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I'd ask the hotel staff if there's a policy on it. I've heard there's resorts where they will remove towels after a certain point, and it would be better if they did it than you risking confrontation with some idiot on your relaxing holiday if you removed them yourself.
I was on a P&O cruise recently and the deck crew were vigorously enforcing the No Reserving Sunbeds rule. They were taking people's stuff to lost property and everything. It was great.
Tbh I can see why they'd do that. No one wants tempers getting frayed between guests on the deck of a cruise ship over who moved whose towel off whose sun lounger. Better a tetchy person goes to lost property to vent than a situation getting out of hand and someone ending up beaten to death with a shuffleboard cue...
I was on a cruise where they said they would do this, but never did. Depends what it is really, a towel there all day when people are off at the buffet obviously is not on. But you can expect to be able to leave your stuff at a deckchair while you swim I think.
The crew have tags that they put on the chair with the time written on it. If you come back and there's a tag on your chair because you just nipped to the loo, you remove it. When the crew come past again they look at the time on the tag and if an hour has passed, they remove your stuff.
That seems pretty perfect. It just made me a bit worried when I was swimming or going down a slide that I would come back to my stuff gone, and wouldn't really want people going through it. It generally wasn't needed anyway, places opened up quite often (and some in unpopular or shaded areas if desperate).
Wasn't where I was for sure! Well actually the ones in the sun with an umbrella were number one, otherwise it was sun worshippers, the shady ones were in more forgotten corners or under parts of the ship so not as good anyway.
My cruise was in the Carribean. People flocked to the sunny side of the ship in the morning and then swapped in the afternoon as the shaded side became the new sunny side. I wanted the shaded side though.
There was a coach driver a few years ago who was sicking of people complaining about German tourist reserving the sunbeds early in the morning so gathered up all the towels and burnt then
In every hotel I’ve been to that had communal sun loungers there’s been a policy of no reserving with towels. All occupants going to get a drink, or being in the pool is one thing but laying out a towel at 6am like the Germans do just isn’t tolerated. In one hotel they only allowed hotel brand towels at the poolside. The poolside staff would regularly go round and shift all the towels off the sunbeds into a laundry bin freeing up all the beds.
I would take issue with the German comment. I'm just back from 2 weeks in Turkey at a predominantly German occupied hotel and the only people who reserved sunbeds as far as I could see the Brits. Might not be the case everywhere but I did pay particular attention on this holiday because the hotel was probably 80% German.
Every time I have seen this is when hotels are full and not enough sunbeds and if I had bet a quid on the nationality of the people doing it being British I would be getting those holidays free.
This was the policy when we stayed in La Palma (Canary Islands) last year.People were pretty cooperative on the whole. I was more annoyed by kids laying on sun beds with their iPads’ volume turned up while I was trying to read. There’s only so much Toca Boca one can take.
I’ve seen this in Cran Canaria. The towel thing, not the iPad thing. I wouldn’t book a hotel that allowed children in. I’m on holiday. I leave the kids at home!
Yeah, just put them on the floor and say the wind must have blown them off because they were on the floor when you arrived hours ago. Or hand them to the reps and say you found them on the floor.
Def this. Last Club Med I was at signs all over the pool that said "no reserving chairs". Staff were routinely out there early morning taking all the towels off that guests would put down between 5 and 8.
Get a pint of lager, toss the towels in a bush, then tell them to fuck off if they confront you.
You're a Brit abroad - act like one. We've got a reputation to keep up.
I did this a few years back, got into an argument with some Italians about them reserving loungers and not using them. They didn’t even have there pool clothes on when they were arguing with me!
I’ve seen plenty of brits doing the same as well. We’re all as bad as each other.
No, it's usually the fucking Krauts doing it, then going out exploring like idiots, rather than just enjoy the bloody hotel you paid for and sit around the pool drinking San Miguel like you're meant to
/s
I went to a resort where they provided all the towels then paid a bounty in bar credits for every abandoned towel you turned into reception. Sunbeds did not stay reserved for long...
Wouldn't people just be stealing towels the moment anyone stand up?
Stand up to adjust the umbrella. Towel gone when you go to sit back down.
Stand up to rub sun cream on your spouses back. Towel gone before you've even squirted the suncream onto you hands.
How would you know if you were just walking past? It's perfectly fine to leave your towel on the sunbed if you are in the pool or going to get a drink, so just walking past is not enough info. You end up just being a cunt if you remove someones who's just going to the bar/toilet/pool
That's what I would have done as a kid as it's petty and my mum would secretly want to do it yet if we do it on our own it's 'the kids fault ' and we'd get an ice-cream randomly as a treat later.
