"Saving" lounge chairs at a beach or pool

[Just_Steve]

The majority of the time there are no personal items, just a hotel pool towel.

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 If I came back and my chair was taken and I knew who took it, I would take it back by any amount of force that was necessary.

I disagree that it is your chair.

[Big_Hitter]

taking stuff off of beach chairs and using them is a yankee move

bad juju

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter taking stuff off of beach chairs and using them is a yankee move

What about leaving stuff on beach chairs for hours while you leave the beach and expecting that no one else will use them while you are gone for hours, what kind of move is that?

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious What about leaving stuff on beach chairs for hours while you leave the beach and expecting that no one else will use them while you are gone for hours, what kind of move is that?

If hours, an Uber yankee move - two wrongs don't make a right tho - I guess I was raised differently

did you watch those chairs for hours?

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter If hours, an Uber yankee move - two wrongs don't make a right tho did you watch those chairs for hours?

I watched them for 30 minutes. What amount of time would you say makes it an Uber yankee move?

[Big_Hitter]

dunno, if I know there is a crowd I get down there early and claim a chair

never been in that situation but I've seen the aftermath

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter If hours, an Uber yankee move - two wrongs don't make a right tho - I guess I was raised differently

I guess we just see this differently because if I think if someone puts their stuff on chairs and leaves the beach for an extended period of time, more than say 30 minutes, and especially more than an hour, and there are clearly not enough chairs to go around and other people are waiting to use them, I don't think you should expect those chairs to be "your chairs" when you return, that's just rude in my opinion, and I don't think it is wrong for me to remove your stuff from the chairs so that I can use them.

Those chairs are not "your chairs." Those chairs are provided for use by guests, and if you are not using them for an extended period of time, and there are no other chairs available, you should expect that other guests will use them. To expect otherwise is just selfish and unreasonable in my opinion.

[Big_Hitter]

In my CHL class we were taught how to diffuse situations. Taking someone's stuff off of a beach chair is going the wrong direction, IMO.

So they are being rude. BFD. Let it go. Get there earlier next time. Some people will flip out if you touch their possessions. Not worth going there.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 What they did was bad, what you did was far worse. Leaving your stuff on the chair while you go for a 30 minute walk or snack break is reasonable. If it's much more than 30 minutes I would go to the hotel staff and ask them if they would allow me to take the "abandoned" chairs. What I would not do is touch someone elses property....

+1
I deleted the getting violent part of the post, since I would not do that.

It's a bad idea to touch someone else's property even if you perceive the others to be rude or bad or inappropriate. I would view their act to be lazy and inconsiderate. I would view your behavior in response to be hostile.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 +1 I deleted the getting violent part of the post, since I would not do that. It's a bad idea to touch someone else's property even if you perceive the others to be rude or bad or inappropriate.

I'm trying to make that point but it isn't taking. Behavior like that tends to lower ones life expectancy.

It's akin to stepping or pocketing a golf ball that was accidentally hit into your group. Bad juju.

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious I do have the guts. The only way to know is to watch the chairs for a period of time and see if there is any activity, and if there is no activity for say 30 minutes, then you have your answer.

This is also one of my pet peeves. Seen it many times but it seems to be a North American thing. Much less common in other parts. When I have noticed it in Europe say, it is invariably a Canadian or American perp. Very selfish in my view if left for too long. We don't do this and sometimes it results in a less than perfect spot around the pool or on the beach.

In particular there was a resort we used to frequent in Phoenix where this was common. I have seen "saved" chairs sit idle for almost the entire day. Couldn't quite build up the nerve to disrupt this fiasco. Although, have mentioned it a few times to the pool attendant who always found us a satisfactory spot. They are very reluctant to move the offending "stuff", I think they don't want any confrontation. Neither do I. Supposed to be enjoying ourselves.

[donheff]

Definitely a first world problem but I have experienced it a number of times. I am up at 7:00 and always claim chairs and grab a good location with some shade. Then I go out to breakfast. When I come back unclaimed chairs are almost always still available but I have guaranteed my spot by getting up early. If I leave mid day for a brief walk or break (30 minutes, sometimes a bit more) I leave my towel and book. If I am going longer I free up the chair for others. Inconsiderate? Rude? Paraphrasing Yossarian in Catch 22, "if everybody else is doing it I'd be a damn fool not to."

[CaliKid]

It is unfortunate that this practice is so common at resorts. However, I don't think you can move a person's stuff. I would say you are lowering yourself to a level lower than a person that rudely saves a chair but doesn't use it. Last time we were at a resort they had an employee going around putting a note on people's stuff (when there was a pile of stuff but no people) letting them know they had some certain time limit (30 or 45 minutes I don't recall) to leave the stuff unattended and otherwise it would be taken to the pool shack for holding. Presumably if people did come back, before the employee came back around, the customer would take the note off their stuff. We saw the employees haul a lot of stuff to the pool shack. It was sort of unnecessary as there will still a lot of chairs open but the concept seemed smart. My general rule, especially on vacation, is to avoid controversy. So fighting with a person over a chair seems very un-vacation to me.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliKid So fighting with a person over a chair seems very un-vacation to me.

