I agree with Patty - we've never experienced this. We stay at places that I wouldn't call particularly upscale but they are usually SMALL, like 10 units or so. If there isn't a lounge on the beach for us someone brings out as many as we need.

Since there's no issue with having enough, no one seems to try to reserve them early.

It depends on where you are. In Cancun this is standard operating procedure at most of the moderately priced resorts [there is no pool boy to tip]so I'm not surprised it happened in Playa. In Jamaica I have found it less common. Obviously at an upscale place like the Ritz it is a non-issue. It is obviously worse when the resorts are more crowded [like in the winter or during spring break season]

IMHO it still goes back to you get what you pay for. If you can afford a smaller upscale resort on one of the more expensive islands, you won't deal with this. If you go to popular AI resorts in Mexico, you will find it everywhere.

I personally would vote against moving other people's stuff - you may be unhappy and think you're in the right, but do you really want a confrontation with someone you don't know, who may be drunk, belligerent, bigger than you, etc? Not on my vacation I don't.

This thread reminds me of when my husband and I stayed at The House in Barbados in 2003. We would get up and go to breakfast around 10am, and then proceed to the beach to find all of the lounge chairs with towels on them. I was so perplexed.....the place is relatively small and wasn't full. My husband and I looked around, walked the beach, inspected every chair.....and every single one had a towel on it. It just didn't seem possible. So I finally asked one of the beach attendants if all of the chairs were taken, and he said no.....the staff puts the towels on the chairs for the guests. Whew, was I relieved. :)

But, in the event all the chairs were taken.....I'm with Diana. I would respectfully remove the belongings and use the chair. If somebody wanted to come back and start a fight.....they can have the chair back. In reality, like other people have observed, those belongings stay there all day with never an owner in sight. I guess it's an argument for going off season.

Getting up early to get your seats I think is an unwritten rule of beach vacations. We've been doing it for years. The first one up goes and gets chairs. Though the chairs are never left empty for that long as we are sun,pool, beach worshippers. We don't do much on vacations but sit in our chairs and relax.

We were at RH from Feb 20-27 and experienced the same thing. The first morning when we got to the pool at 9:00 there were no chairs so it forced us to get up earlier and earlier each morning to get them. We heard a large group of people were sending out a member of their group at 3 am to snag about a dozen primo chairs. RH did send out notes to the guests saying that you could not "reserve chairs". But they did NOT enforce it and people did it anyway. It was very aggravating. The problem was that there was no beach so everyone was jammed around the pool with just enough chairs for the guests. Of course when people reserve a chair in the sun and one in the shade for their afternoon naps then the supply really is comprimised. You were sitting on top of everyone with no space to spread out. RH is not worth going to until the beach situation is fixed. Trust me it is a war zone!

Maryella, What/where is RH?

My family and I (5 adults and 2 young children)spent 10 days last month in a villa at Silver Sands in Jamaica. Although it was at the height of high season, we never had a problem with lounge chairs, although we usually did not get to the beach until 9:30 or 10AM.

RH is Royal Hideaway south of Playa del Carmen in Caribbean Mexico.

It is widely regarded as one of the top AI's in the Caribbean and is priced accordingly.

There's no excuse for a resort of this caliber to have a shortage of loungers for its guests - or failing that - to not enforce the "no saving of chairs" policy.

It should be, "ya don't use it, ya lose it"... ;)

We have a different twist on the same theme. We are going back for a repeat visit to a small resort on a small island in the BVIs. If we don't get out and reserve a chair in front of our bungalow very early in the AM, we find that the lounges and hammocks are all grabbed by "day trippers" on day sails. So - while I hate myself for doing so, I rush out and put the requisite book and towel on the lounge under the tree in front of our cottage first thing in the AM!

Quick question ...... truly not meaning anything by it .... BUT , doesn't anyone lay on a towel , on the good ole' sand anymore ? !! LOL , just curious ! Faith .

Saharabee: I was justs curious what resort in the BVI you're referring to...it was my impression that the beaches themselves were public (and should be!) but that any amenities on the beach such as lounge chairs or umbrella shades were reserved for guests of that particular establishment. Was it Cooper Island, by any chance? We just requested their promotional DVD to watch and thought it looked charming--a private island resort lacking in all pretension.