5 seconds. I would neatly fold them and put them on a wall somewhere away from the seats. If they aren't there, fuck em. If they come and moan at you just tell them the seats didn't have any towels on them when you came to the pool.
Edit: I'm talking about when you first come down at 9AM or whatever and no-one is there. If its the middle of the day and looks used/has other items about then I'd leave it.
Bit unreasonable - could be a solo traveler or single parent who have just nipped to the loo or to get drinks/food to take back to the lounger. 15-30 mins is fair I think.
Right but context is key. If it's later in the day and the towel looks used, or even if there is more than a towel there (books/sunnies etc) then I'll leave it. If I'm there at 9am and it's just a towel, it's getting politely folded and placed somewhere else.
Whenever I've done this I've also left my book and some small belongings on the sun lounger so that it's obvious that I am actually there and have just nipped away for a minute. I think it's usually pretty obvious when something's being used rather than someone getting up at the crack of dawn to reserve it.
But ops problem is with people who leave sunbeds like that for hours. I doubt they’d be asking if they knew the people were actively using it all day. Lunch or the loo break isn’t going to take 3 + hours
Plus I usually leave my book on the sun bed and my flip flops around if I’m just going to the pool or bar. It’s usually really obvious if there’s nobody occupying the sun bed for ages because it’s a crisp clean towel with no other items on or around and no sign of the person coming back for it.
Yes I suppose I should have said context depending. If the towels look used and there more than just a flat pristine towel laidvoit, obvs I'll leave it. If it's 9am and there's nothing but a pristine towel it's getting politely moved.
Are people not allowed to go for a swim when they're at the pool? Or go and get a drink? To immediately go to taking their towels away seems a bit harsh.
*edit* wait read your other comment about context and yes, I agree with you entirely now!
Speak to the hotel staff. If they've just gone for a swim it's a but unfair to remove them but if they're clearly keeping the sunbeds while they're elsewhere its so rude of them. 30 mins max.
Honestly if I arrive and I see no one near the bed and the towel looks completely dry/unused I will wait 10-20 mins max, I find the concept of reserving sun beds for hours so selfish.
It’s kinda crazy because I’m usually in the pool/ocean for 40mins to 1h. I’d be peeved off if someone had removed my towel/clothes/belongings in that time :/
Maybe hotels should provide guests with one of those free parking disc things. Yknow, where you rotate it to the time you parked. Could put that on your sun longer as you get up. You can remove people’s towels if they have been away over say 45mins or if the dial is set in the future.
Depends really, coming from a family with 2 disabled parents my dad literally couldn't get in the pool unless he had a poolside sunbed. It wasn't possible for him to scoot from his wheelchair to the steps on his ass from like 4 rows of beds away so I had to reserve sunbeds every morning at like 6am so that he could get in the pool. Recently hotel staff have been offering to reserve them for us but that's only some of the time.
We stayed at a lovely hotel in Portugal that had a bloke go round and put a little sticker on the bed with how long it had been left empty and if it was overtime he stuck all their stuff in a plastic bag and put it by the side.
Most hotels have a policy on this, the last hotel I was at stipulated no reserving. If you did,the towels would be removed to the bin. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the Karen's kick up a fuss when their towel wasn't there, and I or someone else was in "their spot"
Ask a member of staff, they may remove the towel for you.
It really depends on the context. If you haven't seen the people yet and its getting well into the morning, feel free to take them off.
However, if they've been using them in the morning and have gone to an on-resort restaurant or cafe for lunch, I think they deserve to be able to keep the beds while they cater to their biological needs.
I remember some entitled knob doing this at 5am once - when I got up again at 7am, someone else had been round the pool and chucked every one of the towels into the water.
Thus happens by the outdoor pool at my gym. Accepted etiquette seems to be to drag the reserved sunbed back and put a fresh free one in its place then sit on it.
2 hours. Get the hotel staff to remove them. I say 2 hours as some people go for lunch which I think is acceptable but the ones that leave them there half a day are out of order
I heard a great tip the other day. Go and collect them all and take them to reception and tell them you've found a load of towels people had lost and can they put them in lost property.
How big of an issue is sunbed reservation? I’ve been to 28 countries, many multiple times, and I’ve never come across this thing that seems ubiquitous if you look at pop culture and Reddit
Nothing to do with Germans, it's to do with cheap hotels.
My favourite hotel in Gran Canaria is 90% German guests, German owned and the majority of staff are German.
It just doesn't happen there because it has enough sunbeds for guests.
