Recent GCH guests - pool area

[mlayton14]

Good morning , planning a possible trip to GCH for august. Question - in watching YouTube videos it looks like anyone can walk in from the outside and sit by the pool? I did notice a gate/fence , but the restaurant appears to open to pool area. If I’m going to outlay the coin for GCH I would like a reasonable chance to spend time in a lounger in the pool area during the day with family , what has been everyone else’s experience? Thank you

 

[deedubb]

The last few times I have been (pre-pandemic), you need a wristband to be able to go to the pool, and you need a room key to get the wristband.

 

[clansac]

We were just there last week. I suppose someone could go through the bar and sit in a lounger and they may not notice. I didn't see anyone giving out wristbands and we cut through the pool several times to get to the DVC rooms. That said, there were tons of seats available. Unless you are planning on going in the much warmer months, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[DLgal]

You need a wristband to sit in the loungers or tables around the pool area proper. They do go around looking as they patrol the deck they kick people out all the time.

The GCH Craftsman Grill is open to the public, but requires a reservation or to be seated by a host. It operates like a table service restaurant so people can't just walk in and sit down (except.if you want to sit at the bar and there is space, that's okay.)

That said, in the summer, as a hotel guest, don't expect to be able to get a lounger by the pool. It's hard. There isn't nearly enough seating for the amount of guests there. And the massive rental cabanas take up a lot of valuable deck real estate (this is something I wish would go away). On our stay last July, we were unable to find any seating on 2 of 3 trips down to the pool. We had to put our stuff/sit on the rock wall when we weren't in the water.

 

[mlayton14]

You need a wristband to sit in the loungers or tables around the pool area proper. They do go around looking as they patrol the deck they kick people out all the time.

The GCH Craftsman Grill is open to the public, but requires a reservation or to be seated by a host. It operates like a table service restaurant so people can't just walk in and sit down (except.if you want to sit at the bat and there is space, that's okay.)

That said, in the summer, as a hotel guest, don't expect to be able to get a lounger by the pool. It's hard. There isn't nearly enough seating for the amount of guests there. And the massive rental cabanas take up a lot of valuable deck real estate (this is something I wish would go away). On our stay last July, we were unable to find any seating on 2 of 3 trips down to the pool. We had to put our stuff/sit on the rock wall when we weren't in the water.

thank you , that feedback is much more inline with what I saw in YouTube , question - when you went looking for loungers - what time of day was this ?

 

[DLgal]

thank you , that feedback is much more inline with what I saw in YouTube , question - when you went looking for loungers - what time of day was this ?

Once was around 10:30am, but that was on July 4. The other days was between 3 and 5pm. We got one lounge chair one afternoon and then 15 minutes later had to evacuate the pool deck for a fire alarm.

 

[mlayton14]

Once was around 10:30am, but that was on July 4. The other days was between 3 and 5pm. We got one lounge chair one afternoon and then 15 minutes later had to evacuate the pool deck for a fire alarm.

thank you , my takeaway is go in the morning and hope for the best

 

[DisSurfer878]

We were just there last week. I suppose someone could go through the bar and sit in a lounger and they may not notice. I didn't see anyone giving out wristbands and we cut through the pool several times to get to the DVC rooms. That said, there were tons of seats available. Unless you are planning on going in the much warmer months, I wouldn't worry about it.

They literally said they're going in August, one of the hottest months of the year.

 

[clansac]

They literally said they're going in August, one of the hottest months of the year.

Sorry I missed it since it was not capitalized and in a paragraph. Who knows how it will be handled in August... It's January. But you didn't have to be rude...

 

[Lynzer Torte]

We were there mid August last year. 5 night stay and we visited the pools daily in the afternoon. We (3 of us) never found seats right away, we had to constantly patrol for them and jump when we saw some open up. It was not fun. Also, the flagstone or whatever they use is extremely hot on your feet so be careful when walking from one pool to another or back to your seats.