ON A holiday to Turkey this summer, I finally witnessed the 7am battle to secure sun loungers by the hotel pool – although it wasn’t the early morning seat-savers that really made my blood boil.
I noticed a new tacky trend that affects Brits staying at holiday resorts and it’s totally uncalled for.
After breakfast at our resort, I headed down to the pool at 9am, only to discover all of the beds had already been reserved.
There were hundreds and hundreds of empty loungers, all covered with towels.
Even though it was still early in the morning, it was almost impossible to secure loungers together, even though we were a group of only two adults and one child.
This is nothing new; for years, social media has been full of videos showing grown adults racing around the pool to nab a spot when the gates open.
But my issue isn’t really with the keen beans (early bird catches the worm and all that), it’s actually with the parents who reserve the loungers for their kids.
Because 99% of the time, those loungers are empty.
In a hotel like mine, which had seven pools, waterslides, kids’ clubs and sports activities, it was rare to spot a child relaxing on a sun bed.
Which meant that hundreds of loungers around each pool were empty all the time. Whether it was 9am, 11am, 1pm or 4pm.
That was quite infuriating in a 45C heat, when I was looking for a spot of shade for my 67-year-old mum.
Some families of up to eight people had bagged whole rows, then left them empty for the entire day.
If each parent had simply reserved what they needed, there would have been around 200 loungers minimum going free, at even the busiest times of the day.
Laura Windsor , known as the Queen of Etiquette, believes no one should be saving sun loungers for others.
She said: “It’s similar to letting your friends jump the queue and is something one would do at school. It was annoying then, it’s annoying now.
“You are all grown up now; there is no excuse. It also shows that you need to exercise some respect towards others and yourself.”
Etiquette expert William Hanson goes even further – he suggests that if you leave your sun lounger for longer than 30 minutes, then it’s not right to hog it.
He told The Sun: “In the morning, at the start of the day, and you’re by the pool after breakfast, then it’s fine at 8.30 to put your towel on the bed to reserve your spot .
“But later on in the day, after you’ve used the lounger, and go off for a massage, for example, which is going to be an hour, then you can’t use a towel to reserve the sun lounger.”
You are all grown up now; there is no excuse. It also shows that you need to exercise some respect towards others and yourself.
Laura Windsor etiquette coach
If you’re grabbing some grub at lunchtime, William said holidaymakers are allowed to eat at the hotel bar or restaurant provided you’re not gone longer than 30 minutes, arguing: “It also gives your towel time to dry off.”
“However, you can’t hog the sun lounger for the entire day.”
And it’s not only the Europe mob who are selfishly taking up all the beds. Sun writer Helen Wright witnessed similar behaviour taking place at Butlin’s this summer .
She revealed: “There are novelty deckchairs in the large splash park and people had loaded up the seats with their bags and towels.
“We were there for three hours and I don’t recall anyone sitting there”.
Seven of my favourite tricks for making holidays with kids easier
AS A travel writer, I take my six year old on trips abroad as a solo parent on a regular basis – these are some of my best tried-and-tested ways to make the journeys pain-free.
- Giving my child control over his own suitcase. As bizarre as this sounds, my son has been tasked with wheeling his own suitcase from age 5. This gives him grown up responsibility (which he loves) and also means I’m not juggling all the luggage on my own.
- Ziplock bags. I have several 3 gallon Ziploc bags that I pack into a rucksack on every flight. Ipad and headphones in one, snacks in another, tech-free toys in another, a spare pair of clothes in a fourth, and then finally, a final bag with my own items in it. This means I can easily take everything out as soon as we reach our plane seat, and save ages rummaging.
- I always have paper and pen with me. I can get through at least an hour of flight delays / restaurant meals with a load of A4 paper and a pen. Paper aeroplanes, Hangman, Guess the Picture… the possibilities are endless.
- Speaking of restaurant meals, if I’m staying at a hotel with a buffet, always make some sandwiches and take some fruit for lunch. Children often struggle with three big sit-down lunches a day, and this way we can find an interesting picnic spot – we’ve eaten cheese rolls in the woods on the side of a ski run before.
- Get my kid interested in chess. I am aware of how pretentious this sounds, but my son learned chess last year (so then I did too) and we now spend a good 30 minutes playing at many evening meals at restaurants.
- Buy a Lego magazine before I reach the airport. This is a minor one, but airport prices are astronomical for magazines. So I by one with my Tesco shop the week before we go and save a couple of quid.
- Use Sun Bum sunscreen This is pricey at around £15 a bottle, but it’s easy to spray on and smells like Hubba Bubba bubblegum, so I have far less battles over applying sunscreen than I used to.
So many people these days seem to think their holiday or experience is more important than anyone elses.
We’re all here for a rest and a relaxing time, yet these selfish sunbed snatchers are oblivious to the fact their behaviour is impacting on other famliles.
If people were less self-serving, there would be room for everyone and no reason for the 9am sunlounger scrum.
Then we could all have a stress-free stay.
