Towels on sunloungers- scourge of the holiday

[Kiddiewinks2008]

I'm on holiday in france and theres a lovely pool with lots of sunloungers but always very busy.
Theres this one british family that go up there in the morning, take posession of 3 loungers and leave their towels there all day. We went up the other day & had to sit on the floor as there were none available but said family had gone off for lunch & came back 1 hour later leaving towels on loungers. I have been watching them and they do it every day. The day we had to sit on the floor, I moved one of their towels & took posession of one of their 3 loungers and when they came back the man complained as now they only had 2!
Aibu to think that this is just not reasonable behaviour?
(I am being slightly tongue in cheek with my post but I do think they are selfish twats!)

When I was in Egypt I paid the pool boy to reserve loungers for me so I didn't have to get up early!

What hotels in Majorca?

That's a great idea stars

Which line was that stars?

I have just got off a p and o cruise and most passengers took it upon themselves to move things left too long

I think all of the top six hotels in Playa Palma or was it Palma nova? Something with Palma in it.

What resort would you recommend in Majorca btw? I want to be closeish to Palma for sightseeing but near a beach.

PikachuSayBoo You say that like it's something to be proud of...?

It was P&O too! People did still try and reserve them early but at least they were doing something about it.

I'm going to Santa Ponca

I hope p and o roll that out to all ships then!

I can't stand this. Last year on holiday they opened the pool at nine and people were sprinting to their favourite beds. One man fell in his haste.

There was fisticuffs over a parasol. Also the same family that reserved a whole row and went out all day.

I am off to Spain next week and not looking forward to all these shenanigans.

Problem is that you don't know if someone is going to be back in 5 minutes or 5 hours. I suppose if they did come back having just been for a swim, lunch or popped back to their room, you could apologise and move on to another unoccupied bed?

Reserving loungers on the way to breakfast- I'd prefer not to, but if it's the only way I can get a nice spot I'll do it

Leaving towels on loungers for an hour while you go for lunch- totally fine

Moving someone else's stuff when it's obvious they're coming back- unpleasantly self-righteous

Moving your lounger so close to a stranger's that they can smell you, because they got to "your" spot first- hang the bastards

How do you tell from an abandoned towel whether someone is coming back any time soon, especially if you didn't see who put it there?

Oh, my word! Those videos are extraordinary - and strangely fascinating!!

It is beyond my understanding why anyone would actually choose to spend their holiday in this way. What a terrible waste of time, when there must surely be lots of other, more interesting, things to do and see! How utterly bizarre.

We found a new balance this year in France.
Late breakfast and market or games with the kids then down to the pool around 1 when most of the French have gone for lunch and not only got loungers every time but a nice quiet pool.
On our campsite there was not much reserving going on but I do think I'd carefully move a towel after around an hour rather than sit on the concrete
Another thing that bugs me is entire families with sun beds even for toddlers. Fine if there are plenty but Not while other people have nowhere to sit or lie

I noticed a really selfish thing last year - 2 people taking 2 beds and a chair, the extra chair to sit up and have a read or to dry wet towels and hold all their stuff. Will never go to that type of accommodation again.

We've always thought this obsession with reserving sun loungers weird.

Since we started going to 'decent' (4*) hotels round the Med about 7 or 8 years ago, we've always read there is a problem getting a lounger, but in reality never actually had much of a problem.

We might stroll down to the pool after a leisurely breakfast and can always find a few beds free. Maybe not pool-side, but we're not fussy. Alternatively if we go out in the morning and come back later in the afternoon, again, we always find something. Might have to move a few beds if we want to be together but not a big issue. It's far easier that rushing down at some unearthly hour.

As was mentioned up-thread, we also once found a hotel which allocated you a sunbed at the start of the week and which remained yours throughout. It did mean you couldn't choose the prime spot, but as long as there was some shade available, it suited us. It was a small/medium sized Italian hotel rather than an absolutely massive place.

My friend was a holiday rep at a 5* hotel in Spain and she said the behaviour of some of the British guests over lounger-saving was atrocious. She told me that for one two week period she got shouted and sworn at every day because they would put their towels out early, go out for the day, then come back at 4pm to find the hotel had removed them. Oddly, it wasn't even families - she said that without exception, it was older, middle-class couples who were the worst.

I do wish the hotels would have more umbrellas though.

How do you tell if someone's coming back?

Usually Ime it's by what's left there!

I dump suncream, books, lilos, towels etc on way to breakfast. We usually sit by the pool for a bit first.

Then there are the sun beds where 6 in a row are reserved by draping 2/3 towels sideways across the beds and nothing else is there which indicates they are actually being used. Just they are being reserved.

Where we were in Mallorca earlier this year people were taking plastic chairs to sit and reserve the place they wanted their sunbed to be!

We don't join in but it's so counterproductive as most places I've been there would be enough sunbeds for everyone who wanted them at any one time if people weren't reserving them.

We watched one guy reserve loungers by the edge of a pool and the ones in the pool this year. They used to lie on the ones at the edge of the pool in the shade and move to the ones in the pool for half an hour at a time. The morning after we watched him reserve 8 beds both at the edge of the pool and in it. This was a 5* hotel in Mexico. Some guests had their consierge go down and reserve their beds the night before and I was always at this by day 3 we were doing the same It was lovely to have our names on our chosen loungers.

This is why we go to the beach :-)

Not much of a queue for sun loungers where I was on holiday last week. In fact, we had our pick of spots, whenever we were there. Our apartment overlooked the sea, was walking distance to shops, pubs and restaurants.

To be fair, the parasols could have doubled as umbrellas though. We were in Tenby, Pembrokeshire (and I want to go back NOW.)