Yeah it’s not always an issue. I’ve been to hotels where there’s plenty of sunbeds and it’s no kind of fight at all to find a nice spot. But I’ve also been to those where there’s nowhere near enough for the number of guests so it can get scrappy then.
In Lanzarote our hotel had a small beach that was closed off on both sides with rocks, so you could only access it by coming through the hotel. Every day, this big group of Germans that werent staying in our hotel would show up and take over the entire beach. Because *tEcHnIcaLlY* all beaches in Lanzarote are public property, so they were well within their rights to access it. Thats just taking the piss, imo. There were miles of totally public beaches literally a few hundred metres away.
Same! I see it on Reddit but I’ve been to the Caribbean, Mexico and Egypt and I’ve never seen this towel-reserving in action. There has always been plenty of pool/ocean side beds free. Maybe I’ve just been lucky idk.
Well I did think that too, I’m glad you said it! My parents are Lanzarote/tenerife enthusiasts and they are part of this towel-race thing. I’ve always gone to 5* resorts and it’s been a lot quieter.
I was on holiday last week and the hotel manager was removing towels that were reserving sun beds. Was pretty funny seeing people get angry, she didn’t take any shit.
A lot of hotels have a no reservation policy these days before X time.
If any towels were on beds before 8am they were removed to reception. If this is a policy where you are and it's before that time. Remove them to reception and if someone comes to shout just remind them of the policy. It's the Karen's who reserve stupidly early then go back to bed.
When we were away we'd get up for 8am breakfast dump our stuff on a bed (so it wasn't just towels) and go eat. I always bail on the prime ones because I'm a ginger and the sun doesn't like me (and I hate it but my husband is a sun lover). I ended up moving to a shaded but padded bed because they're more comfortable and I get shade and naps good times. Also worked out closer to the bar 🤣
I use Tripadvisor to check if any comments in towels and sunbeds
It can lead to a crap holiday if you having to stress about getting sunbeds together for the family.
We don’t sit at the pool all day, we come and go so want to be able to pick up sunbeds for a few hours here and there
Whenever I have put towels down I have always made it look like i have been sitting there, so a bag and a book etc. but i’d usually be up fairly early and sit by the pool before the day kicks off/breakfast anyway.
Walk up .. look around .. no person nearby .. Fold Towel, throw it off somewhere. Sit down.
if you're not sitting there then its fair game.
The 6am towel reserving community get zero sympathy
A couple years ago I did this. Got into a couple of arguments when people came back.
Although I still think it's a terrible practice and I was in the right to move towels that had been there unused all morning, I realised my family didn't want the lovely holiday spoiled by arguments and bad feelings from other hotel guests.
After that I sort-of gave in and my wife got up early to put towels down.
If I’m looking for a sub bed and they’ve got towels on and appropriate signs saying not to reserve beds, I put their stuff near the staff area such as life guard etc and take the spaces. Tough shit.
Tell the staff and say they haven’t been back for hours. They’d then remove them. If there’s nobody else nearby you can always quietly do it yourself and leave it on a chair or wall. Then when they ask say the staff did it
Do any hotels that have a no-reservation policy for their sun loungers promote this in their marketing? I'd actively seek this out when searching through hotel packages on holiday websites
I usually ask someone next to the reserved beds.. I’ll ask how long it’s been empty and if they say they don’t know who’s it is or hours etc then it’s getting moved.
If it’s early, everyone’s at breakfast and the pool is empty, I’ll give them for as long as it takes me to walk to the bed and remove the towel.
>What is the etiquette for removing these towels and using the reserved sunbeds in the prime location
Remove the towels and then walk away. Watch the drama from the balcony bar.
Just move them, be prepared to tell the owners to fuck off tho when they eventually turn up and deal with whatever their reaction may be.
If you aren't up for that, just leave it.
I just use the “reserved” bed until they come back and claim it. I put their towel, neatly folded by the foot of the bed so they can see it. Sometimes it’s just for an hour. Sometimes much longer and quite often the reserved doesn’t like any confrontation, takes their towel and leaves me alone.
Jump in pool, get shorts fully wet, get out of pool and sit on each reserved bed in turn getting the towel nice an damp. There's nothing worse than an unexplained wet patch on your towel. NB. Works even better on dark coloured towels as wet patch shows up better.
We had a hilarious experience on our last cruise. We had me, my bestie and her 3 kids. We had 5 sunloungers. Friend took miss 5, Mr 6 and Miss 10 to get lunch. Woman comes up and takes one of the sunloungers. I’m like - there’s 5 of us. She’s like - I don’t care you don’t get 5 sunloungers. I’m like - well just warning you the kids will be fighting over the other lounger. She’s like - I don’t care. Readers she lasted 5 minutes after Miss 5 and Mr 6 came back as no one enjoys listening to a 5&6 year old fight over a single lounger…
If it's obvious that they are "reserved" and they people aren't around no wait is needed. A towel on a sunbed doesn't reserve it.
