Best outdoor lounge chairs

Why poolside is the hard case

A lounger beside a pool gets a combination of stresses that nothing else on a patio experiences at the same time: chlorinated water splashing onto the frame and feet repeatedly, surfaces that stay wet for hours, full sun with no shade by definition, and sunscreen residue on every fabric surface.

Chlorinated water is chemically aggressive toward coated steel in particular. It lands on exactly the parts already sitting in water — feet, lower frame, fastener points — and it accelerates corrosion at every coating breach. A steel-framed lounger beside a pool is a short-lived object.

HDPE is simply indifferent to all of it. So is aluminum, provided the fasteners are stainless — and near a pool, as near the coast, grade 316 is worth seeking out because chloride is chloride.

Cushion or no cushion

This is the real decision in the category, and it is not obvious.

For a pool, the cushionless answer is usually right: a contoured HDPE chaise is comfortable enough, dries instantly, wipes clean of sunscreen and needs nothing done to it. For a shaded deck where the lounger is used for reading rather than sunbathing, a cushion is worth it — and if you go that way, solution-dyed acrylic is the fabric that survives full sun.

Adjustability and wheels

Two mechanical features that genuinely change how a lounger gets used:

• Back adjustment. Multi-position backs are worth having — flat for sunbathing, upright for reading. The mechanism is also the only moving part on most loungers, so look for something simple: a notched bar or a ratchet with no springs or cables.
• Wheels. Underrated. A heavy lounger without wheels gets positioned once and never moved, which means it never follows the sun or gets pulled into shade. Wheels on a heavy HDPE chaise turn an immovable object into a usable one, and most poly lumber ranges include them.

Stacking is the third option and a different trade: stackable resin loungers store in a fraction of the space but are light enough to move in wind and have no adjustment mechanism to speak of.

Sizing and spacing

Loungers are long, and people consistently underestimate how much space a pair needs.

• Allow generous length. A full-size chaise plus reclined legroom needs more than the listed dimension suggests.
• Leave a walking path. Two loungers side by side with a side table between them need clear circulation space behind, or the pool deck becomes an obstacle course.
• Think about shade. A lounger in permanent full sun gets used less than you imagine, especially after the first few weeks of summer. Our umbrella picks are worth reading alongside this page.
• Match the height to the surroundings. A very low lounger beside a raised pool coping is awkward to get in and out of.