Judge Awards German Tourist Damages Over Hotel Pool “Towel Wars”

Well here’s a landmark court ruling that could have implications for the ways that tens of millions of Germans vacation (thanks to @istrakhov for flagging this)… 😉

German awarded €1,000 over insufficient resort loungers

A court in Hanover has awarded a German man €986.70 in damages, after he and his family weren’t able to find sun loungers at a resort in Kos, Greece. This incident initially dates back to 2024, when a family of four spent more than €7,000 on a vacation package.

The traveler claimed that despite waking up at the crack of dawn every morning and conducting a 20-minute search for sun loungers, he was unable to actually secure any… throughout the entire stay!

While the hotel initially agreed to offer a partial refund, a district court in Germany ruled that the family was entitled to a larger sum, and claimed that the tour operator that sold the vacation was responsible. The concept of “towel wars” is nothing new at select European resorts popular with some Germans and Brits, where people get up very early, lay claim to sun loungers, and then prevent others from using them.

The man claimed that he got up every morning to try to get desirable pool spots, but he was never successful, and his family was forced to lounge on the concrete floor. The thing is, the hotel reportedly banned the concept of using towels to reserve loungers, but despite bringing this to the attention of staff, no one did anything about it.

The court ruled that even though guests may not always get a lounger, the onus is on the tour operator, in partnership with the hotel, to ensure that there’s a system in place to allow a “reasonable” relationship between the number of sun beds and the number of guests. The judge clarified that his decision was made “based on individual circumstances.”

Some might be surprised to see the tour operator be on the hook for the hotel’s issues, but that’s because Germany has strict laws about package holidays, and as a result, the hotel was viewed as an agent of the tour operator. So the judge ruled that the tour operator is on the hook to prevent such conflicts.

The practice of reserving pool loungers is a dirty game

I find the whole concept of reserving pool chairs hours before you’re going to use them to be an awful practice. It’s common to see this around the globe, though there’s huge variance in this practice between regions. Like, at a resort in Hawaii you might find a couple of towels on chairs early in the morning, while at some resorts in Europe, all lounge chairs are spoken for by 7AM.

Everything about this system sucks, and it really seems like hotels just throw their guests under the bus, sort of. Typically the rules don’t actually allow this practice, yet nothing is done to enforce the rules. So it creates a system whereby those who break the rules are rewarded, and those who don’t break the rules are left with few options.

Still, I find this whole competitive game of securing lounge chairs to be so silly. Do people actually enjoy this? Like, at this point, why go on vacation? You’re going to get up hours earlier than usual so that you can actually sit at the pool? There are even some stories out there of people sleeping on lounge chairs overnight to reserve them.

From a guest experience perspective, it always amazes me how hotels don’t do more to manage this ridiculous practice. These hotels presumably have significantly fewer pool chairs than guests who want them, yet “first come, first served” is the only system that hotels can come up with?

The problem with any of these unmonitored system is that 100% of the pool chairs might be reserved, while only a small percentage are actually being used at any given point. So whether it’s a case where people sleep on the chairs or simply storm the pool when the gates open, it seems like there should be a better way to handle this:

• If a pool chair isn’t occupied for some amount of time (30 minutes, one hour, etc.), it should be given up to a guest who wants it
• Maybe each guest should get a certain amount of time in a pool chair, and sessions can be broken up so that you can be guaranteed a pool chair either in the morning or in the afternoon
• Not to suggest more revenue opportunities, but maybe pool chairs should cost extra and have dynamic pricing, so that guests can pay a little extra but actually enjoy their vacation; I wouldn’t actually like to see this, but it seems more rational than spending over $500 per night, only to sleep on a pool chair

Bottom line

A German court awarded a tourist damages over a stay at a resort in Greece, that was booked through a German travel agency. The guest got up early every morning to try to get sun loungers at the pool, only to not have any luck.

The concept of people reserving sun loungers early in the morning is common at some resorts, especially those popular with Germans. Quite honestly, it’s refreshing to see someone challenge this practice legally, since there’s a big gap between what hotels promise and what they deliver.

What do you make of this German court ruling?