New System for Beach Palapas

[breanna61]

I just read on Trip Advisor that the Phoenix has implemented a new system for getting a beach palapa for the day where you line up at 7am. Has anyone experienced this since it was started? How is it working?

[daks630]

There for the last two weeks of November.
No "lines". Pool guy & beach guy arrive at 7 AM each morning. They unlock the beach chaise lounges (long plastic coated cable looped through each of the several stacks & locked). If you are standing by a palapa one of them will deliver the number of chaise lounges you need. This starts at the Pure Beach end of the beach and progresses to the Pure Ocean end.
"Stuff" left at a palapa that has no warm body standing by is ignored (no chairs placed) & the stuff may be taken to the towel exchange location.
Not all that many people out there at 7 AM. I suspect that there will be more during high season.

As to the time after 7 AM it is self service. You bring the seating to an open palapa yourself. In November there is a fairly steady turnover on the beach so getting a palapa has not been an issue.

[dfranklin]

Thanks for the feedback. This is the way it's worked for the past several years. They have plenty of palapas, trees and umbrella's relative to the other resorts so no matter what time you get to the beach, you can always find some sort of shade.

Not that way at many of the other resorts.

[PirateKing]

This is an improvement that was long needed. While we were not having problems in the past (especially after they opened the so-called "South Beach" section, where not many people want to be because it is nice and quiet), it wasn't fair the way it had been operating up till now, with a few people going down and "bribing" the beach attendants to help them set up a bunch of spaces for themselve3s and their friends who weren't even there at the time. Just to note, it still has not been a problem getting a palapa, at least as of Week 3. At 7:15 or so, there is usually a short line and a lot of places open.
The downside of this for us is that we don't get to sit on the beach and have our coffee as dawn is breaking, but we just have it on the balcony, do our power walk, and get back as the line is winding down.

[breanna61]

I agree, the new system is a vast improvement. We were able to get beach front every day by heading down at 6:45 a.m. for the 7:00 a.m. check-in. This is truly the fairest way for everyone and eliminates those who would go down and save multiple beach front palapas for people who then wouldn't show up for hours and hours, if at all and those who "bribed" an attendent. The only people we heard complaining, were the ones who used to abuse the first come first serve policy.
Lots of improvements at the Phoenix this year and we were happy with this one!

[dbruno]

So, I'm not sure if we were a couple of people who "abused" the system, but when we were there in November of 2013, this is what we did: my wife and I would make some coffee, get a newspaper, and head down to the beach at around 8:30 AM. We would get our towels, and go get a palapa, drag a couple of chairs over, and sit, read, and have our coffee. After about 1/2 hour, we would leave our stuff and towels at the palapa, go back to the room, have a quick breakfast, put on our suits and sunscreen, and go back to the palapa. We would be back in 30-40 minutes, and pretty much stay the rest of the day, with an hour's break for lunch back at the room. Is this "abusing" the system, because we thought we were just doing what everyone else was doing?
So now, has the system changed to where we would not be able to do this any more? We just became owners of a wee in February. Any thoughts or comments about this would really help us out for the next time we are at the Phoenix.

[breanna61]

dbruno, you were not abusing the system; nothing wrong with what you were doing and you will be able to continue to do that with the new system. The abusers who used to go down and save multiple palapas for friends who may never show up or go down, get a palapa and then leave for 1/2 the day. With the new system, you select one palapa per unit so no going down and saving five or six prime spots for friends who don't show up for hours.

[dbruno]

Thanks very much for that info. We were a little worried about it. We are not really early risers when we go to Aruba, and didn't know if we would have to be!

[PirateKing]

Sure doesn't sound like abuse of the system to me! Especially getting down there at such a leisurely hour.