pool chairs

[coco]

So I have been hearing a lot of frustration about the pool chair reservation system currently in place. It's clearly not working. So here's my question, when is the management at Desire going to look at this? Since most of the daily activities are around the pool, I don't think it is too much to ask that there is a chair available if you want one. Getting up in the wee hours of the morning to reserve a chair is simply not an option when I'm supposed to be on vacation. I'm up for work at 4:45am each day at home, I don't want to be up on vacation to reserve a chair.
Why are chairs being held for premeir members and not being used? If they are not occupied by a certain time, why are they not opened up for others?
I know Desire has made great improvements over the past 6-9 months spending lot of money to do so. Why is it that something that doesn't cost that much to fix has not been addressed?
I know management "knows there's a problem", when are they going to do something to fix it?

[Powderfinger]

Interesting how much this has appeared to have changed in the four months since we were last there.....the sign-up system seemed to work pretty good then. If the Premier member perks are causing such an apparent big problem, why can't they, instead of blocking off chairs, simply allow the Premier members to reserve their chairs the night before, and let everyone else continue to do the morning thing....

[anksewv]

We're not sure why it has changed, but it has certainly caused a big stink on every message board that deals with desire. When we were there in 08 it was a really simple process. You got up to go to breakfast, put your stuff on a chair and that was it. No books to sign or reservations needed to be made. They still removed your items if you left the chairs unattended for two hrs and freed the chair up for someone else. It worked great but now someone has done screwed that up we guess.

[njdesirecpl]

we would like to hear more about this "issue". We were at Desire in early march and the chairs were not an issue. the resort was at full occupancy and we never had a problem getting chairs by the pool so long as we checked in with the chair attendant prior to 10 am.

Can someone tell us what has changed since then?

[anksewv]

To be honest, we're not sure that anything has. We had read a few trip reports where someone had complained about the chair policy, but maybe they just had a shitty vacation and that was what they chose to complain about. We will know for sure in 4 short days, we arrive on Thur the 17th and we will most surely let everyone know whats going on, if anything.

[njdesirecpl]

Thanks. We will look forward to your trip report. We don't return to paradise until February so we need to live vicariously through others.

Enjoy your trip

[nascentfun]

Just received this reply to my email inquiry:

DEAR GUESTS 



I would like to apologize for creating confusion with the pool reservation
policies; it seemed like we change it all but the fact is that the rules
around the pool are still the same. 



You have to contact our pool concierge to reserve your seating. He will
assign you a pair of chairs which you can leave unattended for no more than
two hours. If after these time you don't show up or give us any notice, your
belongings will be removed and sent to the front desk. Your chairs will be
assigned to another guest on the waiting list. We have created this
procedure because, before, most of the guests used to reserve a pair of
chairs by the pool area early in the morning and showed up around noon or
later. We just want to make this system work for everyone, so all guests
have the chance to fully enjoy a place by the pool.



We have two different areas in the pool, one is for our entire guest, and
the other area is for premier guest who bought a membership with Desire
resorts that allows them certain benefits, one of these benefits is to have
a guaranteed seating at the pool. First we make sure premier guest have a
guaranteed seating at their area at the pool, if there are any seating
available at their area left it gets assigned to any other guest in the
waiting list.



All this policies have always been the same, rules have not change and there
are no privileges besides the premier guest who bought those benefits. If
you would like to inquire about premier benefits please contact Premier
Staff at extension 2584 and I will be glad to give you more information.



We are just trying to spread this information in the clearest way possible,
many of our repetitive guests are aware of these policies but new guest are
not, we do not want to create confusion but we are trying to make the resort
more enjoyable for everyone.





Please if you have any doubts or concerns regarding this matter do not
hesitate to contact me



Sincerely




VALENTINA BIEGUN
Gerente de Servicio a Huespedes
Guest Service Manager
guestservice@desireresorts.com
Tel : 52 998 872 82 80 ext. 1231
Fax : 52 998 872 82 99


-----Mensaje original-----

Enviado el: Saturday, June 12, 2010 9:22 AM
Para: guestservice@desireresorts.com
Asunto: Is there reason for concern?

