I would suggest getting your kids involved in making a plan for the special spots. This way, they’ll all have to come to a consensus and follow their own decision :).
Maybe you could suggest that only Read to Self and Work on Writing are allowed in these areas. That way, everyone could get a choice at least twice a week (if I’m thinking right :).

I assign my kids a day of the week and when it is their day they get first choice of where they want to sit.

My 5th graders felt that pulling name sticks from the cup was the fairest way. I have several “special chairs” (ie: lawn chairs) that they all want plus beanie baby plushies as reading buddies. Plus, sometimes I use the order of how they finish their assignments as the “first come first serve” method. I generally do not tell them that I am doing it so as to not encourage rushing, I just let it happen naturally.

I use a random pick method for my students. Either small cards or popsicle sticks work. That way children know I am not picking only a specific set of students for the favored spots. While I have space and something “special” for all of the students in the class, some items are always more popular. Random assignment works for most kids, and for those who do best in pre-assigned spots, they would be out of the mix anyway.