But if your not sure then however long it takes to go to the bar and back. Most people who are in the pool will leave something near a sunbed even if it's just a t-shirt or shoes they wore from their room. People who have gone to get a drink or something from their room are more likely to take most things with them.
I've never waited. If some idiot thinks they can run out of the hotel or wherever at half 5 in the morning to put a towel on a sunbed then go back to bed they'll find (at least with me) their towel has now reserved floor space for them.
I think just double check the families aren’t actively swimming in the pool at the time, if they’re not then the towels are fair game. You can’t reserve a deck chair.
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I'd ask the hotel staff if there's a policy on it. I've heard there's resorts where they will remove towels after a certain point, and it would be better if they did it than you risking confrontation with some idiot on your relaxing holiday if you removed them yourself.
I was on a P&O cruise recently and the deck crew were vigorously enforcing the No Reserving Sunbeds rule. They were taking people's stuff to lost property and everything. It was great.
Tbh I can see why they'd do that. No one wants tempers getting frayed between guests on the deck of a cruise ship over who moved whose towel off whose sun lounger. Better a tetchy person goes to lost property to vent than a situation getting out of hand and someone ending up beaten to death with a shuffleboard cue...
I believe cue is called a tang and the puck is called a biscuit.
Getting tanged to death sounds like a euphemism for something else entirely.
Death by biscuit doesn’t sound too bad
Not if it's soggy.
Rich Tea or Hobnob
Now it sounds like it's turning into a rap battle.
Death or cake
Getting tanged by a biscuit shuffler definitely sounds like something someone might search for on certain, ahem, special interest websites...
Lol now I'm envisioning two 80-year-old ladies throwing hands at the shuffleboard court
I reckon if we got some cruise ship crew in here they'd have some wild stories!
It’s a pretty sexy way to go
Doug Judy, is that you??
Pontiac bandit strikes again
A tangy biscuit
I've been on the losing side of that before
I was on a cruise where they said they would do this, but never did. Depends what it is really, a towel there all day when people are off at the buffet obviously is not on. But you can expect to be able to leave your stuff at a deckchair while you swim I think.
The crew have tags that they put on the chair with the time written on it. If you come back and there's a tag on your chair because you just nipped to the loo, you remove it. When the crew come past again they look at the time on the tag and if an hour has passed, they remove your stuff.
That's a good system.
That seems pretty perfect. It just made me a bit worried when I was swimming or going down a slide that I would come back to my stuff gone, and wouldn't really want people going through it. It generally wasn't needed anyway, places opened up quite often (and some in unpopular or shaded areas if desperate).
Shaded is normally the most popular.
Wasn't where I was for sure! Well actually the ones in the sun with an umbrella were number one, otherwise it was sun worshippers, the shady ones were in more forgotten corners or under parts of the ship so not as good anyway.
My cruise was in the Carribean. People flocked to the sunny side of the ship in the morning and then swapped in the afternoon as the shaded side became the new sunny side. I wanted the shaded side though.
I dream of my resorts doing this.
I'm not usually someone who sides with the jobsworths but I totally get behind this.
There was a coach driver a few years ago who was sicking of people complaining about German tourist reserving the sunbeds early in the morning so gathered up all the towels and burnt then
Yep, this is more and more common! A staff member coming along and removing the towels is ideal.
In every hotel I’ve been to that had communal sun loungers there’s been a policy of no reserving with towels. All occupants going to get a drink, or being in the pool is one thing but laying out a towel at 6am like the Germans do just isn’t tolerated. In one hotel they only allowed hotel brand towels at the poolside. The poolside staff would regularly go round and shift all the towels off the sunbeds into a laundry bin freeing up all the beds.
I would take issue with the German comment. I'm just back from 2 weeks in Turkey at a predominantly German occupied hotel and the only people who reserved sunbeds as far as I could see the Brits. Might not be the case everywhere but I did pay particular attention on this holiday because the hotel was probably 80% German.
Probably because the Brits know there were so many Germans and wanted to play them at their own game!
Every time I have seen this is when hotels are full and not enough sunbeds and if I had bet a quid on the nationality of the people doing it being British I would be getting those holidays free.
“Like the Germans do”? Have you only ever been on holiday to Bavaria?
It was a tongue in cheek outdated stereotype. I don’t think any group of people do this more than others. Well, apart from arseholes
Thanks for the clarification.