Hello Valentina,
My wife and I are concerned about our upcoming vacation at Desire after
reading several comments on two Desire message boards.  The discussions
about the difficulty in obtaining chairs at the pool and beach concern us
greatly.  This will be our first trip to Desire and we would like some
assurance that this will not be a problem when we are there this September
11-18.  Sun bathing is a primary reason for our trip and having to get up
early and get in line to reserve a chair (as we have read in comments) does
not sound like part of an enjoyable vacation.  Please let us know the actual
policy on the use of pool and beach chairs and if there are an adequate
number of chairs to accommodate the guests at the resort.  
I look forward to your reply.
Thank you, 
Don 

[oldseadog]

Looking at posts in the TR section, this system is clearly not working.
Management need to sort this out pronto.

[anksewv]

Yea, we just received the exact same response, word for word

[Whoneedssunscreencpl]

Sorry, but Valentina's response above was complete and utter B.S. We were there a few weeks ago (and no, we didn't have a shitty vacation and "just choose this to complain about." Gee, give your fellow posters here the benefit of the doubt, would you?). At any rate, one example: One day it rained. Quite a bit. In fact it rained all morning. Finally let up a little bit around 1 or 2 in the afternoon but was still sprinkling a tad. So we went out to the pool. Almost every single chair was unoccupied, but when we sat in some we were told we had to move because they were reserved. So we asked how we could reserve chairs for ourselves. Answer? We couldn't because they were ALL reserved. So much for the "no more than 2 hours unattended" policy. Every single one of those chairs had been unoccupied for at least five hours. It was so absurd we just looked at each other and laughed. Eventually we just picked a couple chairs and sat in them, PROMISING Daniel that we would leave them the second the chairs' "true owners" arrived to claim them.

And I'm sorry, but this is a beach/pool resort. People have a right to assume that if they pay to stay there, they will have a place to sit at the beach/pool. Offering guaranteed seating only to those who pay extra for it is insulting and to me indicates that the resort doesn't have adequate facilities to serve the number of guests they accept.

[jdkdcanada]

We we there May 16 to 23 and did not get chairs once. I was there by 7:10 no one was around because it was lightly raining but everything was already reserved. Also the same people had the exact same chairs every day. The guy taking reservation must be making a lot on the side. We took chairs off the beach and put them by the pool(close to the entrance to volleyball. You can fit 6 chairs). No one said anything to us.

[happycuple]

jdkdcanada . . .

How full was the Resort when you were there ?

We were there last October with the Resort probably at 60-70% capacity and I just don't recall there being any issue at all getting pool chairs at any time of the day . . .

If this is a recent thing then they certainly do need to get it dealt with and soon !

[DoubleTrouble]

Below is a cut and paste version of an email that we decided to send to Valentina regarding this issue. Perhaps if management is receives enough complaints they will abolish the silly thing.

Hi Valentina,

Congratulations on your new position. We wish you well.

We have been to Desire several times and absolutely love our time there. We look forward to every trip and have never had any complaints or issues.

That being said, we DO wish to voice our disapointment and concern over this new POOL CHAIR RESERVATION SYSTEM. We spend alot of our time at the pool, as do alot of the members of our group (Week 43 group). We enjoy sitting together and taking part in all the activities around the pool. We have our favorite spots around the pool, so that the Sun worshippers get their fair amount of sun and the friends who need shade, get what they need. We enjoy being together at the pool.

We also enjoy staying out late and not having to get up early. It is a vacation! A break from having to rise early ........the thoughts of having to get up before 7 am to get in line and hope that you get pool chairs, is not our idea of an ideal part of vacation. Not to mention that there appears to be little hope of sitting with our friends.

