The long-running, low-stakes but highly frustrating travel industry conflict known as the ‘sunbed wars’ has taken a dramatic new turn, after a German court awarded a substantial payout to a holidaymaker who spent an entire Greek vacation locked in a daily battle for available poolside lounging space. The ruling has already pushed resorts across popular European holiday destinations to re-examine and strengthen their policies around the controversial practice of reserving sunbeds with towels long before they are actually used.
The case that sparked this shift dates back to a 2024 package holiday to the Greek island of Kos, booked by a 48-year-old commercial pilot from Dusseldorf, who traveled with his wife and two children. The family paid €7,186 for the trip, but their vacation quickly soured over the persistent issue of reserved but unused sunbeds. Even when the plaintiff woke as early as 6 a.m. every day to claim a shaded spot, he told the court he still spent roughly 20 minutes each morning searching for an available lounger, because every single one of the resort’s 400 sunbeds had already been claimed via the towel-reserving trick. Many guests staked their claim early, then left the pool area for hours to head into town or return to their rooms for more sleep, leaving perfectly good loungers sitting empty while other guests had nowhere to sit. At one point, his children were even forced to lie on the hard floor near the pool because no space was available.
The pilot argued that his tour operator had failed to uphold the resort’s own stated ban on towel reservations, and after the initial €350 refund offered by the operator failed to resolve the dispute, the case went to the district court in Hanover. Judges ruled this week that the family was entitled to an additional €550, bringing the total refund to €900 (£850). While the court acknowledged that the tour operator did not directly manage the hotel and could not guarantee a sunbed to every guest at every time of day, it ruled that travel companies do have a legal obligation to ensure resorts maintain a structured system that guarantees a reasonable ratio of sunbeds to booked guests, and enforce their own policies against misuse.
In the wake of the ruling, the plaintiff told the Daily Mail that the decision is a critical warning to tour operators and hotels across the industry that turn a blind eye to the practice. He argued that as the 2025 peak summer holiday season gets underway, other travelers who face the same frustration will now feel empowered to pursue similar legal action, which could add up to millions in costs for travel companies if widespread claims follow.
The BBC has since spoken to dozens of holidaymakers across the UK and Europe, and many shared that they have faced identical problems on their own trips. Andrew Mills from Newcastle told the BBC that during a 2024 trip to Zante, he spent most of his vacation away from the pool entirely, because all sunbeds were reserved by 6 a.m. every day. Another traveler, who recently returned from a trip to Antalya, Turkey, said the early-morning sunbed reservation trend completely ruined the enjoyment of his holiday.
However, a number of resorts have already begun implementing targeted policies to crack down on the practice, with mixed reviews from past guests. On France’s Mediterranean coast, some popular holiday camps have adopted a strict check system: staff sound a horn twice a day, and any unoccupied sunbed with personal items left on it has those items moved to lost property, opening the space up for new guests. Multiple resorts across Cyprus have gone even further, adopting permanent pre-allocation systems that assign sunbeds to guests when they first check in. One resort in Paphos allows guests to request their preferred location upon arrival, allocates spots fairly, and permits guests to request changes if they want to move during their stay. 73-year-old Colin Davison from Newcastle-upon-Tyne called that system ‘brilliant’ during his recent stay. Another allocation model used at a Cypriot hotel numbers parasols, assigns one per two guests at the start of the holiday, with two sunbeds per parasol, giving larger groups multiple allocated spots automatically.
Not all attempts to solve the problem have been official policy, however: one traveler recalled a 2024 trip to Ibiza where guests were reserving sunbeds as early as midnight. A group of fed-up travelers responded by sneaking down to the pool area in the middle of the night and throwing all the reserved towels into the swimming pool, a makeshift solution that quickly put a stop to the early staking — though it is not a method endorsed by any resort or travel industry body.