The high season of lazy pool holidays has arrived. And anyone staying in a hotel is familiar with the phenomenon of the so-called ‘towel-layers’. When the sun comes up, Jaz (18) and Dean (27) are already ready with their towels to ‘reserve’ the best sun lounger. “The ‘luxury seats’ under the parasol are gone instantly. That gives some stress.” But sometimes their efforts are in vain: some hotels are now taking action against it.
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A lovely lazy holiday can do some good. Parading towards the pool with a good book to do nothing all day, bliss. But your dream could be shattered once it turns out that all seats are ‘reserved’. After all, in almost every hotel you will have to deal with the infamous ‘towel-layers’.
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(Read more below the video.)
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🌸Maria
@marieemar_
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Jaz (18) is a born ‘towel-layer’
“Reserving my seat by the pool early in the morning is part of my vacation,” says Jaz. “I’ve been doing that since I was a kid. So you can say it’s a family trait.”
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“On the first day of my holiday, I usually check where the good places are at the pool. The next day I set an alarm and try to get those seats. I usually get up around eight o’clock, that’s not too bad, isn’t it.”
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Nobody really laughs at me about it. All my friends do it, even though not everyone may want to admit it.
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“Sometimes you’re just forced to do it,” says Jaz. “I am currently on holiday in Croatia. We arrived at our hotel around noon the first day and it soon became clear that we would be allowed to set our alarm clock the next morning. Literally all the chairs at the pool were ‘full’, while most of the chairs didn’t even have a person. If everyone does it, I will definitely do it.”
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“Nobody really laughs at me because I’m always going to lay down my towel. All my friends do it too, even if not everyone wants to admit it,” laughs Jaz. “I think it’s really a general thing. Indeed, in some hotels they now prohibit ‘towel-layers’ like us from reserving seats. I have already experienced that I was allowed to pick up my things at the reception in the morning.”
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Dean (27) became a ‘towel-layer’ against his principles this summer
“Normally I’m against the whole thing, but this summer I started doing the trick with the towel myself,” says Dean. “I went to Portugal with some friends. On our first day, we had not ‘reserved’ poolside loungers, and we were allowed to pay the price for that. There was no room anywhere, and the ground is not fantastic, I can tell you. (laughs)”
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(Read more below the photo.)
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“The second day we got up with the rest of the hotel to lay our towels. My friends and I came up with a kind of roller system: While one group went to eat, two people kept guarding the poolside chairs. Usually I was, because with a son of 2.5 years you don’t sleep long anyway. He was my alarm clock. (laughs) But even when I got up early, most of the seats were already taken. Especially the ‘luxury seats’ under the umbrella were instantly gone. That creates a certain stress factor.”
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Even when I got up early, most of the seats were already taken.
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However, there were signs by the pool clearly stating that the hotel would not tolerate the practice, Dean says. “But they allowed it anyway. The pool officially opened at 9 a.m. and the pool boy didn’t make his rounds until ten o’clock. Then that doesn’t make much sense. Sometimes towels were removed, but that didn’t happen often.”
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“I’m not going to die hard after this summer stay ‘towel-layer’, I believe,” says Dean. “I will only reserve my seats if I am forced to do it. But otherwise I don’t worry too much about it.”
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Not loved by everyone
‘Towel holders’ are not equally popular with everyone. The five-star GF Gran Costa Adeje in Tenerife is one of the many resorts that now have a policy against it. “If the guest leaves their towel on a chair outside pool hours, we’ll remove and store it,” said Eliseo Ortega, an employee at the hotel. “The pool team will then leave a card stating that the towel is properly stored and where the guest can pick up his towel.”
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(Read more below the video.)
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“We have had this policy since the hotel opened in 2001. We want to give all guests the opportunity to enjoy the pool. In the beginning we received complaints about our intervention, but over time the customers have accepted the policy and now they appreciate it too. Today the reactions are even very positive. Our customers are even spreading our promotion on social media like TikTok, which gets us even more positive comments.”
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