German tourist awarded €1,000 after losing out on sunloungers at Greek hotel

A German holidaymaker has won a payout of almost €1,000 after being unable to find a sunlounger for himself and his family because other guests had got there first. The man, whose identity is not known, holidayed on the island of Kos, in Greece, with his family in 2024. He said that, despite waking up at the crack of dawn every morning to carry out a 20-minute search, he had not been able to lay claim to a lounger. The man, who had paid more than €7,000 to take his wife and two children on the holiday, was given a partial refund by the hotel after he complained. But Hanover district court ruled last month that the family of four was entitled to the larger sum of €986.70, and held that the tour operator in Germany was responsible. The court ruling was an unusual intervention in the so-called towel wars – or handtuchkriege – which many consider to be as integral a part of European package holidays as all-you-can-eat buffets and sunburn. Giving evidence in the case, the man told the court that neither the hotel nor the tour operator did anything to ensure that the resort’s own rules on “towel blocking” were abided by. Despite his requests to staff, guests who did this were not confronted or advised against doing so, he said. The man said he had risen early every morning – a phenomenon known as the “dawn dash” – (in German sometimes referred to as the morgendlicher liegestuhl sprint ) – to try to seize the desired spots. …