German tourist wins payout after failing to find sun lounger at 6am | World | News

A German holidaymaker has been awarded compensation after taking legal action over a holiday he claimed failed to deliver even basic access to sun loungers, with a court ruling the package did not meet reasonable expectations. The man, who was not named, complained after a trip to Kos in Greece in August 2024 left his family repeatedly unable to find sunbeds around the hotel pool, even when he went searching as early as 6am. He had paid roughly £6,200 (€7,186) for the package holiday for himself, his wife and their two children.

He told a court in Hanover that each day became a struggle to secure loungers, saying he and his family spent about 20 minutes daily trying to find space where they could sit together. In practice, he said most beds were already taken early in the morning despite a hotel rule banning guests from reserving them with towels.

He described a system where sunbeds were effectively “gone” before most guests were even awake, adding that hotel staff failed to step in or enforce the rules. As a result, he said his children were sometimes forced to sit or lie on the floor, reported the Mirror.

He argued the experience fell far short of what was promised in a paid package holiday. The court heard that the situation created what he saw as a daily “sunbed war”, driven by guests reserving spots in advance and leaving them unused for long periods.

The case was brought against the travel operator that sold the package, rather than the hotel itself. The father said the operator still bore responsibility for ensuring the advertised facilities were actually usable.

The district court agreed, ruling the holiday was “defective” because it did not provide the standard of experience customers could reasonably expect. Judges said the lack of available loungers meant the trip failed to deliver the “character” of the holiday that had been contracted.

The court also said travel providers must ensure hotels offer a “reasonable ratio of sun loungers to tourists”, stressing that access to basic facilities forms part of the package being sold, not an optional extra.

While the tour operator did not run the hotel directly, the judge ruled it still had a duty to ensure advertised amenities were realistically available. On that basis, the court ordered a partial refund.

The company was told to pay £850 (€986.70), having initially offered £300 (€350).

The ruling effectively increased the compensation after the court found the original payment did not properly reflect the impact on the family’s stay.

The decision comes ahead of the busy summer travel season, when similar disputes over poolside sunbeds are common across Mediterranean resorts.

The wider issue, often dubbed the “dawn dash”, sees holidaymakers waking up extremely early to reserve loungers before others. One traveller previously described arriving to find beds already occupied “three hours before the pool opened”, with towels left in place but no one using them.

He said: “It’s a bit silly. I do get why people do it, but it’s a vicious circle… They’re the ones creating the problem that they’re aiming to avoid.”

Another holidaymaker has also described spending over an hour trying to secure a sunbed at a hotel, highlighting how common the problem has become during peak holiday periods.