Chair reservation/Pool towel update

[sgrap]

Chairs are not reserved. Covering a chair with a towel doesn't reserve it. If a chair is covered with bags and hats and sunscreen, I consider it being used. Just a towel means an invisible person is contemplating using it, but can't because I am in it. I have never been approached or confronted because I removed a towel.

Good point!

 

[cmph]

Chairs are not reserved. Covering a chair with a towel doesn't reserve it. If a chair is covered with bags and hats and sunscreen, I consider it being used. Just a towel means an invisible person is contemplating using it, but can't because I am in it. I have never been approached or confronted because I removed a towel.

Ha! I DID see a confrontation over just that the week of Memorial Day! A woman who said she'd been sitting there all morning went to get a shave ice for her son, came back and found a man in her chair. Got a CM over to intervene, repeatedly chastised the man that if a towel is on a chair, that chair is claimed and you can't just move it. The guy either didn't speak much English or was great at faking a lack of understanding because he was embarrassed... Either way, he left and that lady got her chair back.

 

[nkereina]

Just a towel means an invisible person is contemplating using it, but can't because I am in it. I have never been approached or confronted because I removed a towel.

This is valid point. But, IMO, I wouldn't be willing to run the risk of a confrontation while on vacation with my family by removing a towel. At some point, there's a good chance the person who placed the towel there will return and will likely be unhappy. I wouldn't want to be sitting there and waiting for that, nor would I want to leave the seat to go in the pool for fear that person would take the seat back. Even though the people who hold chairs for hours with just a towel are completely in the wrong, I don't find it worth it to take it upon myself to remove someone else's towel for myself. In a worst case scenario, I'd maybe check with a CM who's on policing duty to see if they've been watching it.

 

[blondietink]

FWIW, there seems to be fewer CM's around the pool area than when we were there 2 years ago. In April we didn't see more than a couple trying to police all of the pools. Perhaps if they had more attendants they would be able to police the situation better.

 

[twodogs]

This is valid point. But, IMO, I wouldn't be willing to run the risk of a confrontation while on vacation with my family by removing a towel. At some point, there's a good chance the person who placed the towel there will return and will likely be unhappy. I wouldn't want to be sitting there and waiting for that, nor would I want to leave the seat to go in the pool for fear that person would take the seat back. Even though the people who hold chairs for hours with just a towel are completely in the wrong, I don't find it worth it to take it upon myself to remove someone else's towel for myself. In a worst case scenario, I'd maybe check with a CM who's on policing duty to see if they've been watching it.

I agree with you on this. I am not going to risk a confrontation over a pool chair; I'm on vacation!! I found that there were chairs to be had, usually at the beach or at a table, but usually something. I do not like the idea of guests holding a chair with a towel for an indefinite time, but some guests will not change. The resort will have to decide if they are willing to have the confrontations with guests to enforce their own policy.

 

[littleblackegg]

I've never been confronted about it, but then, I don't pick the towel chairs that are close to a large group of people. I will look for the towels/chairs that don't seem to have anyone else attached to them. I have some standard lines, "Thank goodness we found some unoccupied chairs! It's so hot out here! Are you all having a super day? Us too! Where are you from?" Etc, etc, etc. I think people will make less of a stink over you taking over an unoccupied chair if you are super polite and friendly. This has worked for me over the years. Sometimes, you confront entitled people. There's just nothing to be done about them.

 

[Mom2disneygirls]

Just got back and it was HORRIBLE for 4th of July week. The bigger problem is the chair hogs. We had people behind us that had 2 small children and 2 adults... by the end of the day they amassed 5 chairs and were very proud and boastful of this. Mind you they never used more than 2 the whole time. I saw a lot of people acquiring as many chairs as they could. We never took more than 2 for our family of 5 as we would sit to reapply sunscreen or eat or only 2 if us would be sitting out for a bit and if all 5 of us well we'd make it work. Most chairs sat unused all day with a flip flop per chair. CMs were busy folding towels on top. We are not a family that goes out early and gets a chair... by 10 AM though it was tough to find any spot. More than one day we spent about 30 minutes or more searching for 1 chair. The CMs were great at helping. Another family went off nastily on a CM and they pretty much told them sorry sir and some more nice responses when we asked them if they had any advice they said here let us help you and radioed to each other and helped out and specifically said that you to us for being kind and patient (and we heard that often from CMs in various roles.... Aunty's one lady started calling us her favorite family as we'd just hang back and wait and said "no worries" when we had to wait). I was amazed at how many people treated staff like servants saw this several times and a kind laid back happy attitude really does work wonders at Aulani. Debated if lockers would be helpful might some, but really looking at it different days and times and the families that insist on coming out and getting as many chairs instead of what they really need seems to be a big part of it. There were very few times you'd see a whole family sitting out.. for those that do all sit out a bunch sure go for the chairs but others a bit of thinking of others would go a long way in solving this problem.

