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Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Holidays
Please help me with sun lounger etiquette!!
Ticksallboxes · 17/08/2021 13:29
I am currently on holiday in a Greek island resort with my DH and two teenage DCs. Everything is good apart from one very annoying thing that seems to take up a lot of our time. There don't seem to be enough sun loungers for the number of guests.
When we arrive at either a pool or the beach many of them already have people sitting on them, but usually about half just have a few towels on them to 'secure' them and the owners sometimes don't appear for a couple of hours, having had a long lunch/water sport activity/shag. I'd be happy to just lie on the sand or poolside grass instead, but everyone needs the parasols that come with them for shade when they get too hot.
I wouldn't have the cheek to expect to keep a sun lounger like that so I asked a lifeguard who agreed it was unfair and said to just take the towels off and use them ourselves if people don't appear, although he wouldn't get involved himself.
We did this today and a Greek couple eventually appeared and got very unreasonable that we'd taken 'their' sun loungers and ended up swearing at my DH. I'd really like to avoid another scene like this (without having to get up at silly o'clock to 'secure' one ourselves) so I wondered if any others had found a way to diplomatically deal with what is apparently a very common problem in resorts.
We don't usually go on all-inclusives so this is all new to us!
MrsArchchancellorRidcully · 17/08/2021 13:33
In france 2 years ago at 1pm the lifeguards blew their whistle and everyone was ordered back to their sunbeds. Those that just had towels on were removed for collection and the beds freed up for others.
Unless you have a system like that I'd say your only solution is do the same yourself - in Majorca I would get up early with DS (always an early riser). I would read my book and he would go for a swim and I'd save 4 towels. My efforts were rewarded with breakfast by the pool from DH when he got up.
FinallyFluid · 17/08/2021 14:51
When we were on honeymoon, the Balinese pool boys had a great system, they let people put towels out the night before and if they were not poolside by 10.00 at the very latest, the "claimed" sunbeds were moved to the back to the shade. 
Towel still intact, still the same sunbed, just in the shade.
Worked a treat.
AnnaSW1 · 17/08/2021 14:55
I just check for a while that they don't belong to anyone nearby or in the pool etc, then just take the towels off leave the towels in situ and move the sun beds somewhere else. Then the selfish idiots don't know who to be outraged at.
PegasusReturns · 17/08/2021 15:00
Everywhere I’ve stayed the pool guys have been very good at ensuring people don’t hog sun beds. Unoccupied beds have the towels removed.
itsgettingwierd · 17/08/2021 15:09
@AnnaSW1
That's genius
gogohm · 17/08/2021 15:12
In Sri Lanka the pool staff kept tight reins on this, if people started to wander back to the hotel with everything but the towel they collected the towel and reallocated, they had a no keeping your lounger policy (other than for swimming/using toilet which was the opposite direction)
Guardsman18 · 17/08/2021 15:24
@AnnaSW1 - as pp genius! Failing that you could just say that you don't understand, have they bought them and waffle on about the beds being for everyone etc, etc.
Let us know how you get on?
Ticksallboxes · 17/08/2021 16:08
@AnnaSW1 my DH did that yesterday by the pool and it did work a treat!
Finfintytint · 17/08/2021 16:12
@AnnaSW1
I’ve always done that. It’s funny watching them return and scan the whole poolside looking very puzzled.
BrieAndChilli · 17/08/2021 16:13
We went to a euro park in Italy that had a great system, you had to pay to reserve a pair of sunloungers could pay for the week, day or half day. They would then go round and attach labels to the parasol. Meant you could reserve a sun longer for the following afternoon for example if you were going out in the morning, also meant that any without a label were fair game and if did have a label and nothing on them people would use them but then get up and vacate if the people who had reserved came along.
Was a lot less stressful and you could pick on a little map which sun lingers you wanted
Welshiefluff · 17/08/2021 16:14
Clear the sunloungers and move them to a new location so the previous selfish twunt does not know who took them.
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