David Eggert was on vacation with his wife and two children on the Greek island of Kos when he claims his children were left sprawled on the concrete floor by the pool because they were hogging the sun loungers.
A German father who took legal action after a battle at a five-star hotel over a sunbed has attacked tourists who claimed the sunbeds at dawn before disappearing for hours after taking legal action.
David Eggert, 48, sued his holiday tour operator after claiming his children were left sprawled on poolside concrete after hotel guests reserved each of the 400 sun loungers at the luxury Greek island resort by claiming their spots with towels. The pilot paid more than £6,200 to take his wife and two children on holiday to Kos in 2024, and this month won £770 after successfully taking legal action against the travel company.
David, from Dusseldorf, has now spoken out about what happened, claiming that guests at the five-star Grecotel Kos Imperial resort were leaving towels on sun loungers early in the morning before heading back to bed or into the city, despite signs warning against this practice.
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Talking to him daily mailHe said he got up early every morning to try to get a spot by the pool during his family’s ten-night stay, but never succeeded. Instead, she said her children had no choice but to lie on the cement floor while the sun loungers remained unused for hours.
“It was a big hotel, very elegant, with about 400 sun loungers. And all the 400 sun loungers had towels,” he said. “Actually, people didn’t use the sun loungers and the guests either went into town or went back to bed and slept. Some stayed out until midday. Then they came back later and you still couldn’t get a sun lounger. And that was the main problem. There were signs everywhere in German and English saying that it was forbidden to reserve sun loungers.”
David’s decision to take legal action has raised eyebrows as resorts across Europe grapple with a long-running hotel “towel war”, in which guests head to the pool early in the morning to secure the best spots by laying down their towels before breakfast. David said he made the decision to take legal action because the hotel and tour operator failed to take action against tourists who flaunted rules against the practice and ignored complaints he made.
Judges in Hanover ruled in his favor and ordered the tour operator to refund him £851.75. But in a surprising twist, David admitted he had joined the controversial practice on previous holidays, saying parents often felt they had no choice.
“With two kids, you really only have two options: reserve your sunbed with a towel or not have a sunbed at all. Period. That’s it. You either join in or you say, ‘Okay, I’m sensible, this is stupid, I won’t do it.’ And okay, that’s fine, but of course you won’t get your sunbed,” he said.
“But when you have two children and you need to keep an eye on them while they swim, you need to be close to the water and not somewhere far away. You have to keep an eye on them. So I can understand anyone who does this, even if it’s something I know a lot of Brits might find a bit strange, because the reality is: if I don’t do it, I don’t get a sun lounger.”
He added that he does not see the problem as a cliché between British and German tourists, but as an issue faced by families across Europe. He compared it to football rivalry “when each side blames the other” and added that it is a “tradition,” but a “fun tradition among friends.”
This is believed to be the first time such a controversial poolside practice case has ended up in court, with judges ruling that holidaymakers should not be expected to engage in battles for poolside beds by removing towels from other guests’ sun loungers. The court said it was up to the tour operator to intervene and stop the crazy fight before things escalated.
The court concluded that tour operators must ensure that hotels have a fair system with a balance between the number of sunbeds and guests. David, a former Air Berlin pilot, warned of his victory, saying his case could open the door for travel companies to be hit with millions of pounds in claims unless they clamp down on dawn dash.
He warned that it is a “problem in all hotels” and that with the spread of his story, others might be inspired to take action themselves with the busy summer holiday season approaching. He said that while his payout was not huge, if large numbers of tourists start suing the companies “the costs will run into the millions,” which will then “turn into enormous financial damage.”
There is no specific law against the tactic of running downstairs to claim a sun lounger before breakfast, but most resorts make it clear with signs and notices that it is frowned upon. Many hotels warn guests that if they leave towels on empty loungers, they may be removed after 30 to 60 minutes. But the wording of the notices is often vague, which can cause disputes among tourists.
TUI Deutschland had already paid David €350 (£302.50) in compensation before his case went to court. The court documents read: “The plaintiff claims that every day during the vacation, all sun loungers in the hotel pool area were reserved with towels starting at 6 a.m. Therefore, the plaintiff and his family, who did not adopt this reservation practice, were unable to obtain a sun lounger by the pool to relax and sunbathe.”
Dr Patrick Skeries, of Hannover District Court, said the key issue in David’s case was whether or not tour operators could remain guests on reserved sun loungers, or whether they had an obligation to intervene. He said: “The court ruled that the tour operator is obliged to intervene. Otherwise, the price of the trip may be reduced because the travel service is defective.”
