I just returned from one of the better trips I’ve had in a while, which happened to be one of the few times I’ve given into the all-inclusive game. With two kids 5 and under, the simplicity of a trip like this cannot be taken for granted. I hate to say it, but I kind of loved it — and if you’re looking for easy, you should give it a whirl if you haven’t.
There was just one thing… sun loungers.
The resort had ample pool and beach space for all, but the kids pool was an early morning arms race, like trying to get Oasis tickets. As a total all-inclusive novice, we showed up to the kids pool on day one around 10AM, to find virtually every sun lounger was accounted for.
Not by a body, but by a towel.
As often happens in my life, the living spirit of Larry David became me, to ponder just how nuts it all is. Seats reserved with towels that are property of the hotel, for people who won’t end up using them until much later in the day, so they go empty for hours. What the hell is this?
How Do We Fix This?
As a voice on the internet sometimes passing on many voices on the internet, I’ve become hyper critical of people who complain endlessly without solutions. I run the risk of being what I hate here today, but I’ll take a stab.
To be clear, this pool was well staffed with waiter service and a manned hut to grab towels. It feels 100% within the wheelhouse for there to be a maitre d’ of sorts, who you approach, and who escorts you to open loungers. Other team members could work the opposite end, being super to remove towels when people vacate the pool. It all sounds great, but it’s not.
People naturally switch in and out from beach to pool, use the facilities or grab a drink at one of the nearby bars. I could see huge potential for argument if an overzealous team member removed towels of someone who just stepped away for a few minutes.
Policing this and finding a balance is arguably more confrontational than just letting guests battle it out amongst each other. I can see the reasoning. Plus, the hotel offers cabanas which you can reserve for a fee, so scarcity actually helps drive that business forward.
But People Are Terrible
Coming from Europe to Mexico, we were naturally early risers and always among the first at breakfast. Despite this, by the second day, we realized people were truly waking up at dawn to reserve their choice lounges, because by the time we’d swing by at 7:30, more than half were taken. Truly nuts.
This game forced us into a situation we didn’t really want to be in. Because we knew we’d be camped there from 9-12 and needed a base for kids toys, shoes and what not, we had to get thrown into the the mix.
Unlike others, we’d actually be plonking down just as soon as we could lather up and return, and would remove the towels when finished for the session, even though we’d assuredly return later. We’d reserve a lounger at 7:45 before anyone was realistically, physically out there, and be occupying it by 9.
I hated being a part of the reservation by towel crowd, but it felt justifiable.
But then there were the others. Putting towels out at 6:45, which would sit empty until the afternoon. I couldn’t help but feel insane, thinking about the wasted time, where other people could’ve been occupying the space and getting exactly what they wanted out of the day.
Like most things, things worked themselves out many times, people came and left, but there were times were it was simply impossible to be seated and that makes things hard.
Ban Extended Absences?
The only semi-logical happy medium I can think of is more proactive removal of towels, after consulting with guests. If staff can relay a good faith policy of say… max 30 minute holds, if they say they’ll be back in 15 minutes, so be it. If they say they’ll be back in 5 hours, no be it.
Pool teams could remove towels and refresh the spaces and keep a steady flow going. Again, I feel like setting the right threshold of time, and the usual phenomenon of people taking the piss and lying about time of absence would prevail… so here we are.
I was highly amused when I posted this on Instagram, to find that everyone hates this. But, I still don’t know how we fix it. Any ideas?
It’s a tough situation. Kimpton Seafire has a pretty good system. They recognize many people want to save their space for as long as it takes to go eat a meal at one of the on-site restaurants. They’re not all-inclusive, so they are incentivized to not make people choose between eating on-site and retaining their sun loungers. So they have a rule where towels and personal items are removed from chairs after 1.5 hours of activity, IIRC. The towel guys advise this to guests on the front end when towels are being placed/picked up so guests are aware. Seems a pretty good approach from a fairness perspective, but on the other hand it does require a fairly high workload on the guys manning the towel huts for monitoring and enforcement.
I do not frequent these all-inclusives often, but my kids would get embarrassed as dad would find the appropriate number of loungers and remove unfolded or dry towels where no one was sitting. Either I was always lucky to find a spot or those hoarding the seats were too afraid to say anything. Whatever the reason, I’ve never had an issue finding a place to rest.