Is there such a thing as an AI holiday where you don't have to get up at 6 to have a sunbed?

[Tambatamba]

Or do you have to accept that it's that or get a villa and cook for yourself. I don't like this daily scramble for sun beds. But I don't want to cook either!

There was one hotel in Greece that we went to a few years ago which had a rule that your towels would be removed if you weren't on the beds within half an hour. This worked great. There was always enough for everyone. But I don't want to go to Greece because I have a small child so looking at Spain, Minorca, Majorca etc for shorter flight time.

Anyone know of hotels like this?

...but leaving towels at 6am when there are signs everywhere saying 'leaving towels to reserve sun loungers is not allowed' is what sophisticated folk do.

I search the tripadvisor reviews for sunbeds and if anyone is complaining about them, I don't book. The last three hotels I booked were Marmaris Bay in Turkey, Steigenberger in Marsa Alam Egypt and the Royal Albatross Moderna in Sharm el Sheikh. I could wake up whenever I wanted and still get a sunbed on the beach front.

I think part of the issue is that people prefer to 'set up camp' for the day and stay in the same spot. Unless the hotel polices loungers that have been empty for more than 30mins you need to be up early to get your spot for the day. It's even more frustrating when a large group decides to reserve 8x sun beds just on the off chance that parents, kids, grandparents and Auntie Jane all happen to be lying at the pool at the same time.

We stayed at a AI hotel in Spain last year where reserving loungers wasn't allowed and was strictly enforced - after 30 minutes a ticket was left on the lounger and then after an hour all belongings were removed. If you were using a hotel towel it was €20 to get it back.

Worked perfectly - people came down, used the pool and the loungers and when they went for lunch or a nap or to play tennis they took their stuff with them. It meant that all day there were plenty of free beds, often in the prime locations.

Tip the lifeguard, towel guy, entertainment rep etc

No idea on sunbeds but just to say that Greece is perfect with little ones as the 2 hr time difference means they can stay up for dinner at adult dinner time, then go to bed 9/9.30 and you don’t get that dilemma of how to manage the evenings when they need to be in bed early.

(unless you have a magical toddler who will sleep in buggy in restaurant, but I never did)

It’s worth the slightly longer flight for this benefit IMO

We went the The Royal Son Bou Family Club in Menorca in July. Everyone was told at check in that reserving Sun loungers isn’t allowed and staff removed towels. The hotel is great for kids and the food was amazing. We were AI and would highly recommend.

Oh, I hadn't really understood the "AI" part of the post. I thought you meant just a sunbed on the hotel's beach when you're having a beach day or relaxing there for a few hours after a trip out, not the "never leave the hotel and sit next to a swimming pool" thing, not even the beach! Honestly it's way better to go to a hotel on a bed and breakfast basis and explore, eat out in nice restaurants (ideally find the less touristy ones where the locals eat so you get much nicer food and better value). I can imagine if you are staying in a massive hotel where nobody ever leaves the hotel the sunbed thing is an issue.

@TooManyClouds well my youngest will be 4 and a half and she loves walking / exploring so perhaps it is time to get out of my comfort zone. I'm autistic so I find it difficult to imagine doing something that we haven't before.