 

[sgrap]

Just got back and it was HORRIBLE for 4th of July week. The bigger problem is the chair hogs. We had people behind us that had 2 small children and 2 adults... by the end of the day they amassed 5 chairs and were very proud and boastful of this. Mind you they never used more than 2 the whole time. I saw a lot of people acquiring as many chairs as they could. We never took more than 2 for our family of 5 as we would sit to reapply sunscreen or eat or only 2 if us would be sitting out for a bit and if all 5 of us well we'd make it work. Most chairs sat unused all day with a flip flop per chair. CMs were busy folding towels on top. We are not a family that goes out early and gets a chair... by 10 AM though it was tough to find any spot. More than one day we spent about 30 minutes or more searching for 1 chair. The CMs were great at helping. Another family went off nastily on a CM and they pretty much told them sorry sir and some more nice responses when we asked them if they had any advice they said here let us help you and radioed to each other and helped out and specifically said that you to us for being kind and patient (and we heard that often from CMs in various roles.... Aunty's one lady started calling us her favorite family as we'd just hang back and wait and said "no worries" when we had to wait). I was amazed at how many people treated staff like servants saw this several times and a kind laid back happy attitude really does work wonders at Aulani. Debated if lockers would be helpful might some, but really looking at it different days and times and the families that insist on coming out and getting as many chairs instead of what they really need seems to be a big part of it. There were very few times you'd see a whole family sitting out.. for those that do all sit out a bunch sure go for the chairs but others a bit of thinking of others would go a long way in solving this problem.

That sounds very frustrating. I hate it when staff are treated like that, too. We always go out of our way to thank the CM's and have a conversation with them. Hubby often talks to a manager to tell them about helpful staff and give a positive report. A little courtesy and respect go a long way! Hoe you had a great vacation despite the chair issue!

 

[sweethannah]

I think lockers are a great idea. When you guys say towels are 'reserving' chairs, do you mean nicely folded towels or just haphazardly strewn towels?

 

[Mom2disneygirls]

I think lockers are a great idea. When you guys say towels are 'reserving' chairs, do you mean nicely folded towels or just haphazardly strewn towels?

When your towel gets nicely folded it means your on countdown. That said the one CM said to me that they pretty much can't say no to a guest. One suggested we sit at some tables but they had a sign about only for meals and he said it was okay no one would tell us to move... we did not do it because we knew someone would want to eat and have no place.

 

[sgrap]

I think lockers are a great idea. When you guys say towels are 'reserving' chairs, do you mean nicely folded towels or just haphazardly strewn towels?

I saw both types.

 

[sweethannah]

I think it could be argued that a used/messy towel on a chair means that it has been discarded by the owner. I would ask the people to the left or right of the chair if they have seen the occupant recently and go from there. I wouldn't feel too bad about taking that lounge chair.

 

[Mom2disneygirls]

I think it could be argued that a used/messy towel on a chair means that it has been discarded by the owner. I would ask the people to the left or right of the chair if they have seen the occupant recently and go from there. I wouldn't feel too bad about taking that lounge chair.

Yeah you are assuming someone is there.... I spent a good 2 hours one day at Aulani in a row with about 12 chairs... maybe 3 families.... towels strewn across all of them and maybe on or two times someone would come by to dry of their face or make that check that there chairs were still theres. I will saw at the Hilton Hawaiian Village they have a sign attached to the lounge chairs and if someone has not been there in a set time they flip the sign (similar to the towel but less confusing).

 

[Sepo]

Just got back and it was HORRIBLE for 4th of July week. The bigger problem is the chair hogs. We had people behind us that had 2 small children and 2 adults... by the end of the day they amassed 5 chairs and were very proud and boastful of this. Mind you they never used more than 2 the whole time. I saw a lot of people acquiring as many chairs as they could. We never took more than 2 for our family of 5 as we would sit to reapply sunscreen or eat or only 2 if us would be sitting out for a bit and if all 5 of us well we'd make it work. Most chairs sat unused all day with a flip flop per chair. CMs were busy folding towels on top. We are not a family that goes out early and gets a chair... by 10 AM though it was tough to find any spot. More than one day we spent about 30 minutes or more searching for 1 chair. The CMs were great at helping. Another family went off nastily on a CM and they pretty much told them sorry sir and some more nice responses when we asked them if they had any advice they said here let us help you and radioed to each other and helped out and specifically said that you to us for being kind and patient (and we heard that often from CMs in various roles.... Aunty's one lady started calling us her favorite family as we'd just hang back and wait and said "no worries" when we had to wait). I was amazed at how many people treated staff like servants saw this several times and a kind laid back happy attitude really does work wonders at Aulani. Debated if lockers would be helpful might some, but really looking at it different days and times and the families that insist on coming out and getting as many chairs instead of what they really need seems to be a big part of it. There were very few times you'd see a whole family sitting out.. for those that do all sit out a bunch sure go for the chairs but others a bit of thinking of others would go a long way in solving this problem.

