It is a contentious ritual, repeated at resort hotels the world over: At sunrise, a handful of guests pad swiftly to the pool, drape towels over one lounger, then another, and retreat.
This rush for seats, usually against hotel rules, begins early and ends quickly. By 9 a.m., the losers stand in the sun, squinting at a field of beds, unused yet unavailable.
To some, it is simply the natural order. To others, it is a kind of moral outrage.
In Germany, a court has weighed in on the practice. A judge granted vindication, and a refund, to a tourist who sued his tour operator, arguing that it had failed to provide fair lounger access.
The Hanover District Court ruled last month that the tour operator, TUI Deutschland, was liable for what German law terms a “travel defect,” and must refund part of the vacation price.
The case involved a family who booked an 11-night package holiday at the Grecotel Kos Imperial, a premium resort on the Greek island of Kos, in August 2024. The plaintiff paid about $8,500, the court said.
The hotel had signs posted at the pools prohibiting guests from reserving sun beds with towels for more than 30 minutes without actually using them, according to a document describing the verdict.
Every morning, every lounger at the pool was claimed by 8 or 9 a.m., draped with towels, guarded by nobody, the plaintiff told the court. Only on one day did the family have “luck,” he said — and even then, his children, 9 and 12, had to lie on towels on the ground while the adults sat on two salvaged chairs.
A witness who traveled with the family described searching the resort’s sprawling grounds for a free lounger for 20 minutes each day in 95-degree heat, ending, invariably, in failure. The court was also shown a video taken at the pool showing rows of sun beds covered in towels and no guests in sight, the document said.
The plaintiff raised the issue with the tour guide on the first day of his holiday. He was told, politely, that enforcement was the hotel’s job. He then complained to the hotel. Nothing happened. He complained again, and nothing happened still, the court said.
He sued the tour operator. And in Germany, of all places, the rule-followers won.
Under the German Civil Code, package holiday prices must be reduced for the duration of any travel defect. The judge found that the family’s inability to access sun beds qualified.
The court ordered TUI Deutschland to pay a total reimbursement of about $1,200 — representing a 15 percent reduction for each day they couldn’t access loungers.
The court held that even on the one day the family found two loungers, the defect was not remedied. “Children aged 9 and 12 have the same right to a sun bed as adult guests,” the judgment said.
TUI Deutschland, which declined to comment, cannot appeal because the payout is below a legal threshold.
This was not the first time the Hanover District Court ruled on the lounger wars. In December 2023, another judge reached the same conclusion in a nearly identical case involving a family holiday to the Greek island of Rhodes, awarding a partial refund of $380 for a $6,200 trip.
In that case, the tour operator argued that the situation merely amounted to a “peaceful race for the poolside spots” in which the diligent triumphed. It also said that the plaintiff would not have faced penalties had they done the same.
A court spokesman, writing to explain the significance of the two rulings, framed the central question succinctly: “Does it constitute a defect in the package tour if the tour operator tolerates this reservation practice,” Judge Patrick Skeries asked in an email, “or is the tour operator required to put a stop to this practice?”
The answer was unambiguous.
“In both cases,” he wrote, “the tour operator is required to intervene.”