A young British couple say they were left with no other choice but to sneak down to the hotel pool at 1am to reserve sunbeds while on holiday in Portugal.
Aimee Millar, 20, from Belfast, said she resorted to leaving her room in the middle of the night when she discovered other guests were doing the same.
She told Luxury Travel Daily: ‘In the hotel we stayed at, if we didn’t get those certain sunbeds we would’ve had to pay 7.50 Euros (£6) each for a bed.
‘As much as it was crazy we didn’t mind doing it at 1am as we were staying up later anyways.’
Aimee and her partner Darragh, also 20, were holidaying in Albufeira, Portugal, in July when they realised they needed a new strategy to compete in the ‘sunbed wars’.
Pictured: Aimee Millar and her partner Darragh, both 20, from Belfast in Northern Ireland
Aimee said she resorted to leaving her room in the middle of the night when she discovered other guests were doing the same.
Aimee and her partner Darragh, both 20, were holidaying in Albufeira, Portugal, in July when they realised they needed a new strategy to compete in the ‘sunbed wars
Video grab from Aimee’s video of her getting up at 1am on holiday to get a spot by the pool
On the first few mornings, they claimed their sunbeds before breakfast at around 6am.
But they kept missing out on the best spots.
In a video shared to TikTok, Aimee documented the couple’s early morning trip to the pool to grab the sunbeds at 1am.
Armed with their towels, Aimee said: ‘I know it’s crazy but it’s the normal thing to do here.’
Reflecting on the etiquette, she said she does acknowledge it’s unfair.
She said: ‘I believe that putting the sunbeds down is fair in the morning, but at more like 9am or 10am.
‘Everyone likes to be close to the pool and not have to pay or lie on the grass.
‘I think leaving towels down when leaving the pool or late at night is crazy and a bit too far.
‘I think it wouldn’t be very fair to an older couple or families with young kids who may be in bed earlier – they can’t go and do this as easy.’
In a video shared to TikTok, Aimee documented the couple’s early morning trip to the pool to grab the sunbeds at 1am
Pictured: Video grab from Aimee’s video of her getting up at 1am on holiday to get a spot by the pool
Aimee Millar, 20, from Belfast , said she resorted to leaving her room in the middle of the night when she discovered other guests were doing the same
Viewers took to the comments to express their shock.
Josephine commented: ‘I actually couldn’t do it, it’s ridiculous.’
Eleanor added: ‘Hotels need to start doing allocated sunbeds because this is out of hand.’
‘I would come down leisurely and just throw the towels off in the morning, idc,’ wrote a third user.
‘Just back from Turkey, hotel didn’t allow anyone to reserve sun loungers. This is madness,’ said Lynsey.
Aimee and Darragh’s experience is just the latest development in the ‘sunbed wars’ that have been taking place in holiday destinations this summer.
Footage released earlier this week shows dozens of British tourists sprinting to grab the best poolside loungers at a hotel in Spain.
Holidaymakers at the four-star Villa Romana hotel in Tarragona, Catalonia, were almost given a ‘ready, steady, go’ as staff opened the glass doors and they flooded out.
The Brits push past each other on the poolside as they try and nab the best spots.
Another video shows holidaymakers taking this summer’s sunbed wars to a new level as they bust out secured loungers before hotel staff have even opened the pool.
In the video, which was filmed by a stunned guest at a hotel in Tenerife, one man dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and sliders can be seen rearranging the loungers to free five trapped underneath.
Dozens of British tourists were seen eagerly waiting by the door before sprinting to grab the best poolside loungers at a hotel in Spain
A separate video shows the Brits then running and pushing past each other on the poolside as they try and nab the best spots
A man appears to remove secured sunbeds in an attempt to nab the best spot by the pool
In the video, which was filmed by a stunned guest, one man dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and sliders can be seen rearranging the loungers to free five trapped underneath
TikTok user The Railway Queen shared a video showing a manager at her Turkey hotel piling up towels on his shoulder, in an attempt to clear up space by the pool
The Laur Hotels on the country’s Aegean coast instructed staff to remove tourists’ possessions if they try and bag loungers early in the morning – or even the night before
A woman and another man were also spotted moving a poolside lounger before the woman comes back to collect a towel she had left on top of the secured sunbeds.
A five-star hotel in Turkey also declared war on sun-bed hogging holidaymakers earlier this week.
The Laur Hotels on the country’s Aegean coast instructed staff to remove tourists’ possessions if they try and bag loungers early in the morning – or even the night before.
Two videos shared on social media show a stern-faced hotel boss rounding up towels on two separate occasions.
The towel on the sunbed lounger has become an almost universal sign of reservation in tourist hotspots.
The first video – posted by a British tourist – is accompanied by music from Madonna’s Holiday and the second clip has the lines ‘guess who’s back? Back again’ from Eminem’s Without Me.
In both videos, the hotel employee grabs at least half a dozen towels as he patrols the resort’s pool area to clear space for sunseekers arriving to enjoy the weather.