"Saving" lounge chairs at a beach or pool

Is it appropriate to "save" chairs at a beach or pool?

  • No, it is rude to other guests

    Votes: 73 68.2%
  • Yes, first come first serve

    Votes: 20 18.7%
  • Other... please explain

    Votes: 14 13.1%

  • Total voters
    107
That's funny because we see this from completely different sides...I think the person who left their stuff on the beach chair for hours and then left the property is the bully, not me... they are a "beach chair bully." They have no right to "save" a chair that they are not using and then leave for hours, and I consider myself to be standing up to THEIR bullying, and I will stand up for myself as well. I suppose if I did that to you neither of us would back down and we would find out who is the stronger man.

I agree they should not leave for hours. Hotel staff should be notified in that case. Under NO circumstances do YOU touch the other persons property. The hotel staff has control of the chairs. They can remove the other persons things and hold them at the hotel desk. You can not. I would try to get hotel staff involved and the police if necessary since you messed with my personal property but if pushed I would put you in your place. Then call the police and an attorney.
 
How is a towel, that is owned by the resort, someone's property any more then the chair is their property? You take a towel owned by the resort, put it on a chair owned by the resort and that entitles you sitting rights on the chair all day, even if you are no where near the chair?
Exactly. It's ridiculous to me how some people keep talking about "my chair" or "their chair" as if they own it, or they talk about someone being in "possession" of the chair when they are nowhere near the chair and not even on the beach. Ridiculous.
 
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That's funny because we see this from completely different sides...I think the person who left their stuff on the beach chair for hours and then left the property is the bully, not me... they are a "beach chair bully." They have no right to "save" a chair that they are not using and then leave for hours, and I consider myself to be standing up to THEIR bullying, and I will stand up for myself as well. I suppose if I did that to you neither of us would back down and we would find out who is the stronger man.


Except in the OP's situation she watched the chairs and saw them unoccupied for 30 minutes, not hours.
 
I agree they should not leave for hours. Hotel staff should be notified in that case. Under NO circumstances do YOU touch the other persons property. The hotel staff has control of the chairs. They can remove the other persons things and hold them at the hotel desk. You can not. I would try to get hotel staff involved and the police if necessary since you messed with my personal property but if pushed I would put you in your place. Then call the police and an attorney.
At least we agree that they should not leave for hours, that's something.

I don't agree that I cannot touch their stuff and good luck trying to get the police involved since I did not break any laws, the police will not do anything. I am a guest using the amenities of the hotel. When the police explain that to you and walk away, I don't see how I will be put in my place. And all of the forum members who will be standing around with their popcorn and beer will be disappointed that we did not fight it out.
 
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I agree they should not leave for hours. Hotel staff should be notified in that case. Under NO circumstances do YOU touch the other persons property. The hotel staff has control of the chairs. They can remove the other persons things and hold them at the hotel desk. You can not. I would try to get hotel staff involved and the police if necessary since you messed with my personal property but if pushed I would put you in your place. Then call the police and an attorney.

Youre gonna call the police because I dumped your tube of sunblock on the ground? Good luck with that one. Exactly what is my crime? Please check the penal code and get back to me.
 
How are so many missing the point here?! The problem is with the hotel not having enough chairs for their customers.

Not a forum of people determining/arguing over what determines possession, what a reasonable time left unattended is, if the purpose for leaving their chair (beach walk or lunch) was worthy or not and whether its cause enough to warrant confrontation, even physical.

Please, for the sake of my opinion on humanity, tell me this thread is a joke?! Please!
 
I'm with you, I think it's selfish and inconsiderate.
I have been known to hijack a chair on occasion. Never have been confronted.

+100

We go to Disney and this is a common problem. Generally I contact the hotel staff. 30 minutes no problem, 3 hours:confused: that means no use.
 
How are so many missing the point here?! The problem is with the hotel not having enough chairs for their customers.

Not a forum of people determining/arguing over what determines possession, what a reasonable time left unattended is, if the purpose for leaving their chair (beach walk or lunch) was worthy or not and whether its cause enough to warrant confrontation, even physical.

Please, for the sake of my opinion on humanity, tell me this thread is a joke?! Please!

+1 the problem seems to be over "touching stuff" as in simply removing it from the chair...some have even called it "stealing" which it obviously isn't. When at these resorts everyone needs to realize there aren't enough chairs to go around and be willing to work things out, not just have the "every man for himself" mindset.
 
+1 the problem seems to be over "touching stuff" as in simply removing it from the chair...some have even called it "stealing" which it obviously isn't. When at these resorts everyone needs to realize there aren't enough chairs to go around and be willing to work things out, not just have the "every man for himself" mindset.

If there aren't enough chairs for everyone then it's first come first served. Don't expect to show up mid day and get a chair if everyone else got up and got one at 8am. It's similar to cutting a line. You don't get to come in late and take someone else's spot.
 
