Without a doubt, one of my biggest pet peeves when staying at a hotel or going on a cruise, is not being able to find a pool chair, especially when most of them don’t have anyone sitting in them, just a towel and maybe a book thrown on top.
A couple of years ago, I wrote about the insanity of guests lining up at 6:30am and waiting for the gates to the pool to open at 8am so they could run like they’re in Chariots of Fire to try and reserve a chair by the pool before they all filled up.
@chloeturner_1 Another day another sunbed war 😂 #holiday #tenerife #playadelasamericas #sunbeds ♬ original sound – Chloe Turner
The video above is from the Spring Hotel Bitacora in Tenerife, Canary Islands. But I just came across a new video, which might even be crazier. In the video, a young couple goes down to the hotel pool at 1:30 in the morning to reserve their chairs and many of the chairs already had guest’s belongings on them. Her video is embedded below, along with the transcript since it’s difficult to hear and understand her Scottish accent (at least for me).
@aimee.millar23 the things u have to do !! #fyp #albufeira🇵🇹 #sunbeds #latenightvlog #latenight #relatable #tanning #hotel #swimmingpool #holiday #holidayvibes ♬ original sound – aims🤍
“This is the literal joy of being in a popular holiday destination. We are literally going to dine. It is currently like, what, half 1 in the morning? And we’re going down to put our sunbed towels down.
Before you guys start, this is the norm. Like, where do you see the towels that are already done when we go dine? This is normal, isn’t it? It’s not like we’re being crazy. We have to do this if we want a sunbed that’s close to the pool.
We’re going to go down the scary lift again. The last time we were in this lift, it almost killed us. So this lift actually freaks me out. The doors are open. There’s no strictness; you can just go when you want, but it’s pure creepy. I do not like this. Oh my God, why did I agree to come? I’m so scared right now. I do not like this.
Switching to my Snapchat cam because I cannot see a thing. Actually, there are already people down here. I don’t know if you can see this. And there are so many more. These are all people securing the beds. You see, like, lifeguards and stuff, like the entertainment staff. They just don’t care. They just don’t care. Accomplished. The joys. If anyone else reads, let me know.”
You can’t blame the couple for doing it. You have to blame the hotel for allowing it. I laugh at hotels that call themselves luxurious when they allow guests to do this because there’s nothing luxurious about having to play these games and getting up early to reserve a chair.
The only time I remember doing this is when staying at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki. When I asked the pool attendant about getting a pool chair, since they all had towels on them (see photo above), he said the chairs are available on a first come, first serve basis. It was 7:30am and all the chairs were reserved, yet no one was sitting on them and not a soul was in the pool. Guests had run down early to get a chair and then went back to bed or breakfast. Meanwhile, guests like us, who just wanted to relax for an hour or two, had nowhere to sit so both the chairs and the pool went unused.
On that same trip to Hawaii, we checked into the Ritz-Carlton Waikiki, which was just a few blocks away but their pool policy was completely different. There, guests can only hold a pool chair for 15 minutes, then the pool attendants make them available to other guests. Now that’s a much better policy.
FYI: After I was diagnosed with skin cancer on my lip (here’s my post on how I spotted and getting Mohs surgery) a decade ago, I stopped spending time in the sun. Actually, I never really liked laying in the sun since I’m one of those people who always has to be moving, doing or see something. But I do like to have a chair for my wife and kids where they can put their belongings and relax under an umbrella.
So when I travel, I try to book hotels that either have plenty of pool chairs or don’t allow guests to reserve their chairs super early and not sit in them.
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