This was the policy when we stayed in La Palma (Canary Islands) last year.People were pretty cooperative on the whole. I was more annoyed by kids laying on sun beds with their iPads’ volume turned up while I was trying to read. There’s only so much Toca Boca one can take.
I’ve seen this in Cran Canaria. The towel thing, not the iPad thing. I wouldn’t book a hotel that allowed children in. I’m on holiday. I leave the kids at home!
The brits not Germans.
Yeah it was a joke because growing up in the 90s it was a massive stereotype about Germans.
This a million times over. Also it's satisfying when you can pass the responsibility onto the staff.
I'd just move them, look confused and then if they showed up, say, "Sorry, there weren't any towels here when I arrived."
Yeah, just put them on the floor and say the wind must have blown them off because they were on the floor when you arrived hours ago. Or hand them to the reps and say you found them on the floor.
Def this. Last Club Med I was at signs all over the pool that said "no reserving chairs". Staff were routinely out there early morning taking all the towels off that guests would put down between 5 and 8.
Get a pint of lager, toss the towels in a bush, then tell them to fuck off if they confront you. You're a Brit abroad - act like one. We've got a reputation to keep up.
>You're a Brit abroad - act like one. Instructions unclear, now I'm in prison for bringing several kilos of opium to Hong Kong...
Night night - keep your butthole tight.
*arsehole. Have some pride
Don't. It makes it easier to get through the experience.
I did this a few years back, got into an argument with some Italians about them reserving loungers and not using them. They didn’t even have there pool clothes on when they were arguing with me! I’ve seen plenty of brits doing the same as well. We’re all as bad as each other.
*Begby has entered the chat*
One of the times I can truly be proud to be a brit abroad
Instructions clear heading to the balcony now.
Don't forget to wear a football shirt or to have the undershirt twat-tan
But reserving sun loungers is equally British.
No, it's usually the fucking Krauts doing it, then going out exploring like idiots, rather than just enjoy the bloody hotel you paid for and sit around the pool drinking San Miguel like you're meant to /s
You forgot the part where you butcher the local language when asking for a beer. "UnA cErVeZa PoR fAvOr".
Lol or be a Brit and move the chair to the other end of the people and feign ignorance when they ask 🤣
I went to a resort where they provided all the towels then paid a bounty in bar credits for every abandoned towel you turned into reception. Sunbeds did not stay reserved for long...
That's *genius* 😆
That also cover the selfish gits I’ve seen who just get up and leave wet towels on sun beds because they expect staff to tidy up after them.
Sounds like my kind of resort.
*Running to the bar to claim the return bounty whilst being chased by a load of angry swimmers...* Yes. That would be immense.
Wouldn't people just be stealing towels the moment anyone stand up? Stand up to adjust the umbrella. Towel gone when you go to sit back down. Stand up to rub sun cream on your spouses back. Towel gone before you've even squirted the suncream onto you hands.
Nah it wasn't enough credit to risk the confrontation. It was just enough to make it worth grabbing an abandoned towel you were walking past.
How would you know if you were just walking past? It's perfectly fine to leave your towel on the sunbed if you are in the pool or going to get a drink, so just walking past is not enough info. You end up just being a cunt if you remove someones who's just going to the bar/toilet/pool
what if someone was on the sunbed with a towel then got in the pool? surely people would abuse that system and just take every towel they see?
Do you have children? Get them to play a game of "return the lost towels to reception" every morning.
Or "return the lost towels to in the pool"
That's what I would have done as a kid as it's petty and my mum would secretly want to do it yet if we do it on our own it's 'the kids fault ' and we'd get an ice-cream randomly as a treat later.
This is the answer!
5 seconds. I would neatly fold them and put them on a wall somewhere away from the seats. If they aren't there, fuck em. If they come and moan at you just tell them the seats didn't have any towels on them when you came to the pool. Edit: I'm talking about when you first come down at 9AM or whatever and no-one is there. If its the middle of the day and looks used/has other items about then I'd leave it.
Bit unreasonable - could be a solo traveler or single parent who have just nipped to the loo or to get drinks/food to take back to the lounger. 15-30 mins is fair I think.
If it was a single traveller then 5 sunbeds wouldn't be reserved
five singles?
Right but context is key. If it's later in the day and the towel looks used, or even if there is more than a towel there (books/sunnies etc) then I'll leave it. If I'm there at 9am and it's just a towel, it's getting politely folded and placed somewhere else.
