A German court has delivered a significant ruling regarding the persistent issue of poolside etiquette, ordering a tour operator to pay more than €900 to a family after they were unable to secure sun loungers during their vacation in Greece. The traveler, who had booked a package holiday to the island of Kos for his family of four, successfully argued that the vacation was ‘defective’ because the resort failed to manage the rampant practice of guests reserving loungers with towels before dawn.

The plaintiff testified that despite waking up as early as 6:00 a.m. each day, he and his family consistently found the pool area fully occupied by reserved chairs, often forcing his children to lie on the ground. He contended that the tour operator was negligent in its duty to enforce the resort’s own policies against towel-reserving and failed to provide an environment where basic amenities were accessible to all paying guests.

While the tour operator had initially offered a smaller refund, the Hanover district court concluded that the company bore responsibility for ensuring an organizational structure that provides a reasonable ratio of sunbeds to guests. The judges awarded the family a total refund of €986.70, acknowledging that while a travel firm cannot monitor every individual interaction, they remain legally obligated to ensure that the services promised in a package holiday are actually available for use.

This legal victory highlights the growing frustration surrounding ‘sunbed wars,’ a phenomenon that has prompted various responses across the travel industry. From social media footage of tourists camping out by pools in Tenerife to resorts implementing pre-booking fees or imposing fines for abandoned towels, the struggle to manage pool access remains a contentious issue for international tourism. The ruling serves as a warning to travel providers that they may be held accountable for failing to address systemic overcrowding and mismanagement at their partner resorts.