Some Lounge Chairs now are bookable

[Dobermanns]

It also eliminates the need to stand in front of that shack on the beach at 7 AM and wait for an hour to rent a casabella, which for me was never a great way to start a day in paradise.

This, the not knowing how early I needed to be there waiting for them to open (to get the casabella number I want before it’s taken by guests ahead of me). So I am happy I get to call tomorrow morning to reserve one on the Malia deck

 

[Paul Stupin]

This, the not knowing how early I needed to be there waiting for them to open (to get the casabella number I want before it’s taken by guests ahead of me). So I am happy I get to call tomorrow morning to reserve one on the Malia deck

I couldn’t stand that either! And even if it was a short line, you still didn’t know, because many people reserve two or three for the whole family, so there was always a chance you wouldn’t get one. For us, the ability to reserve a casabella in advance was a game changer. We’ve also noticed that the same kind of seating can be pricier at other hotels in Hawaii.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

So IMO, there is a line between “early bird gets the worm” and “tragedy of the commons”.

I agree but I think this line is extremely hard to define and probably varies based on your travel preferences and sleep schedule. Whatever the system is, people will try to work it—but I think step one is having resort staff actually clear unattended chairs, and perhaps saying that you can’t hold more than 2 chairs for every 1 person for more than an hour. The problem (of course) is it results in guests arguing/fighting with staff—leading to drops in satisfaction for both guests and staff.

If they aren’t willing to enforce their rules, I think it would be better to have more cubbies (for people who just want to keep stuff dry while swimming) and then they could have chairs they aggressively clear (most chairs by the pools if nobody is using them) and 50% of the chairs should be available to pay for the day (I actually think there should be a 7-12 rate and a 12:30-5:30 rate and maybe booking both gets you a 20-30% discount, or something like that).

 

[VGCgroupie]

I agree but I think this line is extremely hard to define and probably varies based on your travel preferences and sleep schedule. Whatever the system is, people will try to work it—but I think step one is having resort staff actually clear unattended chairs, and perhaps saying that you can’t hold more than 2 chairs for every 1 person for more than an hour. The problem (of course) is it results in guests arguing/fighting with staff—leading to drops in satisfaction for both guests and staff.

If they aren’t willing to enforce their rules, I think it would be better to have more cubbies (for people who just want to keep stuff dry while swimming) and then they could have chairs they aggressively clear (most chairs by the pools if nobody is using them) and 50% of the chairs should be available to pay for the day (I actually think there should be a 7-12 rate and a 12:30-5:30 rate and maybe booking both gets you a 20-30% discount, or something like that).

I agree doing split days would double the availability for paid spots and they could lower the price.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I agree doing split days would double the availability for paid spots and they could lower the price.

I suspect full day price would stay about the same and then each half of the day would cost 60% of full day?

More generally, it just makes more sense because not that many people want more than 1/2 day parked on a chair…and now we have tons of people trying to hold chairs for 3+ hours that actually only get used 1-2 hours total.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I agree but I think this line is extremely hard to define and probably varies based on your travel preferences and sleep schedule. Whatever the system is, people will try to work it—but I think step one is having resort staff actually clear unattended chairs, and perhaps saying that you can’t hold more than 2 chairs for every 1 person for more than an hour. The problem (of course) is it results in guests arguing/fighting with staff—leading to drops in satisfaction for both guests and staff.

If they aren’t willing to enforce their rules, I think it would be better to have more cubbies (for people who just want to keep stuff dry while swimming) and then they could have chairs they aggressively clear (most chairs by the pools if nobody is using them) and 50% of the chairs should be available to pay for the day (I actually think there should be a 7-12 rate and a 12:30-5:30 rate and maybe booking both gets you a 20-30% discount, or something like that).

I would be fully supportive of a chair reserving limit. Someone taking up a whole row is just ridiculous…..

 

[Dobermanns]

Called right at 3am. Got disconnected three times after being on hold and then finally getting through to CM each time. Forth call, CM picked up right away and successfully reserved a casabella for 5 days of our weeklong stay. Whew!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Called right at 3am. Got disconnected three times after being on hold and then finally getting through to CM each time. Forth call, CM picked up right away and successfully reserved a casabella for 5 days of our weeklong stay. Whew!

Is there anything else that comes available for prebooking at the exact same time as the chairs? Wondering if the holding was all people trying to reserve seats.

 

[Dobermanns]

Is there anything else that comes available for prebooking at the exact same time as the chairs? Wondering if the holding was all people trying to reserve seats.

I don’t know… cabanas should have been booked long before 90 days.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Joined and have been reading FB groups and many say that waitlists for cabanas come up frequently. Gives me hope that I can snag one if we need one on our trip.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Joined and have been reading FB groups and many say that waitlists for cabanas come up frequently. Gives me hope that I can snag one if we need one on our trip.

It wouldn’t surprise me if cabanas come up when people arrive and see where the cabana locations are. There are almost none that have any view of the ocean, and we didn’t see any that we would have taken for free, let alone paid to be tied to all day— we canceled our cabana after touring the grounds.

@Dobermanns how far out do cabanas book?

 

[Dobermanns]

It wouldn’t surprise me if cabanas come up when people arrive and see where the cabana locations are. There are almost none that have any view of the ocean, and we didn’t see any that we would have taken for free, let alone paid to be tied to all day— we canceled our cabana after touring the grounds.

@Dobermanns how far out do cabanas book?

I believe reading elsewhere that you can reserve a cabana as soon as you have your resort reservation made.

 

[VGCgroupie]

It wouldn’t surprise me if cabanas come up when people arrive and see where the cabana locations are. There are almost none that have any view of the ocean, and we didn’t see any that we would have taken for free, let alone paid to be tied to all day— we canceled our cabana after touring the grounds.

@Dobermanns how far out do cabanas book?

Do you think the other options are worth it? Casabellas? I think I saw you had the Executive Lanai and liked it?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I believe reading elsewhere that you can reserve a cabana as soon as you have your resort reservation made.

As noted above, I really don’t want any of the current cabana locations, but we are traveling around the holidays this year and it might be nice as a back up if the chair hog situation is out of control.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I believe reading elsewhere that you can reserve a cabana as soon as you have your resort reservation made.

It’s 90days out.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Do you think the other options are worth it? Casabellas? I think I saw you had the Executive Lanai and liked it?

I’d watch this:

 

[moanatime]

I called to book a cabana (but they were unavailable - not surprised) and learned that the loungers in front of Ama Ama are now being rented! We were able to book a few of those for our trip instead of a cabana, which is fine with us since we mostly want to avoid the 7am chair hunt to have a more relaxing vacation. Hope this info helps someone with their vacation planning and makes Aulani that much more magical!

So they are casabellas without the cover? Umbrellas though right? Do the umbrellas provide good shade? I just called and reserved 2 for our trip. We usually do the casabellas on the beach because of the coverage.

 

[VGCgroupie]

So they are casabellas without the cover? Umbrellas though right? Do the umbrellas provide good shade? I just called and reserved 2 for our trip. We usually do the casabellas on the beach because of the coverage.

They are the same as the beach ones.

 

[moanatime]

They are the same as the beach ones.

One more question if anyone knows...when I booked they didn't say anything about having to check in somewhere before using them or will they have a reserved sign?

 

[Paul Stupin]

One more question if anyone knows...when I booked they didn't say anything about having to check in somewhere before using them or will they have a reserved sign?

You have to check in each day before 10 am at the little hut by rainbow reef. Also, the umbrellas are there for the loungers on the deck prior to the time the Casabellas replaced them, and were never removed. They’re useless.