AGerman touristhas been awarded more than £800 in compensation after claiming he and his family were unable to use hotelsun loungersduring a package holiday on aGreek island, as other guests repeatedly reserved them with towels. The man, who has not been named, took legal action after staying at a resort on the island of Kos with his wife and two children in 2024.
He told the court that during their €7,000 (£6,000) holiday,despite waking up at 6am every day, his family struggled to find any available beds around thehotelpool. According to the ruling, the tourist spent around 20 minutes each morning searching for loungers, only to find most had already been claimed bytowels left unattended by other guests. He also said his children were sometimes forced to lie on the ground because no sunbeds were free.
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The tour operator initially refunded around €350 (£303), but a court inHanoverruled that the compensation was not adequate and increased the payout to almost €987 (£854).
The court said that while the travel company did not directly manage the hotel, it still had a responsibility to ensure a reasonable number of sunbeds were available to guests. Judges described the holiday as “defective” because the family could not properly use the pool area included in their booking.
These so-called"sunbed wars" or "dawn dashes"have become a notorious issue across European hotspots and further afield. Last year, a shocking incident at a Tenerife hotel sparked renewed concerns. In footage captured by the German newspaper Bild, around 100 foreign guests were spottedtrampling a staff memberwho was opening the pool access door at 6.30am.
A 2023 Tripadvisor review described the sunbed situation as a "complete nightmare" at the same resort.
Elsewhere, a British tourist, excited to enjoy her well-deserved holiday at a luxury five-star hotel inEgypt, had toresort to extreme measuresin an attempt to get a sunbed in February 2025. Setting an alarm at 6.30am, Mrs May, who runs theTiktokaccount @themrsmay, rushed down to the pool area to grab herself a front-row seat.
“If you can’t beat them, join them,” she said.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
