To think south of France beach clubs have ruined DH

Most beaches in Greece and the Islands have this set up. No, they do not have this set up.

Times have moved on.

We went to Dubrovnik last year and the hotels all had their own beach with free sun beds for guests and bar service

https://www.amanteibiza.com/
Is this the sort of thing OP?. There are a few on Ibiza but they're not cheap.

Hi OP - are you looking for a family hotel, or is this just an adults break? Also any other requirements- do you like to eat out in different places, want to do day trips etc?

Rhodes a year or so ago. Loads of beach sunbeds. Often free if you buy food or drinks. But he's being a wimp and Id go alone.

I love the Universal Aquamarin in sant Elm in Majorca- private beach and service ( you pay for this separately but not totally stupid money) and it’s pretty and small town with lots of lovely upmarket cafes

https://www.booking.com/Share-Joa13H

Ha her H would get on with my H - he’s tour managed for bands in lots of high end hotels( low end too) in citys and I think it’s totally spoilt him as to what hotel standards and resorts generally are like when actually paying for it yourself -

Plaka beach on Naxos for one. Some cost €5 or a drink (2023 price).

OP should just find a hotel with its own beach area.

Hotel Chryssi Akti on Andros had all this including waiter service etc.

Italy is probably the king of beach clubs, they’re everywhere. Ibiza has loads also. As others have said, any hotel overlooking a beach will have sunbed areas - Majorca has lots of hotels on the beach.

There are far nicer beaches on the med coast and the Adriatic, Livorno and Rimini are entry level.

Plenty of what you're looking for on Kefalonia, and sometimes they're EUR20 a day, sometimes they're free if you order food and drinks. South Coast or Antisamos.

There are plenty of beaches outside south of France where you can hire beds/umbrellas without it being as pricey as the clubs there (they are quite outrageously expensive) - it seems to me to be a South of France thing.

FWIW, I also need shade and a bed or chair - in my case I have a bad hip and can't sit comfortably on the ground, I burn really easily and I just really hate having sand all over me, like a lot of people. Having to sit on a sand-covered towel in direct boiling sun is not an enjoyable experience! To people saying OP's DH is being a man child - I would find it pretty nasty if my husband insisted on me having to do what I describe above that because he's fine with it, so why aren't I? OP's DH is entitled to say he doesn't want to be uncomfortable and maybe he used to be OK with it but as he's got older he's found he doesn't like it anymore.

Last time we were in South of France I took one for the team and sat on a free beach on a towel for a couple of hours to save us some money, having bought the cheapest parasol I could find so I didn't burn to a crisp. It was not fun but the kids were happy and it saved us about 150 euro by me enduring it.

It's not like there's zero options between pricey beach clubs and just rawdogging it with a towel. I've been to beaches in Croatia and Spain that have seat/shade options without being as massively expensive as beach clubs.

Bit out there, but there were some fabulous beach clubs in Varna, Bulgaria when I was there. V cheap, full service, open till the early hours (clubs at night). Probably not as "fancy" as the South of France, but the Black Sea is nice to swim in.

Sounds like you can afford to spend €800 a day on sun beds that us mere mortals wouldn’t even begin to fathom but there are lots of lovely beaches in Europe with cute bars or restaurants that put proper sun beds with thick cushions and parasols that are free to use on a section of the beach and serve food and drinks to your sunbed. You can also use their clean toilets. It is expected you spend money with them of course.

I went to Lesvos in Greece and the sandy beach at Anaxos was lovely and had all of the above. We stayed in the Alma Hotel between Anaxos and Petra which was great and up on a cliff with amazing views. Petra is lovely for restaurants but I didn’t like the beach as much as Anaxos.

I've seen beach clubs all over, some nicer than others. The ones in kalkan were beautiful

I like my comfort too. This year have booked a beachfront apartment. So can lie on own balcony. I do have a few flights of stairs between me and sea, but can 'rough it' on the sand briefly. Back to balcony for drinks. Its so close I can let the kids swim and watch from there

That’s pretty rude.

I come from the most “weird flex” place in the world - California, where people try to outdo one another every fifteen minutes.

@TeddyBearCottage is asking for suggestions in the UK.

There’s no need to get snippy over that..

Why would you not just stay at a beach club? Some have hotels, I would suggest Rhodes, or Livorno or Rimini in Italy?

I think this is just the standard for any 4/5 star hotel in Europe with beach access. They usually have sun loungers for guests or that you can pay a day charge.

Can you please divorce him and send him over to me. We’re a perfect fit.

Malta a lot of the hotels have them

Me too. Then you see it’s a three word username…. They keep popping up constantly

Get your husband down off the roof and tell him to ask Chat GPT.

Most beaches in Greece and the islands have this set up. Prices vary tho. We were in Halkidiki last year, sunbeds free as long as you bought a drink - padded beds, with a bar and clean toulets

I am considering Albania as I have an Albanian colleague. She showed me pics of some beautiful beaches her family go
to when they visit. Reasonable prices too.

Torquay