"Saving" lounge chairs at a beach or pool

[JustCurious]

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]

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]

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]

+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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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.

 

[JustCurious]

I think you taking someone else's chair has little to do with what you think the hotel promised you.

We are going to disagree that it was "someone else's chair." I have just as much right to that chair as any other guest.

 

[Free bird]

In mexico you pay a local a few bucks to sit in your chair while your gone. Fighting over beach furniture could be entertaining for some but spreading a little cash to a local takes all the drama out of chair gate. Relax life isn't that long.

 

[Big_Hitter]

We are going to disagree that it was "someone else's chair." I have just as much right to that chair as any other guest.

I didn't read the entire thread but is anyone on this forum saying you did the right thing by "re-claiming" the chair?

 

[Bestwifeever]

I would never move someone's personal stuff but definitely would take an unattended chair (unattended for half an hour counts imo) if it's just a hotel towel saving it. But I would first ask the pool attendants to find me a chair. They can move people's stuff and hold it for them. If they can't I would probably escalate it to a manager if lying out on a pool chair was the main reason I picked that hotel (I have actually called hotels ahead of time re lounge chair supply).

If I sat in an unattended chair, I would have just surrendered it to the claiming party and just said I didn't realize they were still using it.

 

[CaliKid]

I can picture the thread on some other website right about now:

"Recently we were at this lovely beach resort. We started the day with a romantic breakfast by the pool and then walked to the beach where we enjoyed the morning sun on chaise lounges overlooking the water. We then decided to go for a short walk, hand in hand, as it was our honeymoon... oh we are so in love! Then we got back to the chairs, where our personal belongings were, and these "people" actually had the nerve to take OUR stuff of the chairs and had thrown it down in the sand. We saw who we thought had done it and politely asked them if they had done that. Amazingly, they were extremely rude and very confrontational with us. They told us they weren't our chairs. It didn't ruin our trip but it certainly put a damper on that day. We told the hotel manager of the horribly rude guests and the hotel manager apologized profusely for not policing the chairs better to keep that kind of rude behavior from happening. The hotel also compensated us with a free breakfast the next morning to try and make up for it. That sure helped make us feel better."

 

[CaliKid]

We are going to disagree that it was "someone else's chair." I have just as much right to that chair as any other guest.

Maybe but the hotel are the police for that issue not you.

 

[JustCurious]

I can picture the thread on some other website right about now:

"Recently we were at this lovely beach resort. We started the day with a romantic breakfast by the pool and then walked to the beach where we enjoyed the morning sun on chaise lounges overlooking the water. We then decided to go for a short walk, hand in hand, as it was our honeymoon... oh we are so in love! Then we got back to the chairs, where our personal belongings were, and these "people" actually had the nerve to take OUR stuff of the chairs and had thrown it down in the sand. We saw who we thought had done it and politely asked them if they had done that. Amazingly, they were extremely rude and very confrontational with us. They told us they weren't our chairs. It didn't ruin our trip but it certainly put a damper on that day. We told the hotel manager of the horribly rude guests and the hotel manager apologized profusely for not policing the chairs better to keep that kind of rude behavior from happening. The hotel also compensated us with a free breakfast the next morning to try and make up for it. That sure helped make us feel better."

That would be funny except that they did not "go for a short walk." They went out early in the morning and put some stuff on two beach chairs and left the beach for several hours, and at some point they got in their car and left the hotel property to "get a bite to eat" (their words) and when they came back to the beach around midday to claim "their chairs" we could see that they had lunch in their hand that was purchased somewhere not on the property (the hotel did not have a restaurant). I watched them do the same thing the next morning, it is a common practice.

So, if you change your story to reflect the facts of what actually happened, it would not be as funny.

 

[ivinsfan]

How come no one has suggest that a "beach resort" should have a better supply of beach chairs?

They build these high rise beach resorts and leave the guests to figure out chair etiquette. Buy more chairs....I've been at some of the nicer resorts and the chair situation is absurd. If you book a trip to Mexico in Jan you are going to be spending the day on the beach. We were at a resort in the shade and employees came a roped off a larger part of the beach, including many beach chairs at 1100 AM they told the people in the chairs you need to move we are having a wedding here at 4 PM..several guests said fine I'll move by 2 or 3 o'clock and we told you need to move NOW...no sorry or lets move some chairs, just move along.
The hotels need to do more and then they shrug their shoulders when people aren't happy...we won't return to the Dreams resort that pulled the wedding maneuver as it was almost a daily occurrence during our stay.

 

[FIREmenow]

How come no one has suggest that a "beach resort" should have a better supply of beach chairs?

They build these high rise beach resorts and leave the guests to figure out chair etiquette. Buy more chairs....I've been at some of the nicer resorts and the chair situation is absurd. If you book a trip to Mexico in Jan you are going to be spending the day on the beach. We were at a resort in the shade and employees came a roped off a larger part of the beach, including many beach chairs at 1100 AM they told the people in the chairs you need to move we are having a wedding here at 4 PM..several guests said fine I'll move by 2 or 3 o'clock and we told you need to move NOW...no sorry or lets move some chairs, just move along.
The hotels need to do more and then they shrug their shoulders when people aren't happy...we won't return to the Dreams resort that pulled the wedding maneuver as it was almost a daily occurrence during our stay.

Drives (some) people into the bars to spend money.......

 

[JustCurious]

I would never move someone's personal stuff but definitely would take an unattended chair (unattended for half an hour counts imo) if it's just a hotel towel saving it. But I would first ask the pool attendants to find me a chair. They can move people's stuff and hold it for them.

Can you explain why it is ok for a pool attendant to move their stuff, but it is not ok for me to move their stuff?