We always go down and get the beds, usually around 9.30am and it opens at 10, a huge queue forms. however you cannot move from the bed, for example, we like to go down to centre to get lunch, we had to take it turns, or the lifeguard removes your towels. but we are only gone for an hour!!! this time, might just do 1 day beach, 1 day pool!!

Is this more of a European destination thing, because whenever I have gone long haul there hasn't been much of a problem? The only place where we had problems was on our very first trip to Goa when a few people (Brits) insisted on getting up early and putting towels on sunbeds and then clearing off down to the beach for the morning. They would turn up mid afternoon and plonk themselves down on their sunbeds. This trend unfortunately caught on whereby we couldn't tell who had just gone for lunch or who hadn't been there all morning. Those of us who hadn't reserved beds ended up sitting by the pool on chairs provided by the hotel. After a few days, several of us complained to the management who in turn instructed the pool boys to remove towels after a short while and let other people have them.

I don't think it's just european sydney.

I have been amazed by people in Goa 'booking' sunloungers. One year I was sat on balcony happily enjoying the morning sun when I looked down..... they were queing for the sunbeds!!
They were still there when I came back from beach at about 5!

Now I can understand having maybe one or two days near the pool in Goa....but all those gorgeous beaches are usually so near....

you don't chuck the towels in the pool when people are about...oh no....you do it to the idiots who put their towel down before bed, say early morning. lol. best thing to do, to avoid confrontation, is to actually take their towel off, put it somewhere dry, and move the sunbed! You can have a chuckled from behind your book later on when/if they return!

MY hotel last year in Lido De jeslo, solved this problem of holiday makers placing towels on sun loungers by

You must buy a towel from them, and then you can use your own towel

Ive only ever experienced this twice, once in turkey a few years ago and this year in Goa.

It didnt bother us too much as usually we head out for the day on trips or to the beach.
This year in Goa i thought enough was enough, i was sick of seeing the same people get up at 6am just to put towels down and go back to bed!!
So just as we were waiting for our coach to pick us up to take us back to the airport a woman put her towel down on a sunbed at 1am!!! so after she went to bed i moved her towel to a little camping deck chair in the corner I wish i was there to see her face.

You know we're all laughing about this and I agree that beds shouldnt be reserved if you arent going to use them - also agree with the others who move them - but I wonder has it ever caused any friction - or even a bit of aggro when this has been done?

Everyones face was a picture last year when the hotel staff took the towels off beds not occupied - but I dont know that they would have been as "nice" if it was another holidaymaker who was then sitting on "their" bed.

Ive only done it once myself and the dirty looks I got for the rest of that week from the people who had reserved the beds and burgered off till lunchtime made me so uncomfortable - I thought they were going to lynch me!

I've moved towels off the beds, as advised to by the reception staff and yes there was friction/aggro...
infact there was bl**dy murder!

I can hold my own with anyone (and I did on this occasion) but I get enough grief at home, I don't need
it on holiday, so I'll not do it again. (well, I don't think I will! )

Had a similar situation in Barbados where someone was saving 5 chairs and 2no tables of course when told "someone is sitting there"my reply of they must be invisible didnt meet with his approval,and when I told my wife to sit down he became very angry,got dirty looks for the rest of the holiday,not that it bothered me,it did the wife though.

But isint that quite sad really - such a small issue of bad manners causes bad feeling?

As I said I did it once - when the "lady" came back (I'd been there two and a half hours by that stage so I felt quite entitled!)....the language was choice - and why should I have to get faffled on my holiday when Im supposed to be relaxing because of someone who thinks they own the flippen sunbed when they put a towel on it