It’s that time of year again when sunbeds become hot property and angry guests are now being backed by hotel managers who are annoyed by the behaviour, reports Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. “We want to stop the culture where sun loungers are occupied before they are to be used,” says Diego Martinez, hotel manager at the Ving hotel Sunprime Pollensa. Signs have been put up saying: “Do not reserve sun loungers with towels or other personal belongings if the lounger is not to be used immediately”.
At 8am, empty sunbeds are cleared of towels. “Now it is no longer possible for people to occupy sun loungers before going to breakfast,” Diego Martinez told Dagbladet. Most people have reacted positively, according to him. “One challenge is those who use the sunbed for a couple of hours in the morning and then block it with a towel while they go to their room to get some sleep. We try to find good solutions and then we have to accept that some people are dissatisfied,” he said.
Last summer hotel sunbed wars hit the headlines with hotels in Mallorca having to take matters into their own hands to install some law and order around swimming pools with holiday makers adopting new tactics to try and skirt the hotel rules and regulations. In Camp de Mar, Mallorca, some hotels were reportedly keeping their pools closed until later in the morning to ward off early risers. But, cunning guests quickly found a way around this rule - by placing their towels on the floor at the entrance to the pool.
Photos supplied by hotel guests to the Mirror showed beach bags and towels placed in an orderly queue leading to the closed pool so hotel guests can secure their sunbed as soon as it opens. And now it appears that the battle is being fought on the high seas, on cruise ships and the cruise lines are fighting back. For example, Carnival Cruise Line has a strict rule to help combat ‘chair hogs’ and discourage the move, especially on sea days. Crew members have started to place stickers on unattended loungers. If after 40 minutes they return and the sunlounger is still completely unused, the passenger’s items will be removed and placed in the towel hut.
John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line ambassador, said: “If they are not back by that time, we will remove it. It’s the only way we can make it fair. Ever since I’ve worked on cruise ships, there’ve been people desperate to get the chairs. We are doing our very best. It’s not a perfect system, it would be silly of me to suggest otherwise. But it is something that we need to do.” And other cruise lines have adopted similar measures.