How are so many missing the point here?! The problem is with the hotel not having enough chairs for their customers.

Not a forum of people determining/arguing over what determines possession, what a reasonable time left unattended is, if the purpose for leaving their chair (beach walk or lunch) was worthy or not and whether its cause enough to warrant confrontation, even physical.

Please, for the sake of my opinion on humanity, tell me this thread is a joke?! Please!

you're definitely correct but I don't see it as one problem. yes they may need more chairs BUT people also need to be considerate.

I actually saw a huge argument break out at a wedding reception. couple had lobster tails on the spread so one guest decided to basically take 10 at a time and hoard them. yes, he was a guest and they were part of the buffet but that doesn't mean selfishness is tolerated.

basically what people are doing is preventing others from using services for hours at a time. you can't take 4 chairs out of service for 1/2 day while you enjoy the parks (generall "you" not specific)
Just my take
 
If there aren't enough chairs for everyone then it's first come first served. Don't expect to show up mid day and get a chair if everyone else got up and got one at 8am. It's similar to cutting a line. You don't get to come in late and take someone else's spot.

What if I have an excursion planned for the day and don't need a chair until maybe 2 PM...should I block the chair at 7AM so that no one else can sit there all day? In my case I would not block the chair, when I returned I would look for an open or abandoned chair... some people would simply block the chair at 7 AM...which way is correct? I think you are saying if I want the chair I have to claim it and just not use it.
 
What if I have an excursion planned for the day and don't need a chair until maybe 2 PM...should I block the chair at 7AM so that no one else can sit there all day? In my case I would not block the chair, when I returned I would look for an open or abandoned chair... some people would simply block the chair at 7 AM...which way is correct? I think you are saying if I want the chair I have to claim it and just not use it.

No, blocking a chair from 7am to 2pm is not okay but you don't fix a wrong by committing a greater one. Inform the hotel manager and let them decide what to do with their chair.
 
At the resort in Mexico we've stayed at, it's chairs around the pools that's a problem. We've gone down to breakfast, seeing at least half the chairs reserved. Upon returning to our room and getting ready for the beach (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours later), most are still vacant, towels/personal items unmoved. I think the hotel policy is no reserving, but it's only enforced if a guest complains. I've heard that some resorts have pool attendants remove items after they observe non-use for a long period. About the only time reserving doesn't bother me is when at least one person stays with the chairs while the others are at breakfast.

I will add that while I don't like reserving chairs, it doesn't affect our stay. We pay a little extra to get perks that include a reserved beach area that always has chairs available.
 
I meant the hotel's chair.
I do not need to contact the hotel manager to find out if I can use a hotel chair that is there for my use as a guest, I think that would be a silly question and a waste of my time.
 
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Our hotel in Hawaii actually enforced the 30 minute rule and staff removed towels from "idle" lounges. I doubt they did it at exactly 30 minutes, but it was still gratifying to see.
I might have done the first half of what OP did. If I truly believed the people had unfairly reserved the lounge, I would have carefully placed the towels on the sand. But, if the people came back I would have given up the lounges. I just don't trust people, and frankly would have been concerned about their reaction then or even later when I was unsuspecting. Maybe that means I'm a wimp, but for me life's too short to fight over a lounge chair.
 
If everyone would stop with the reserving of the chairs, there *might* actually be enough to go around.

Very inefficient process. Management should manage the situation by either reclaiming unused chairs or purchasing enough chairs to go around. They could make a business decision based on the the cost of labor (monitoring/enforcement) vs cost of additional chairs.

If they are not doing this, then that is the type of thing that I would like to hear about on tripadvisor etc.

-gauss
 
How are so many missing the point here?! The problem is with the hotel not having enough chairs for their customers.

That doesn't work for around a pool. You can only fit a finite number of chairs around a pool.
 
No, blocking a chair from 7am to 2pm is not okay but you don't fix a wrong by committing a greater one. Inform the hotel manager and let them decide what to do with their chair.

In a perfect world this would work, but here's what I see in real life. Pool employees can either deal with 2 hacked off parties..the chair hoarder and the chairless or just one hacked off party the chairless...it's way easier to deal with just one irate person so that what happens 99% of the time is you get a smile and a "I'm sorry there are no chairs". This happens at resorts where they clearly have signs posted that say after one hour without use your belongings will be removed"
 
after 7 pages, I'm just thankful that I don't have to travel to go on vacation - geez!
 
Pretty simple to solve. People leave their crap there? It's now eligible for reuse. Sit down, relax. There's a book? Read it. Sunglasses? Towels? Sunscreen? Use it! Oh that's your stuff? How silly, my mistake! I lost mine somewhere around here. Have a nice day.
 
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