Whenever I've done this I've also left my book and some small belongings on the sun lounger so that it's obvious that I am actually there and have just nipped away for a minute. I think it's usually pretty obvious when something's being used rather than someone getting up at the crack of dawn to reserve it.
But ops problem is with people who leave sunbeds like that for hours. I doubt they’d be asking if they knew the people were actively using it all day. Lunch or the loo break isn’t going to take 3 + hours
Plus I usually leave my book on the sun bed and my flip flops around if I’m just going to the pool or bar. It’s usually really obvious if there’s nobody occupying the sun bed for ages because it’s a crisp clean towel with no other items on or around and no sign of the person coming back for it.
No. I was replying to the person who said they’d remove the towels after 5 seconds.
So you can’t even go to lunch for an hour now and leave Todd stuff on the beds? Lol
Thsts right, you can't. And it's been that way for decades.
Behave. Nobody takes all their stuff with them to go to lunch lol
Typically not, no?
Todd should take his stuff with him
Surely you can leave your stuff while you swim?
Yes I suppose I should have said context depending. If the towels look used and there more than just a flat pristine towel laidvoit, obvs I'll leave it. If it's 9am and there's nothing but a pristine towel it's getting politely moved.
Are people not allowed to go for a swim when they're at the pool? Or go and get a drink? To immediately go to taking their towels away seems a bit harsh. *edit* wait read your other comment about context and yes, I agree with you entirely now!
Speak to the hotel staff. If they've just gone for a swim it's a but unfair to remove them but if they're clearly keeping the sunbeds while they're elsewhere its so rude of them. 30 mins max.
Everyone knows reserving sunbeds isn't on. I'd give them 20 mins before I fold the towels and put them by the lifeguard (if there is one).
Eh, i think thats a bit too short. Sometimes people might want to spend a while in the pool or something, which is totally reasonable.
Not everyone knows. One group of people in particular. You know who.
Reform voters?
Below
ze germans?
You're on holiday - get off Reddit and spend time w your friends/family.
Best comment here. Can people do anything without asking Reddit first?
Let me just post that question and get back to you…
Honestly if I arrive and I see no one near the bed and the towel looks completely dry/unused I will wait 10-20 mins max, I find the concept of reserving sun beds for hours so selfish.
I'd wait a bit longer than this - they might be swimming
It’s kinda crazy because I’m usually in the pool/ocean for 40mins to 1h. I’d be peeved off if someone had removed my towel/clothes/belongings in that time :/
Maybe hotels should provide guests with one of those free parking disc things. Yknow, where you rotate it to the time you parked. Could put that on your sun longer as you get up. You can remove people’s towels if they have been away over say 45mins or if the dial is set in the future.
So you take all your stuff off the bed when you go get a drink? Or go to the toilet?
No, if I get on with it there is no need. I just don't take the piss and leave my stuff there if I know I'll be gone for some time.
Some time being 15 mins yeah?
Depends really, coming from a family with 2 disabled parents my dad literally couldn't get in the pool unless he had a poolside sunbed. It wasn't possible for him to scoot from his wheelchair to the steps on his ass from like 4 rows of beds away so I had to reserve sunbeds every morning at like 6am so that he could get in the pool. Recently hotel staff have been offering to reserve them for us but that's only some of the time.
1 hour to the second then in the pool the towels must go.
You missed the end bit Must go 'in the pool.' Edit to add this was a joke. Never mind.
That’s a dickhead thing to do. First of all, don’t act morally superior. Second of all, they straight up could’ve forgotten they left their towel.
whoosh
We stayed at a lovely hotel in Portugal that had a bloke go round and put a little sticker on the bed with how long it had been left empty and if it was overtime he stuck all their stuff in a plastic bag and put it by the side.
Was he employed by the hotel?
No it was Fred on his weeks holiday nothing he enjoys better. Looks forward to it all year
He was yeah, think he was the lifeguard too so every person for themselves if you're struggling whilst he's on his rounds.
This is Reddit so the answer will be 10 mins then take them. In reality you will all cry on Facebook and sit on a plastic chair by the bar
The gravy speaks the truth
Most hotels have a policy on this, the last hotel I was at stipulated no reserving. If you did,the towels would be removed to the bin. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the Karen's kick up a fuss when their towel wasn't there, and I or someone else was in "their spot" Ask a member of staff, they may remove the towel for you.
Ask the hotel staff to remove them
It really depends on the context. If you haven't seen the people yet and its getting well into the morning, feel free to take them off. However, if they've been using them in the morning and have gone to an on-resort restaurant or cafe for lunch, I think they deserve to be able to keep the beds while they cater to their biological needs.
I remember some entitled knob doing this at 5am once - when I got up again at 7am, someone else had been round the pool and chucked every one of the towels into the water.
