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AIBU?

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Original poster

5 star holiday resort would your kids toys to get taken

111 replies

pinkhipposgoswimming · 07/06/2022 13:13

We've never been on holiday before since having the DC. I have a 2, a 3 and a 5 year old, and after much saving we went away for half term to a nice sunny country and stayed in a 5 star all inclusive. Took a few toys with us and purchased beach buckets in various shops at extortionate prices.

Toddlers mainly liked taking things into the pool. But so many things went missing. At the end of each day the pools were all cleared, stuff fished out and the various inflatables and toys are piled up in one area of forgotten stuff. Only on one occasion did something turn up. On the last day I saw someone put a load of what I was 99% sure was our stuff in their pushchair. The thing is it was one of the sets of things purchased there so I couldn't be sure. Should I have challenged them ? Do people in 5 stars hotels steal children's pool toys deliberately? We lost 12 items in a week.

Is it just stuff being misplaced or borrowed? I can't stop other children playing with my DC's toys and with 3 to keep and eye on in a pool its impossible to manage that. Just as my DC played with others stuff.

OP posts:
Ponoka7 · 07/06/2022 13:17

You're expected to look after your own stuff and unfortunately it will go 'missing' if you don't take it back in after being used. I've put stuff outside in my fenced off area, to dry, trainers, clothing etc and it's been taken.

torquewench · 07/06/2022 13:19

Why aren't you looking after your stuff? Confused

Iwantmyoldnameback · 07/06/2022 13:19

A lot of people leave stuff for others when they leave, maybe that's what they assumed your stuff was.
I dont think being 5 star would make any difference to be honest.

underneaththeash · 07/06/2022 13:22

Just write your name on it. I think people sometimes assume pool/beach toys belong to the hotel.

Keyboardist · 07/06/2022 13:22

I rarely take anything to hotels. Sooo much stuff is left behind that I just ask the reps on the first day if there are any buckets/inflatables/parasols that I can use and they always say yes. We use the stuff for a week and then return it and if we lose it to others it doesn't matter as it isn't ours.

If other kids are playing with the stuff you have bought then you should have said you needed it back. The parents probably assumed the toys they were playing with were leftovers

yetanothernamechange90 · 07/06/2022 13:24

When I take my DC away abroad, we buy cheap pool/beach type toys while away and then mostly leave it al there. If it gets taken then so be it, as long as mine have had a good play with it all. All the kids play with other kids toys anyways, we have budgeted for it (£20 ish maybe) and it was mostly chap plastic stuff that was never going to last. If you dont want to lose it all then need to keep a good eye on it. It hard when all the kids are playing with each others toys

Original poster
pinkhipposgoswimming · 07/06/2022 13:27

torquewench · 07/06/2022 13:19

Why aren't you looking after your stuff? Confused

So a 2 year old is in the pool alongside my 2 year old and they pick up our bucket. Should I have snatched if it off them saying MINE immediately? Im not talking about them using it or thinking it belongs to the hotel, I'm talking about it then vanishing from the pool area completely. I've never taken something that didn't belong to me.

OP posts:
abricotine · 07/06/2022 13:28

I don't get it OP - surely with kids that age you are watching them like a hawk anyway. If other kids ask to borrow our stuff I always say you are welcome to play with it here near us but please don't take it to the far side of the pool etc. Have lost the odd small plastic toy etc but mainly we have taken the same stuff year on year!

legalseagull · 07/06/2022 13:29

Kids tend to pick up and use other kids toys. It's up to the parents to keep an eye on who has what and then say "can I please get that back" when it's wanted / you're leaving.

I don't mind other kids using my toddlers stuff on holiday / the beach where we live. I just keep track of it and get it back.

I would never dream of leaving with something that wasn't our though

BarbaraofSeville · 07/06/2022 13:29

Why didn't you take the toys back to your room? Why did you keep buying new when it kept disappearing?

But then there's a huge problem with pool toys, inflatables etc because so many people buy them while on holiday and leave them behind and they get thrown away or end up polluting the sea.

Maybe hotels should put out communal toys for everyone to use over and over again, but then they probably wouldn't make so much money from people buying the items from then.

Lipsandlashes · 07/06/2022 13:30

Why were you allowing the toys to pile up in the pool until the end of the day? You take something into the pool and when you get out you bring it out with you. It is incredibly antisocial to leave pool floats and toys laying about.
Are you really surprised that they became mixed up with other people's things? Did you expect the staff not clean up at the end of each day?

Twizbe · 07/06/2022 13:30

I still don't get it.

Last time we did a pool holiday DS was 18 months. He had some toys in the pool that he shared in the pool but when we left, we took them with us.