I have had 2 recent experiences. The 1st at Iberostar Punta Cana. The 1st morning we went out at 9am for slim pickins on the beach. There were plenty of chairs but all the shade huts were reserved. Same situation at the pool but the chairs weren't as plentiful. So I followed suit & ran out at 7am, picked our spot, grabbed my breakfast & remained there the entire day. I did see a few arguments arise, boy, was that fun to watch.
In Feb. I was at Moon Palace in Cancun. The beach isn't great there so most people were by the pool. Again, the 1st morning at 9, my husband & I went to the pool to find reserved chairs everywhere. The pool has platforms in the water big enough for your lounge chair and there were alot of these areas. My husband & I spotted a area with 3 chairs & no one around. 6 chairs could easily fit on this size platform so we began to move our 2 chairs on to it also. Then out of the blue this snotty woman came over who was sitting under a shade umbrella to tell me this was her platform and she wasn't going to be inconvenienced by us adding chairs. She wanted to be able to follow the sun when it moved! I politely asked her what position she held - she said excuse me - I said, well you don't have your name tag on your swimsuit - she said - what do I need a name tag for - I replied - well since you apparently think you're too good to be inconvenienced it would be nice to know who were dealing with - to me you definitely don't seem to be royality. Some times I talk too much but at least I felt better when I walked away. So by mid week I notice they were in the same spot with the same platform & table & chairs with umbrella. I got up early, went to the pool, reserved there spot - platform, table & chairs and when they came across the bridge to this area at 6:45, I politely wished them a good morning. I witnessed alot of towel moving, people "accidently" pushing towels off the chairs in the water, etc. I feel there should be more control over this situation - somehow. I agree that there should be a time limit on unattended chairs. There should be several staff members overseeing this situation.

We were at the Westin St. John over Easter break, and there was a chair shortage there, by the pool. But there were signs around saying that you cannot reserve seats all day, and you will lose your chair if it is left vacant for more than 45 mins. The policy did not seem to be enforced.

Personally, when I travel to places with gorgeous beaches, the last place I want to be is by the pool. (I figure I can sit by a pool at home). But my kids like the pool, so we handle this by going to the pool in the late afternoon after people have left for the day.

ejcrowe,

It was at Sandcastle on Jost Van Dyke. There are lounges and hammocks behind the ropes that mark out your "front yard" that are clearly posted as off limits to anyone but hotel guests but these are not on the beach. As well, the posted signs are often ignored by day trippers who unhook the gate and drag out the lounges and beach mats from your front yard. I've even had to ask one young lady to remove herself from my front yard hammock 5 feet from the cottage front door!

The loungers on the beach are available to hotel guests and patrons of the Soggy Dollar Bar and on a busy day it can be very hard to claim a lounger (especially in the shade of a palm tree) after 9 AM. We quickly learned to stake out the tree in front of our cottage right after breakfast. No problem.

I didn't want to mention the resort name initially, in case someone would infer that they are doing something wrong - they aren't. They treat their guests royally. They can't be held responsible for the rudeness of some of the day visitors.

Great thread. This issue drives me up the wall. I will not get up early on my vacation to "reserve" a chair. If the hotel posts that chairs can't be reserved for more than 45 minutes, etc. I will wait that amount of time,( take a nice beach walk ) and if no one shows up, move stuff. A chair isn't worth arguing about, and I would move if someone put up a stink but no one usually does when my hubby stands up !!!

I am grateful that I have never had this problem. I think it would be awful if you had to wake up early and stake your claim -- what happened to good manners and common courtesy? At certain peak times, loungers are hard to come by, but there always seemed to be extra chairs stacked in a corner that we could access (this only happened in Aruba).

I'm headed to the Marriott Stellaris on Aruba next week; this is my first trip to the island. Does anyone out there think I need to be concerned about the lounge chair issue?
thanks!

faithie,

At 57 I now find myself a lot more uncomfortable after an hour or so lying on the sand than I did when I was young and lithe. Plus I'm not much of a "just lie in the sun and do nothing" person. I like to sit up and read. And - I hate ending up with a grungy wet beach towel earlly in the day! Just getting older and crankier I suppose LOL!

Lol , I get it ! !!! I like your explanation ! I was beginning to wonder if I was the odd woman out ..... I love to plop myself down on the sand . But you are right about those towels , at the end of our November Costa Rica trip they were'bout ready to walk away !!! (yikes ! ) Faith

Re: beach towels....we wash 'em with a bit of shampoo in the shower or sink at the end of the day and dry them on the balcony or whatever's handy, works quite well.