Agree. We had a family of 5 too and never grabbed more than two chairs, and sometimes one, by design. Like you said, use what you really need.

Hard to solve. Maybe they ought to find a way to assign (who knows how) a max of 2 chairs per room and require any other chair to have a body in it per 30 minutes. If they lose it, then find another just like they'd committed others to do by holding it. No one can reasonably argue that 2 guaranteed chairs is not enough.

 

[twodogs]

Agree. We had a family of 5 too and never grabbed more than two chairs, and sometimes one, by design. Like you said, use what you really need.

Hard to solve. Maybe they ought to find a way to assign (who knows how) a max of 2 chairs per room and require any other chair to have a body in it per 30 minutes. If they lose it, then find another just like they'd committed others to do by holding it. No one can reasonably argue that 2 guaranteed chairs is not enough.

Interesting idea! But they still may not have enough chairs?? According to allears.net, Aulani has a total of 840 rooms and villas. That would be almost 1700 chairs at 2 chairs per room. I can't really mentally calculate how many chairs they currently have, but in my mind it doesn't seem like anywhere near 1700?? And if all 1700 are assigned, they'd have to have several hundred more unassigned chairs based on the above plan to accommodate folks who needed more than 2 for their party (remembering that 2 bedroom villas can sleep up to 8-9 people). I agree it is a really difficult situation to figure out, and it does impact the enjoyment of the stay under the current circumstances/rules.

 

[cgattis]

Interesting idea! But they still may not have enough chairs?? According to allears.net, Aulani has a total of 840 rooms and villas. That would be almost 1700 chairs at 2 chairs per room. I can't really mentally calculate how many chairs they currently have, but in my mind it doesn't seem like anywhere near 1700?? And if all 1700 are assigned, they'd have to have several hundred more unassigned chairs based on the above plan to accommodate folks who needed more than 2 for their party (remembering that 2 bedroom villas can sleep up to 8-9 people). I agree it is a really difficult situation to figure out, and it does impact the enjoyment of the stay under the current circumstances/rules.

Yes, sounds like that'd be way too many chairs. I was thinking an assigned cubby, but 840 of those would be a huge mass of cubbies too! Guess now it's clear why there's an issue LOL

 

[alohamom]

What if the chairs were smaller instead of the big loungers that they are now. Or just some of them, like a couple of rows in each section of just small regular patio chairs that allow a place to sit or put your things but maybe are not for lounge-ing per se? I might be remembering it incorrectly but they are all long loungers. There are those who might think they are getting pipped off but at least it would provide more seating and places to "claim" as your own for those who need it. We are a family of four and usually put our stuff together on one chair, this would be fine for us, we hardly ever just sit by a pool. I would be happy with a cubby area too, just a place to keep my sandals and towel dry

 

[glencoe]

I have an idea....coming from the NYC area. When police check parking and how long cars are in one spot they chalk the tires. Why cant the lounges be marked with something temporary so they know how long they have been unoccupied. Even a tag as a warning that lets people know the chair is being watched. Makes it easier for the CM's too.
I too have looked at chairs with towels and you can't tell if the people are coming back, or if they left their dirty towels and are gone for the day. We are a family of 5 (almost all adults) and we have squished on one chair at times if you want to lounge at the pool a little. Common courtesy is totally lacking!!! When you are done take your towels to the collections spot and open the chairs for others!! Simple!

 

[ihearthawaii]

At the Legoland water park in Carlsbad, they have lockers and cubbies so chairs aren't an issue since people have a place to store their stuff. The lockers are linked to a wristband with a barcode on it. You scan the barcode and it opens your locker for you, it's a pretty cool idea.

 

[DisneyFanDad]

Cubbies would resolve the issue for most folks. I just want somewhere to drop sunscreen, flipflops, and phone or other small items. That is probably what most people are using the chairs for.