We didn't leave them in the pool after we'd done for the day.

knittingaddict · 07/06/2022 13:30

You can get pens that write on any surface. Do that next time.

It really is on you to keep an eye on your own stuff and the star rating of your resort is irrelevant. Did you think that it would have a superior sort of clientele who would be too posh to take your toys?

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 07/06/2022 13:34

Of course the advice given here is to snatch toys back off a 2yo Hmm

You just keep an eye on your stuff and ask for it back after a while (so that your own dc can play with it or because you want to pack it away).

If you are buying identical stuff to everyone else in the resort and not marking it then is it any wonder if someone thinks it's spare/theirs?

Original poster
pinkhipposgoswimming · 07/06/2022 13:38

I didn't leave them all bobbing about until the end of the day 😂 I'm saying when stuff disappeared during the our time in pool I checked back at the lost property pile after dinner. Only once was our missing item there.

I don't know maybe there's a really clogged up pool filter somewhere or people just steal kids stuff, which makes me really sad 😬

OP posts:
2bazookas · 07/06/2022 13:39

Why didn't you clear up your kids toys when they left for the day? Adults want to use the pool too, especially in evenings when the screaming toddlers are in bed.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 07/06/2022 13:40

Very weird OP, You left toys at the pool and expected them to be waiting for you day after day? Maybe I’m misunderstanding what happened. Why wouldn’t you collect all your toys at the end of the day? Yes even if other children were playing with them. You grab another random unclaimed toy floating around and trade them for it or find their parents.

but as you said you couldn’t even tell which were yours and which belonged to others.

SkankingWombat · 07/06/2022 13:40

We always find people help themselves to the dive sticks and hoops we bring to the pool both at our local leisure centre and on holiday, despite being kept in a little string bag right on the pool edge, us swimming right next to them, and everything being very clearly labelled. I've found the best way to deal with it is to approach the adult with the child and explain I am happy for them to use my DCs toys, but can they please return them to our bag once done as my DCs will be very upset if they go missing. There is no misunderstanding then, plus potentially-CF family now know you know they had them so less likely to 'accidently' take them home. They usually act surprised and say they thought they were owned by the pool ignoring my surname Sharpie-d across them in big letters .

Hallyup89 · 07/06/2022 13:41

Surely, to be able to afford to stay in a 5-star, all-inclusive resort, you must have at least an ounce of intelligence and be able to realise that you need to take your stuff with you and look after it when you get out of the pool?

I genuinely wonder how some people have managed to make it this far through life.

Original poster
pinkhipposgoswimming · 07/06/2022 13:41

@knittingaddict having not been away with Dc before I just hadn't considered it really. I wouldn't leave my phone or wallet out at a 5 star, but I didn't expect anyone to steal from our Dc

OP posts:
bigbluebus · 07/06/2022 13:44

A random 2 year old isn't in the pool alone. You can share if you want to and they are nearby but if they are moving away to another part of the pool or you are getting out then you ask for it back. Simples. It's not your job to provide toys to entertain random holiday makers and children need to learn they have to give thi gs back even at 2 (their parent's job,)

Keyboardist · 07/06/2022 13:44

If you've spent the majority of the day at the pool and let an unknown child play with a toy for the majority of the time then the parent probably assumed it didn't belong to anyone which is why they took it.

On your next holiday take the opportunity to pack toys away when they aren't being played with and ask children to return things.

5* star doesn't mean children only playing with their own toys and parents being honest.

Ducksurprise · 07/06/2022 13:45

I see this on fb Hotel pages all the time. Firstly people saying we are going home help yourself to stuff around the kids pool etc, and then others saying the hotel is full of thieves.

I've not known toys that are on a sunbed with a towel etc go missing. Toys that are left mid play do.

Ducksinthebath · 07/06/2022 13:46

pinkhipposgoswimming · 07/06/2022 13:27

So a 2 year old is in the pool alongside my 2 year old and they pick up our bucket. Should I have snatched if it off them saying MINE immediately? Im not talking about them using it or thinking it belongs to the hotel, I'm talking about it then vanishing from the pool area completely. I've never taken something that didn't belong to me.

Show quote history

I don't think anyone said it should be "snatched" back so you're being very over the top. But yes, you should be keeping an eye on your own family's things and if need gently asking for it back or recovering when the child also playing loses interest.

MassiveSalad22 · 07/06/2022 13:46

So a 2 year old is in the pool alongside my 2 year old and they pick up our bucket. Should I have snatched if it off them saying MINE immediately?

Er no. You say ‘oh we’re leaving now/we were just playing with that, please can we have it back?’. Teaches the kids to ask nicely too, when you ask them nicely, and thus society will flourish 😄 lead by example and all.