A British tourist who reserved sunbeds on holiday before heading off for breakfast has hit out at critics who call her ‘selfish’, as she claims there’s nothing wrong with it
The debate over whether it’s socially acceptable to put your towel down on a sunbed before you’re ready to use it has been ongoing for years. Every summer, videos are shared on social media of tourists racing down to their hotel swimming pool to dump towels and bags on sunbeds at the crack of dawn.
Many of these holidaymakers then leave the pool to go back to bed, have breakfast, or even do some sightseeing, but staking their claim on a sunbed means no one else can use it. However, one British tourist has defended this practice, insisting it’s not “selfish” to reserve a spot by the pool.
Rachel McGuigan and her husband, David, were on holiday in Turkey when they decided to put towels down on a couple of poolside beds to reserve them while they went off and had breakfast in their hotel.
The woman, from York, posted a video of her holiday on TikTok and was baffled by the backlash she got for showing herself reserving the sunbeds.
One person had commented on her video: “Just throw the towels in the pool. It’s not allowed to do this in most hotels and resorts.” And another had written: “I just remove them if they’re full. I don’t care, and the hotel doesn’t care.”
Rachel, who was holidaying at a resort in Fethiye, west of Antalya, said: “I just thought it was crazy that people were so upset about leaving a towel for half an hour to go for breakfast. They accused me of being selfish and all sorts.”
To try to make light of the situation, Rachel then uploaded a second video that appeared to show her leaving towels on a sunbed at 5.30am before going on a series of excursions that lasted until bedtime.
The video was a joke, and Rachel didn’t really reserve a sunbed all day without using it. However, it highlighted exactly how divisive this topic is, as her comments were flooded with people who believed she really had kept others from using the beds.
One person wrote: “So you reserved the beds and didn’t use them, but wouldn’t let anyone else use them? Have you ever thought that you may be the problem?”
Another added: “You go on holiday for a rest, but end up getting up early like you do at home, just to put towels out. Hotels are not for me, that’s why I Airbnb. Not having a go, just saying.”
However, Rachel has insisted that people are taking her videos too literally. She said the resort wasn’t full when they visited, so they were never taking sunbeds from other people who wanted them.
She said: “After the first time, I thought it would be funny to play up to it. It was a joke and I didn’t expect anyone to take it seriously, but I ended up opening a can of worms about sunbed reservations!
“We went to The Residence in Fethiye for two weeks in May for the second year running. There wasn’t a lack of sunbeds, so putting our towels down before going for breakfast wasn’t an issue for anyone. I was surprised with everyone commenting about it.”
The woman also admitted that it can be “annoying” when some tourists leave their towels on sunbeds for “hours on end”. However, she noted she doesn’t think it’s a problem when it’s “only for half an hour”.
