To be annoyed at this child and family (on holiday)

Demand again the manager. If you are on a package holiday also the rep. If they are English and there with the same company the rep should be speaking to them. Lay it on thick it is harassment/assault and you will take this further if need be. Next time if in a crowded place call the kid/parent out. I’m saying if crowded as note your comments about the dad but there may be others in that crow who were also victimised.

What a horrible family. Imagine thinking this is a normal way to behave. I hope you get some success with the hotel dealing with them as they should.

Love a typo from someone highlighting a typo!!

Nope, they think it’s hilarious their kids are doing this to the op… so they should get a taster of how the op and everyone else feels because they obviously have zero self awareness.

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack such a great response, agree with all of this.

Then call the police.

Chucking water over them im retaliation completely undermines the argument that this is antisocial behaviour. It puts the OP on the same level as the antisocial family.

To be honest…. Giving the parents and kids a “proper telling off” is also likely to escalate it. If they’re the type of parents who can get abusive and aggressive then what?

You don't need to have a phobia OP to be really upset and angry with this behaviour OP. It's absolutely awful.

Personally I would be talking to the manager and saying that unless he and his staff do something about these anti social guests you will be pursuing the company for a refund. It might be an idea if other families are also finding the behaviour unacceptable to actually see if you can get a deputation together to speak to him.

I think the staff's attitude is a disgrace.

This is nothing to do with your phobia OP. Being squirted with a water pistol is completely inappropriate for anyone. You need to kick up a massive fuss with the hotel - asking for the manager, demanding a refund, 1 star review, keep going on about it until they sort this out.

And if they retaliate by pushing the OP in the water?

Best not to escalate.

I would be giving the kids a proper telling off though, as well as their parents.

Squirt sun cream in their face, ideally in their eyes and tell them they're in the sun they should expect it.

More seriously you need to make a complete nuisance of yourself to the staff. If you can come off as slightly unhinged all the better. A stream of expletives at the kids might make the parents reconsider if you should be around children.

I doubt the parents would see it as a game though when they all of a sudden find themselves victims of the water fight

Escalating the water fighting is absolutely not the thing to do in this situation. The kids will just see it as a game them and escalate it further.

This has nothing to do with the OP having booked the "wrong" sort of holiday. I'm sure she is perfectly capable of managing her phobia appropriately under normal circumstances.

These are not normal circumstances, though, because these shitty little kids and their even shittier parents are behaving in a totally antisocial manner, and the hotel staff are failing miserably to take appropriate action to protect their guests.

I am not autistic and I don't have a phobia of water either, but I would be infuriated by this behaviour which frankly amounts to harassment as they are deliberately targeting the OP.

OP, please ask to see the hotel's general manager, set out how poorly their staff have failed and insist that they address this behaviour with no further delay. Most people only get one holiday a year, and it really isn't fair to have it spoilt by selfish fuckwits who take pleasure in harassing other people.

Personally, I would also tell the parents directly just how fucking awful their parenting is and how ashamed they should be of the selfish little shits that they are raising.

Stand up, look them straight in the face and tell them not to wet you again or they’ll face the consequences of their actions. If they do it again, walk over to them calmly and push them in the pool. They need to learn. And if they don’t like water they shouldn’t be around the pool.

So probably a dick move but I would buy the biggest super squirter I could and when the kids start I would stand and direct it straight at them. I would also soak the parents on their sun loungers. Maybe a little squirt at breakfast too..

Chaotic Good. Like it 👏🏻

Also the OP might have picked the holiday to suit the rest of her family too, who might really have wanted this type of holiday, knowing that if she avoided the pool she shouldn't have had any problems (if twatty family weren't there, then she wouldn't)

^^same here

i dont think this is fair. I don't have a water phobia and go on these types of holidays but would never expect or appreciate being deliberately and repeatedly directly targeted in the way the OP clearly has.

Regardless of whether op has booked an unsuitable place or not, nobody should be subject to being deliberately annoyed by someone else’s kids while the parents just sit by and even laugh

You've never made a typo before?

Oh wait...... 🤣

I have sympathy but at the same time booking the sort of holiday where you’ll be right by your phobia daily and then to complain about it seems a tad odd.

Complain to the hotel and tell the parents that you’ll be reporting to the police if they don’t control their kids.