A German tourist received nearly 1000 euros after a vacation in Greece where he could not use sunbeds — they were occupied from early morning with towels.
A tourist from Germany complained to the court that during his vacation in Greece he could not sunbathe on a sunbed because it was constantly occupied by other tourists who marked them with towels. The court awarded him compensation of nearly 1000 euros. This man, whose name is not disclosed in the press, was on vacation with his family in Greece in 2024. He woke up every morning at six o'clock to reserve a sunbed — and still failed, BBC reports.
For the family vacation at a hotel on the Greek island of Kos — he, his wife, and two children — he paid 7186 euros. Upon returning, he complained to the Hanover District Court about the tour operator for not combating the practice of "reserving" sunbeds with towels.
In court, he accused the organizer of allowing the system of reserving sunbeds with towels and not taking any action to stop it. This created conditions for the constant occupation of sunbeds. As a result, he said, his children had to sunbathe on the floor.
The tour operator had already paid him 350 euros in compensation before the court, but the court decided that this was insufficient and awarded him 986 euros and 70 cents.
This story showed that even seemingly trivial matters like occupied sunbeds can become grounds for legal disputes, bb.lv writes. Tourists have the right to demand more comfortable conditions if they are already included in the cost of the vacation.