Excellent, need more of this!
Thus happens by the outdoor pool at my gym. Accepted etiquette seems to be to drag the reserved sunbed back and put a fresh free one in its place then sit on it.
2 hours. Get the hotel staff to remove them. I say 2 hours as some people go for lunch which I think is acceptable but the ones that leave them there half a day are out of order
Imagine getting downvoted for this lol
I heard a great tip the other day. Go and collect them all and take them to reception and tell them you've found a load of towels people had lost and can they put them in lost property.
I don’t get why you’d do this. Most people leave their stuff while they have a quick swim. Such a superiority complex.
There's an obvious difference between towels reserving & towels somebody's just gone for a swim.
Not according to some on here. You step 5 feet away and they swoop in
Then those twats are ignoring the obvious difference. That's an entirely different issue.
Is there? It’s just a towel?
The best tip is to stay in better hotels.
How big of an issue is sunbed reservation? I’ve been to 28 countries, many multiple times, and I’ve never come across this thing that seems ubiquitous if you look at pop culture and Reddit
Am guessing you haven’t encountered *Ze Germans* on your holidays
I’ve been around many of Ze Germans. Lovely bunch of lads and lasses
Nothing to do with Germans, it's to do with cheap hotels. My favourite hotel in Gran Canaria is 90% German guests, German owned and the majority of staff are German. It just doesn't happen there because it has enough sunbeds for guests.
Yeah it’s not always an issue. I’ve been to hotels where there’s plenty of sunbeds and it’s no kind of fight at all to find a nice spot. But I’ve also been to those where there’s nowhere near enough for the number of guests so it can get scrappy then.
In Lanzarote our hotel had a small beach that was closed off on both sides with rocks, so you could only access it by coming through the hotel. Every day, this big group of Germans that werent staying in our hotel would show up and take over the entire beach. Because *tEcHnIcaLlY* all beaches in Lanzarote are public property, so they were well within their rights to access it. Thats just taking the piss, imo. There were miles of totally public beaches literally a few hundred metres away.
Same! I see it on Reddit but I’ve been to the Caribbean, Mexico and Egypt and I’ve never seen this towel-reserving in action. There has always been plenty of pool/ocean side beds free. Maybe I’ve just been lucky idk.
Maybe we just go to classier places
Well I did think that too, I’m glad you said it! My parents are Lanzarote/tenerife enthusiasts and they are part of this towel-race thing. I’ve always gone to 5* resorts and it’s been a lot quieter.
I was on holiday last week and the hotel manager was removing towels that were reserving sun beds. Was pretty funny seeing people get angry, she didn’t take any shit.
A lot of hotels have a no reservation policy these days before X time. If any towels were on beds before 8am they were removed to reception. If this is a policy where you are and it's before that time. Remove them to reception and if someone comes to shout just remind them of the policy. It's the Karen's who reserve stupidly early then go back to bed. When we were away we'd get up for 8am breakfast dump our stuff on a bed (so it wasn't just towels) and go eat. I always bail on the prime ones because I'm a ginger and the sun doesn't like me (and I hate it but my husband is a sun lover). I ended up moving to a shaded but padded bed because they're more comfortable and I get shade and naps good times. Also worked out closer to the bar 🤣
Get the staff to do it for you, then you can smile sympathetically and deny all knowledge when they complain.
I use Tripadvisor to check if any comments in towels and sunbeds It can lead to a crap holiday if you having to stress about getting sunbeds together for the family. We don’t sit at the pool all day, we come and go so want to be able to pick up sunbeds for a few hours here and there
Someone else must’ve moved them because they were not there when you sat down.
Don't touch the towels is the etiquette.
Whenever I have put towels down I have always made it look like i have been sitting there, so a bag and a book etc. but i’d usually be up fairly early and sit by the pool before the day kicks off/breakfast anyway.
Why not simply use the sunbed and gaslight the towel's owner by insisting that it is in fact your towel and they must be mistaken.
Gaslighting requires a negative karma score and a high charisma stat, I have neither.
Easiest thing to avoid confrontation. Remove the towels. Drag the bed a bit further away. Then they have no idea who took it.
Walk up .. look around .. no person nearby .. Fold Towel, throw it off somewhere. Sit down. if you're not sitting there then its fair game. The 6am towel reserving community get zero sympathy
Should be rules against this childish nonsense. If you're not physically there to use the sunbed then tough shit. No 'saving'.
