Pool Crashing Dilemma: Is That Stealing?

[Math Is Hard]

I've wondered if hotels would sell someone a pass to just use their pool for say a season without having a room there. I've been thinking that the one hotel with a nice pool here would be a better place to go swimming for someone like me who just wants to wade around a bit and lounge with a book next to the pool between laps.

They used to do that here. Years ago, my gym had a deal with 3 different Marriott hotels in the area and members could go and use the pool. It was really nice! I know there were some laws that changed, and I think that's why the all memberships stopped. This article talks about it:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_12556700

For the past dozen or so years, Mary Hoffmann would spend several hours a week swimming laps and walking the length of the pool at the Torrance Marriott South Bay.

A long-running program that allowed locals to pay an annual fee for use of the hotel's gym and unique indoor-outdoor pool provided Hoffmann with a perfect place for gentle physical therapy after undergoing knee and back surgeries.

"It was wonderful," the 77-year-old said. "It was just marvelous because it was also fun, and you got to know people and it was a social outlet as well."

But high costs stemming from a new state law have prompted the hotel to end the program, leaving the members, mostly elderly, mourning the loss of their de facto community center, where they could get in some sweat time, play cards and forge friendships.

"There was a whole group of people who would come and bring lunch, and they'd play bridge," said Sandra Winston, who has used the pool for about three years now. "It was a community place for seniors. There were some in their 80s."

The program's demise stems from a state law that requires health clubs to have defibrillators and full-time employee supervision. The law went into effect in 2007, and the Marriott decided last November to drop the program because of the expense, said Pam Ryan, the hotel's general manager.

It's sad, really. You know that pool meant a lot to those people. It seems like it's all a technicality - if you sell memberships, you have to call it a health club and have defibrillators and extra staff. But if the people using the pool are guests of the hotel, then nothing has to change.

 

[Phrak]

If you swim in their pool, you're stealing. However, the more drinks you have, the less egregious the fault. So 4 is better than 2, but still not enough.

So what are you saying here. Don't go swimming in someone else's pool until totally blathered?

 

[Math Is Hard]

So what are you saying here. Don't go swimming in someone else's pool until totally blathered?

Well, in Los Angeles, if you do something really bad that gets you in trouble, all you have to do is claim alcoholism and promise to check into rehab. Then all (well, most) is forgiven. Remember Mel Gibson? I think it worked for Li Lo, too.