To think south of France beach clubs have ruined DH

[TeddyBearCottage]

Now he’s acting like a spoilt baby
Saying he won’t go to a normal beach and sit on a towel on the sand and he will only go somewhere he has a sunbed, a proper one

so now I’m trying to find places with beach clubs that are reasonable for this summer

any ideas ? don’t want to go to south of France again

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.

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

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..

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 -

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

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.

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?

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

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

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

Times have moved on.

A quick google of hotels in corsica with private beaches brings up this lot - some of the beaches aren't great though so you'd have to look closelyhttps://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/HotelsList-Corsica-Hotels-With-Private-Beach-zfp2963472.html

So don’t go to the south of France then!

Go to Spain, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Croatia etc etc.

Every summer, wherever we are, we have at least 1 day at a Beach club and the only places I’ve paid €100+ per bed have been Ibiza and France.

That's just free sunbeds, the actual beach club is a minimum spend, around €100 per person

I'm sorry OP I don't go to beach clubs. We don't like the beach. Last year we did one day at a northern Spanish beach in August. Paid for loungers and parasols and positioned ourselves near the restaurant for a proper lunch and regular drink breaks.

I think you need to research the good beach clubs then work backwards from there for accommodation and flights.

If you'd just started a thread asking for beach club recommendations you might have got a shorter less entertaining less vicious thread that would actually have helped you.

Presumably you spend more on a beach club and less on a fancy hotel.

Try marbella and flash resorts in sardinia. But its going to cost you.

There are places in the carribean and Mauritius that have waiter service to plush loungers. Europe does seem to go down the route of hire loungers and hopefully have some lovely beach restaurants.

Croatia not great for sandy beaches but does have nice sea-side loungers plus drinks type places. I wonder if that would be any good?

He's not talking just sunbed hire, he's talking bar, restaurant ,posh toilet etc.

Dont we only have like 4 weeks of jet fuel or something? Not sute now is the best time to book (unless insurance would fully cover you).

First thing I googled is eur 150 per guest on the amalfi coast. It depends if its cheaper to stay elsewhere. Perhaps try the hotel itself?

share.google/BAZUrxtoYQ8Iip2wf

Oh the hilton malta is fabulous and has a beach club. It isn't a sandy beach soil didn't think of it at first. From memory I think it was eur50 per guest if not staying at the hotel. I recommend just staying in the hotel!