Those early morning “seat savers.” You know them, you’ve seen them, maybe you’ve even been one of them. I’m not going to lie…we’ve done it before. But, is it ok?
So, here’s the deal. After months of horrific weather, the Schrafft family, like so many others, had finally had it. With a time share week soon to expire, but 4 plane tickets during April vacation week too pricey for our pockets, I started to look at warm weather destinations within reasonable driving distance.
While searching, I discovered a nice little resort in Virginia Beach. The resort looked super cute and their website described it as, “a Key West-inspired resort.” On a whim…with much less research than is typical for me…and a bit of trepidation, I booked it.
With prescheduled obligations Saturday morning, we couldn’t leave until 1:00. We hit tons of traffic in the New York area, stopped more times than is ideal, and finally arrived at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. We were pleasantly surprised with our spacious suite. Having booked really late, we weren’t able to get a two-bedroom suite, but the boys have never had a problem sleeping on the pull-out sofa in the living room when need be. Having two bathrooms and a full kitchen is always a bonus when traveling with the kids…and ours were updated and lovely.
The resort is fairly small….only three floors with maybe 90 suites total. In the center are two lovely pools, two hot tubs, some nice landscaping and waterfalls, a gazebo, a pergola, and maybe 50ish teak lawn chairs and some umbrella tables.
We spent the first day getting our bearings straight, lounging by the pool, finding a grocery store, and having an early dinner. We quickly learned which pool the boys preferred and where the best seats were located so as to watch them safely when not in the pool with them. The pool area was lively, but not necessarily crowded. We easily scored perfect chaise lounge chairs by the pool’s edge and had a great day.
The morning of our second day we all slept late and then I took a run on the board walk while the boys rollerbladed. We returned to our suite for breakfast and lazily made our way down to the pool at 11:00 to spend hours relaxing and swimming. The next day was much the same. However, upon stepping out onto our balcony at 7:30, I noticed a line of pool chairs already “spoken for” without a swimmer or pool-goer in sight. Awfully early for claiming territory. The chairs that were taken happened to be the entire front row along the main edge of the better of the two pools. With stone work being done along the other side….several other chairs were out of commission.
We went out for a run/roller blade and made it down to the pool around 10:30. The chairs in question were still adorned with bags, towels, goggles, water shoes, etc. but yet….still no people. 30 minutes later…still no one. Finally, around 11:45 a father and three young children appeared. The stuff and evidently the chairs were theirs, but after digging through the bags and rearranging a bit…they were off again. We saw them intermittently…near the chairs…cruising by the chairs…taking things off the chairs…putting different things on the chairs…buy yet, never actually sitting down upon the chairs. It wasn’t a huge deal, I suppose, but with seating kind of limited and their belongings taking up a large slice of the pie, we had to maneuver around their stuff and their chairs to get to the water’s edge. By 3:00, the father hadn’t sat once nor had any of the children. The mother sat with her newborn for a few minutes and was then gone. I couldn’t help but think, if they really just needed a place to put their things…they could have easily just taken two chairs, rather than five! Throughout the day several other pool goers walked back and forth while searching for a place to sit.
So, I ask you… What is proper resort etiquette? Do you sneak out early and reserve your seats? Do you loathe those who do? Is it sometimes ok? Thoughts?
Good Morning Gloucester 
I say when in Rome do as the Romans do!
Although it is not proper etiquette I did it for over ten years at a Florida resort and will until my dying breath but I used it at least 5 to 6 hours a day.
I’m sure they said that crazy nut is here again this year!
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Working for Hard Rock All Inclsuive Collection (best AI resorts…little plug), having worked for Sandals/Beaches/Grande Pineapple Resorts and been a frequent AI resort vacationer, yes…this is the norm. Specifically during school vacation weeks when resorts are at high capacity or (like Hard Rock’s) sold out. Some people get comfortable in one particular area and want to be there all week, some like to be closest to the bar or bathroom and those traveling in large groups want to stick together. I think it’s a consistent routine that anyone will find at any resort and it is acceptable….to a degree. At least show up by 10am!
Enjoy your vacation and I hope you’ve reserved your seats by now…it’s almost 8am.
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I’m not going to say who but the move is lets get to the beach early for good seats…However, you should really use them dig in like a Alabama tick..This story those people did go overboard!
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I’m on vacation at a similar resort but blissfully have not run into this situation. My feeling is that the chair is yours when you’re sitting in it or using the immediately adjacent facilities. Very rude to tie up 5 front row chairs all day and not sit down!
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Not okay to save seats, especially if they are not going to use the seats except to store their things all day.
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I’ll bet that family wore their hats backward.
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I belong to a timeshare in Florida. This happens all the time, however the pool attendant removes things from chairs, tables if no is their in a reasonable amount of time.
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This is a common issue on cruise ships. They have policies ( that are seldom enforced) that says 30 minutes away from chairs, stuff gets removed so others can sit.
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I’d leave a rubber dog poop on one of the chairs. Send them a message…
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Those are very vey selfish people….
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I would put their stuff on one chair and use the others until they returned. Oops. So sorry.
Rude practice, but I’ve seen it over and over. We feel like the paupers.
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What is the resort you stayed at? Looks very nice. How was the beach there?
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We are staying at a cute, little resort called Turtle Cay. It is 1/2 a block off the beach, but the sister resort is oceanfront and we have access to their roof top pool and indoor pool also…but they’re not as quaint as ours. The beach is pretty empty and windy….but nice. The boys have been much more interested in the pools than the beach so far this week, but it has been great to walk/run/rollerblade the boardwalk in the morning and evening. Not a bad little last minute getaway at all!
http://www.vacationrentalsvabeach.com/turtlecayresort
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I’d like to think that these people were completely clueless. I certainly don’t have the guts to ever
pull a stunt like that. Good lesson on proper pool etiquette for the boys though!
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If as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss, then I’m sure that family is very happy.
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Yes, chair saving is a pet peeve of mine. It seems very selfish if they’re not going to sit on the chairs. I think it’s the responsibility of the cabana boy to remove the items after 1 hour of emptiness.
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Would never do that, these folks may need some therapy.. Hope you enjoying yourself..
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Main thing is to enjoy your stay with family…I remember dealing with similar situations during military days some places had like a cushion they would give you to lay on…some places use the time mentioned above and other’s as long as your in immediate pool area they were first come first serve…Looks like fun though minus the traffic nightmare en-route! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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