped strangers in getting space at the WKORV pool - but that is our hang up...


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[wernickejc]

So why not have all chairs numbered by management. When someone comes down to use the pool they get a number linked to their resort accomodation. More people in the unit, more numbers. They take the number to the chair they want and return with the chair number while leaving their number. Then staff has a record and there is a limit to the number of reserved chairs. Staff then checks chairs hourly against the log.

 

[pedro47]

Suggestion may be they should give out little monitoring beepers like a food chain; that will alert the pool attendant, that do one has been sitting in that chair for the past hour.

 

[Helios]

Suggestion may be they should give out little monitoring beepers like a food chain; that will alert the pool attendant, that do one has been sitting in that chair for the past hour.

Better yet, install a weight sensor and a torch pointing at the chair...after 1 hr of not registering min weight (say 15 pounds), start the torch. The next guest will get an empty and mostly germ free chair if the correct amount of fire is applied...

 

[Helios]

Better yet, install a weight sensor and a torch pointing at the chair...after 1 hr of not registering min weight (say 15 pounds), start the torch. The next guest will get an empty and mostly germ free chair if the correct amount of fire is applied...

Obviously I highly dislike this practice...

 

[moonstone]

The AI resort DD went to last year had what she thought was a good system. It was explained to guests on a printout in the room. There was an employee by the pool with clothes peg/pin type things with numbers on them. As he wandered around and noticed an empty chair he attached a peg with a number on it representing the nearest past 1/2 hour. If he encountered a peg from more than 2 hrs previous he removed the peg and all he belongings and put them in cubbies by his podium. DD went for lunch about 12:30 and told the guy she'd be back by 1:30. Sure enough when she got back there was a peg with a #12 on her chair. She said by the end of the week he didn't seem to be clearing off as many chairs!

DH & I are not ones for sitting in the sun and we have found that if we wait until late in the afternoon to go to the pool there are usually lots of empty chairs and not so many people in the pool. Works for us!


~Diane

 

[rapmarks]

We stayed in a gulf front resort once. One family had two units and family staying elsewhere who visited every day. They had pool chairs, beach chairs near the building and beach chairs near the water, all saved every day leaving very little for others. Small resort, they were owners, very friendly with manager.


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[beachlynn]

Tired of these people..... Every morning 1 or 2 of them holding the spots for 8 people. They keep these lounge chairs all day.

Another rude guest are the people who get up to leave and take all of their belongings and are too lazy to take the towels off of the lounge chairs and turn them in which leaves people wanting the chairs wondering if it is someone in the pool or people truly gone for the day. Clean up after yourself people.

 

[Bailey#1]

Now I know why the only time I go to the pool and hot tub is before 8 am.

 

[NVPatriot1959]

At WKORV South this week and next. So far the Chair Hogs seem to be relatively in check. Especially given President's week which normally brings the best in human behavior.

 

[OutSkiing]

This thread has been really entertaining. We have been visiting resorts for 10+ years and have never known about these battles. Sure, the prime spots are often taken by stuff but usually people come from the pool and occupy them again.

We're usually only at poolside an hour or so and don't expect a lot. I have 'traded up' seats at the piano bar or other free seating events.. have ended up clustered around the piano by end of evening this way.

Most people at the pool are curtious and helpful. Often the kids mingle which causes us parents to mingle and all is happy.

Bob

 

[NVPatriot1959]

Here is the latest posted policy at WKORVS. Posted, but not enforced. Every day this week at the crack of dawn a family has "reserved" a dozen chairs in one of the best ocean view spots only to come down between 11:30 and noon. In spite of tagging (very random) they get away with it every day. Same group did this last year.

So many people today coming up to all these chairs that have sat empty for hours. I've known one of the pool managers for years and after seeing all these people with no place to sit I talked to him. He said they know what this group is doing but the group sends someone down every hour to feed the meter by removing the tag and putting it up with a collection of others on an umbrella. He says lots of rude people but nothing they can do.

We were at the Hyatt poolside for breakfast last week at around 7:00 am. They had pool personnel speakng with everyone who came into the pool area to inform them of their policy and actually take their room number.

 

[TUGBrian]

seems like the "2 chair per person present" clause down at the bottom solves this...hope to see it implemented and enforced elsewhere!

 

[dioxide45]

So many people today coming up to all these chairs that have sat empty for hours. I've known one of the pool managers for years and after seeing all these people with no place to sit I talked to him. He said they know what this group is doing but the group sends someone down every hour to feed the meter by removing the tag and putting it up with a collection of others on an umbrella. He says lots of rude people but nothing they can do.

There is something they could do if they chose to enforce the rules. Just stopping by to remove tags does not mean you are following the rule. They just don't want to piss off owners and guests. The problem is that they are pissing off all the other owners and guests.

 

[bobpark56]

I would say one hour is not long enough to move someones towel. When we go to lunch we leave our stuff on the chairs and we are always gone a little more than an hour. If my stuff was moved by another person I would be pissed.

I will be more than happy to remove your towels at Lagunamar, after the 45 minutes the the posted rules allow you. I just wish that 30 minutes was the permitted holding time.

 

[KevSki]

My thinking is, and I may be in the minority, but when you leave the pool area to do something else, you leave the chairs to somebody else

 

[NVPatriot1959]

My thinking is, and I may be in the minority, but when you leave the pool area to do something else, you leave the chairs to somebody else

Given they won't even enforce the rules they have . . .

 

[ragdoll]

My thinking is, and I may be in the minority, but when you leave the pool area to do something else, you leave the chairs to somebody else

You are not in the minority. I agree 100%.

 

[SMHarman]

My thinking is, and I may be in the minority, but when you leave the pool area to do something else, you leave the chairs to somebody else

Define something else? When we go to the pool restaurant for lunch we don't take all our stuff and the towels with us. Looking around that dining room I think we are in the majority. Lunch takes about 45 mins.

Similarly a walk for a quick dip in the ocean. Not dragging all that with me and toting the beach back to my room.