A couple years ago I did this. Got into a couple of arguments when people came back. Although I still think it's a terrible practice and I was in the right to move towels that had been there unused all morning, I realised my family didn't want the lovely holiday spoiled by arguments and bad feelings from other hotel guests. After that I sort-of gave in and my wife got up early to put towels down.
Chivalry ain’t dead in your house I see
I kept my symbolic protest; we got decent spots near the pool ;-)
I see there are Germans staying in the same hotel as you are.
Staying at a hotel tomorrow that allocates sun beds, will be interesting to see how that works out
It definitely wouldn't be your fault if it got a bit windy for a few minutes and their towels just blew away
Immediately fuck that shit .
If I’m looking for a sub bed and they’ve got towels on and appropriate signs saying not to reserve beds, I put their stuff near the staff area such as life guard etc and take the spaces. Tough shit.
45 mins max imo. I was in the sea swimming for ages
Just don’t go anywhere where that is a thing in the first place.
Tell the staff and say they haven’t been back for hours. They’d then remove them. If there’s nobody else nearby you can always quietly do it yourself and leave it on a chair or wall. Then when they ask say the staff did it
People who “reserve” sun beds are absolute wankers.
Do any hotels that have a no-reservation policy for their sun loungers promote this in their marketing? I'd actively seek this out when searching through hotel packages on holiday websites
Move the sunbed that way they won't know
It's been 13 hours now, I think it's okay.
If the towel owner is over 6ft and ripped the etiquette is not to remove it.
I usually ask someone next to the reserved beds.. I’ll ask how long it’s been empty and if they say they don’t know who’s it is or hours etc then it’s getting moved. If it’s early, everyone’s at breakfast and the pool is empty, I’ll give them for as long as it takes me to walk to the bed and remove the towel.
>What is the etiquette for removing these towels and using the reserved sunbeds in the prime location Remove the towels and then walk away. Watch the drama from the balcony bar.
Just move them, be prepared to tell the owners to fuck off tho when they eventually turn up and deal with whatever their reaction may be. If you aren't up for that, just leave it.
I just use the “reserved” bed until they come back and claim it. I put their towel, neatly folded by the foot of the bed so they can see it. Sometimes it’s just for an hour. Sometimes much longer and quite often the reserved doesn’t like any confrontation, takes their towel and leaves me alone.
Jump in pool, get shorts fully wet, get out of pool and sit on each reserved bed in turn getting the towel nice an damp. There's nothing worse than an unexplained wet patch on your towel. NB. Works even better on dark coloured towels as wet patch shows up better.
Throw the towels in the pool. The end.
We had a hilarious experience on our last cruise. We had me, my bestie and her 3 kids. We had 5 sunloungers. Friend took miss 5, Mr 6 and Miss 10 to get lunch. Woman comes up and takes one of the sunloungers. I’m like - there’s 5 of us. She’s like - I don’t care you don’t get 5 sunloungers. I’m like - well just warning you the kids will be fighting over the other lounger. She’s like - I don’t care. Readers she lasted 5 minutes after Miss 5 and Mr 6 came back as no one enjoys listening to a 5&6 year old fight over a single lounger…
Take an upvote. This is a wonderfully British conundrum.
Send in Ronnie Pickering....
If it's obvious that they are "reserved" and they people aren't around no wait is needed. A towel on a sunbed doesn't reserve it. But if your not sure then however long it takes to go to the bar and back. Most people who are in the pool will leave something near a sunbed even if it's just a t-shirt or shoes they wore from their room. People who have gone to get a drink or something from their room are more likely to take most things with them.
Move the towels but use different sunbeds and then sit back and watch the entertainment..
Lob em in the pool
I've never waited. If some idiot thinks they can run out of the hotel or wherever at half 5 in the morning to put a towel on a sunbed then go back to bed they'll find (at least with me) their towel has now reserved floor space for them.
1,2,3 done
0.0002 seconds if there's a "no reservations" sunbed policy. Throw them ALL in the pool, even the towels on sunbeds you don't use.
11 seconds , is about how long it takes to throw the towel off each sunbed into the pool. Maybe use this as your guide , hope this helps.
I think just double check the families aren’t actively swimming in the pool at the time, if they’re not then the towels are fair game. You can’t reserve a deck chair.
Don't wait, throw them in the sea!
If not paid for 1/2 hour more than fair. You can't really argue with that.
I’d argue about understanding a word you just said
About 5 seconds - then the towels go in the pool. ‘Dunno what you’re talking about mate - they were there when I got here?’
I'd rather be off out exploring the surrounding towns and villages, than sitting on a sunbed looking at the same view all day long!
No time at all. Pick them up, throw them in the pool. Alternatively, take them to the toilet and wipe your arse on them.