The idea that there is a separate section for the Premiere Members, and their exclusive preferred reservation system is extreamly disapointing and contrary to the non-judgemental, carefree, atmosphere that for so long Desire Resorts has sought to portray.

Please, re-think this policy- Why should there even BE a policy for pool chairs? When people are on vacation, they dont want to have to deal with stressing over being restricted to where their pool chair is and who they want to sit with.

We have been following the posts and the trip reports on the Desire Forum and Iwe must say, we have never heard so many negatives being posted, EVER, until now.........and it is all over this crazy pool chair policy. We have also talked to many friends who have returned from Desire, recently and they are swearing that they will not return, if this is the situation they have to deal with in the future. THAT is a shame.

Has ANYONE given you any positive feedback over this policy? I certainly havent heard any.

Its is a shame that with everything Desire has to offer, that management has created a silly policy that is now making avid Desire fans, consider going elsewhere.

We BEG you to let things go back to the carefree, common sense way of dealing with pool chairs. Common courtesy of guests to each other.

In the absence of common courtesy, may we suggest simply ENFORCING the 2 hours left unattended rule- and DO remove belongings instead of just threatening to. In addition, simply state that no pool chairs may be reserved with belongings before 8 am, and if belongings are on the chair before 8 AM- they will be removed- AND REMOVE THEM!!!

And please, do away with the Premeire Section - it gives the impression that THESE guests are more valued and more important than the others are. Are they?

If you need to give these people "perks" - find another way to do that, that isnt IN THE FACE of the other guests, and is much more discreet. A one category room updgrade at no charge- or extra points or whatever- that no one else other then the memeber has to even know about.

Please dont change the Desire that we have all grown to know and love.

[mfay]

Doubletrouble
I would agree that folks do need to let Desire know how they feel about this issue. And your letter is certainly well done.
But I’m not sure I agree with all your points.
This basic pool chair policy- utilizing a pool concierge with whom you had to sign out chairs- is not new. It has been in effect for a year or so. I’m not sure of the date, but it was definitely in effect last September when we were there and of course last month on our last visit. If you were there last October you would have dealt with the system then. At least for us, the system worked very well last September. What seems to have changed since then is the separate section and apparently large number of chairs reserved for premier members- whether they use them or not. Back then there were only a few- maybe half a dozen chairs- reserved for them and they seemed to always be used.
If you have followed this forum back a long ways or the old original Desire forum you may remember that pool chair availability has always been an issue at Desire. Before this system was started – during weeks when the resort was full- there were constant complaints about people throwing stuff on chairs early am and then not coming back till noon. Eventually other folks would come to the pool and watch chairs for a while until finally they would remove other people stuff from a chair and grab it. That of course led to some major disputes- and eventually to this current policy. Even though we would like to think we could rely on guest's common courtesy to each other it often didn’t work that way.
So I’m not sure a return to first come first serve is the answer either. Perhaps a different way of accommodating premier members with a chair is the biggest answer to the problem. Only allocating chairs to the members who have specifically asked for one and making sure they actually use them- or lose them in a reasonable time would be a big help. That would cut the number of reserved chairs way, way down in itself. We have also asked for a “signâ€

[aandk4fun]

is there just absolutly no room for any additional chairs??

why a 2 hour rule, why not 1 hour.... seriously, if you are leaving your chair for longer than an hour, just be courteous and give it up

you can go eat lunch in under an hour, go to your room and pee in under an hour, if you are doing something that takes over and hour, GIVE UP YOUR CHAIR....

if everyone did this, or they enforced an hour rule, there would be NO problem...

two hour is too long to wait until someone comes back to their chair, i've seen this happen at other resorts where after their two hour walk on the beach they come back, grab their towels, then go to the room, when they could have just done it before their walk and let someone else use the chairs....

we have a reservation in october, this is an issue that we don't want to deal with, even for one day, with the costs of the resort....