A German tourist has secured a payout of more than €900 (£850) after his family's holiday was ruined by the ancient and sacred ritual of reserving sun loungers with towels. The unidentified man, vacationing in Greece in 2024, claimed he spent 20 minutes each day fruitlessly hunting for a lounger despite waking up at the ungodly hour of 06:00. He sued his tour operator for allowing the towel-based reservation system, arguing the sunbeds were so often claimed they were essentially unusable.
Judges at a district court in Hanover sided with the sun-deprived father, ruling that his family of four was entitled to a larger refund on their €7,186 (£6,211) package holiday to Kos, as it had been "defective." The man argued that his tour operator failed to enforce the resort's ban on towel reserving and did not confront the culprits. He added that even at 06:00, loungers were unavailable, forcing his children to lie on the floor - a truly grim holiday memory.
The tour operator initially offered a refund of €350 (£302), but the Hanover judges deemed that insufficient, ordering a payout of €986.70 (£852.89). They noted that while the travel company didn't run the hotel and couldn't guarantee every guest a sunbed at all times, it had an obligation to ensure a "reasonable" ratio of sunbeds to guests.
This case will resonate with anyone who has experienced "sunbed wars" or the "dawn dash" - the practice of claiming loungers with towels before breakfast. Last year, social media showed holiday-goers in Tenerife actually sleeping on loungers to secure a poolside spot. Some operators now offer pre-booking for a fee, while in parts of Spain, tourists face a €250 fine for reserving a lounger and then vanishing for hours. Because nothing says relaxation like a regulatory crackdown on towels.