+100

[Free bird]

Too much thought & work for a relaxing vacation. Competitive vacationing isn't cool.

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliKid It is unfortunate that this practice is so common at resorts. However, I don't think you can move a person's stuff. I would say you are lowering yourself to a level lower than a person that rudely saves a chair but doesn't use it. Last time we were at a resort they had an employee going around putting a note on people's stuff (when there was a pile of stuff but no people) letting them know they had some certain time limit (30 or 45 minutes I don't recall) to leave the stuff unattended and otherwise it would be taken to the pool shack for holding. Presumably if people did come back, before the employee came back around, the customer would take the note off their stuff. We saw the employees haul a lot of stuff to the pool shack. It was sort of unnecessary as there will still a lot of chairs open but the concept seemed smart. My general rule, especially on vacation, is to avoid controversy. So fighting with a person over a chair seems very un-vacation to me.

I respect your view, but consider this... one of the reasons I picked that hotel on the beach was because they had comfortable lounge chairs available for guests on the beach. So we went to the beach and saw that there were a number of chairs that were "saved" but not being used. I do not think it is right that I planned my vacation relying on certain advertised amenities and then when I get there I cannot use the amenities, not because other guests are using them, but because other guests are "saving" them by putting a towel or some personal items on them early in the morning and then expecting to come back several hours later, perhaps all day, and expecting no one else to use them in the meantime.

So, not being able to use unoccupied lounge chairs on a beach that I paid for as part of the hotel experience seems very un-vacation to me.

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious People go for walks longer than an hour or two hours too...are you saying people can walk as far and as long as they want and expect that no one else can use the chairs even if people are waiting and there are not enough chairs to go around? If that is your view we will have to respectfully disagree.

In my first reply I said no to an indefinite period of time. You followed with a 30 minute time frame which I feel is too short of a period of time to oust someone from their spot. What is a proper time frame? I don't know. But I would get an okay from the hotel/resort before removing someone's stuff. Yes....we will have to disagree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter In my CHL class we were taught how to diffuse situations. Taking someone's stuff off of a beach chair is going the wrong direction, IMO. Get there earlier next time. Some people will flip out if you touch their possessions. Not worth going there.

Agree. I would never go to the beach mid day expecting to find vacant beach chairs during the prime of the summer. And I'm certainly not touching people's personal items.

[CaliKid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious I respect your view, but consider this... one of the reasons I picked that hotel on the beach was because they had comfortable lounge chairs available for guests on the beach. So we went to the beach and saw that there were a number of chairs that were "saved" but not being used. I do not think it is right that I planned my vacation relying on certain advertised amenities and then when I get there I cannot use the amenities, not because other guests are using them, but because other guests are "saving" them by putting a towel or some personal items on them early in the morning and then expecting to come back several hours later, perhaps all day, and expecting no one else to use them in the meantime. So, not being able to use unoccupied lounge chairs on a beach that I paid for as part of the hotel experience seems very un-vacation to me.

I fully appreciate your thoughts and I get it and it does suck. I frequent a timeshare message board and people there are practically vigilantes as they talk about people saving lounge chairs at the resorts. The detrimental reliance argument you make seems misplaced though. It seems to me you paid the HOTEL so your issue for what you think you paid for should be taken up with the hotel. Tell the hotel manager or leave a bad review on tripadvisor about your experience. I think you taking someone else's chair has little to do with what you think the hotel promised you. Additionally, I think most people that have stayed at a resort, no matter how nice, understands that this is part of the drill. You don't always get a chair right away. Sometimes you have to wait. Nicer hotels police it more closely but it's part of the game. You do not always get the chair you want when you want it. Happened to us at a Four Seasons a few years ago. We ended up sitting in the shade for a few hours until sunny chairs opened up. Luckily there they kept a close eye on people saving. At lower end resorts they don't police it very carefully. So maybe that's the answer for next time!?

[utrecht]

We were at an all inclusive resort recently. Every day when we went to breakfast at around 7AM, every chair that had any shade and about 3/4 of all the other chairs that had no shade already had towels on them. We would go eat, do whatever else and when we got to the pool 3-4 hours later at least 3/4 of the chairs were still empty (other than the towels). It was completely ridiculous. On the third day, we moved towels and sat where we wanted to. Enough is enough. We sat in those chairs for an hour or two and was never asked to leave. So either the people knew they were in the wrong and didnt approach us, or they had still not showed up to the pool.