Is this the end of the sunbed wars?

The dreaded sunbed wars could be over after tourists won compensation from travel company TUI.

German tourists have been awarded compensation by court in Hanover, Germany after complaining about the morning sunbed race at a Greek hotel. Managers at the Atlantica Mikri Poli hotel in Rhodes instigated a ‘no reservation’ policy that meant guests who put down towels on their sunbeds had to use them or lose them.

However, the German holidaymakers told the court they’d been unable to find any available sun loungers on one occasion. They reported that staff at the TUI hotel failed to implement the policy, which meant, they said, that on one morning they’d been unable to find any available sunbeds around any of the resort’s six pools.

Out of control

Hanover District Court ordered the hotel to pay €300 as compensation for the part of the holiday the family had been unable to enjoy. The verdict is still subject to an appeal and is not yet legally binding. However, could this be the beginning of the end for the sunbed wars between holidaymakers that seem to have got out of control during the summer of 2023?

Reports in both British and Spanish press from August 2023 cited war had broken out in areas including the Costa Del Sol, where some tourists told the Daily Mail that they waited up to two hours for prime spots at the four-star Hotel Estival in Torrequebrada.

El Periodico de España also reported on the daily morning sun lounger race at a Tenerife hotel to which readers reacted with incredulity on social media that holiday makers would set their alarms for 6am to bag their favourite sunbeds.

It will be interesting to see if the decision by the German court is upheld and if so whether it will stop the escalation of the sunbed wars. Watch this space!