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Original poster

Holiday pool lounger etiquette - who’s right?

109 replies

BlueyTuesdays · 20/10/2024 16:33

Intrigued what people think on this one.

On holiday abroad somewhere hot and sunny last week. Hotel pool had (not enough) loungers, pool towels were available at the pool and given out as you arrive.

YANBU : if you are vacating your lounger for whatever reason - going for a swim, a walk, the loo, a very long lunch (another issue maybe) then you need to leave something on your lounger as well as the hotel pool towel that says it’s still in use. Your book, your own towel, a pair of sunglasses, your bag, your shoes next to the lounger. Anything.

YABU - leaving the hotel issue towel and nothing else is sufficient to keep your lounger held for your use whilst you’re away from it.

TL:DR I took a lounger (no others obviously available) that had only a hotel towel on it and 2 hours later a cross man turned up and demanded his lounger back - was IBU?

OP posts:
CatamaranViper · 20/10/2024 16:49

A towel indicates the lounger has been claimed but there definitely should be a cut off point for how someone can claim a lounger and not use it.

I would probably ask the hotel what their policy is.

WhitneyBaby · 20/10/2024 16:43

YABU, a towel means a sunlounger is taken, I’m not saying it’s right, it’s just the way it is.

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 20/10/2024 16:42

I don’t think that reserving loungers is ok for more than 10 minutes. There probably would be enough if everyone stopped being so greedy.

Confusedmermaid1 · 20/10/2024 16:42

In this situation I would leave a personal item if I was leaving the lounger/pool area e.g if I needed something from my room because people tend not to put the hotel pool towels away when they leave a lounger permanently so you can’t always tell 😬 YWNBU in this situation in my opinion, especially if no other free loungers

Lanzarotelady · 20/10/2024 16:40

This is why we now do villa's with private terraces

However in a hotel, you should be able to leave and have lunch, up to an hour? 90 mins max. It boils my piss that people reserve first thing pop down for 30 mins then go somewhere else!
Best hotel we went to was in Lanzarote, you left your sunbed unattended in a morning and the lifeguard took all your stuff off!

Changingplace · 20/10/2024 16:40

I think some people would assume a hotel towel means it’s taken but irrelevant of what’s been left if you’re going off for two hours you shouldn’t expect to keep a lounger, you weren’t wrong to take it.

Budgiegirlbob · 20/10/2024 16:37

While it’s a pain that people reserve loungers for two hours (and I wish hotels wouldn’t allow this) I would assume that if there’s a hotel towel on a lounger, then it’s reserved. Unless it’s really late in the day, then I might think someone had just left it there instead of putting it in the towel bin.

Talipesmum · 20/10/2024 16:36

I’m of the opinion that being away from a lounger for more than, say, 30 minutes, means it should be free for others to use. But I don’t have a lot of experience of pool lounger etiquette.
I also think that if it’s just the pool towel, which would naturally get left behind in the pool area, that would suggest it’s possibly an abandoned lounger.

TeenToTwenties · 20/10/2024 16:36

You shouldn't keep a lounger when not on it unless in pool or grabbing a coffee / toilet for 5-10mins max.