Reserved pool chairs, Germans and their towels

It's in the way of the Brit towels, therefore must be German.

I read a comment on HolidayCheck.com that there were signs in the hotel (that they were reviewing) that specifically said 'No reserving of beach chairs' but that the Germans did it anyway. If I go on vacation to Greece in July and I get to the beach and find chairs with towels (and no other signs of occupation (like books, a bag, flip flops, etc), I will move towels. I do not care.

Last summer, I "borrowed" an umbrella at the pool that some Germans had next to their loungers that they "might want to use later" and I wanted to use now. I didn't even ask, I just took it. They actually came over and asked if I had taken the umbrella and I said 'No'. Was it rude of me to just take it? Yes, maybe. But it was even ruder for them put it next to their chair (with their towels) and reserve it for later. I have to add that while we had to pay for the chairs at the pool, there was no charge for the umbrellas.

Too true. Over the past 9 years we have gone most years to a German Aparthotel on Ibiza. We go there because we like it & the kids like it. We are going again this year incl our 18 year-old son who enjoys the archery, diving school etc.

The "Sonnenliegen" are stacked up each evening so its early morning before the first souls emerge (or send their kids out) armed with towels. Again there are signs that reserving "Sonneliegen" is not allowed but Germans are Germans. Its in their DNA. And we have seen cases where they reserve ones at the poolside, go off to the beach all day and on return collect the towels from the poolside. The spanish management dont like kicking up much fuss "Kunde ist König"...

At the evening shows the Chef Animation guy (hes from Berlin) regularly requests people not to reserve & gets louds applause but...

To be fair there are generally more than enough "Sonneliegen" available.

I guess that the key is to finally realise the purpose of "Sonneliegen" is to dry and air towels and not to be used to lie on...

Watched a hidden camera show many moons ago - turns out that in a typically plucky, British, pre-emptive way, most towels are placed on the loungers at about 3am when the Brits are all rolling in shit-faced, but still just about sharp enough to put towels down. The Germans then rise with the lark at 6am and grab the remainder. The Brits who were too drunk the night before, or simply arrive home after the Germans get up, have to put up with it.

I have personally seen, with my own good eye, Germans putting towels by the pool the night before. Needless to say, I poured goat urine* over all of them. The krouts, not the towels.

*I have a good regular supply

I would have no hesitation in chucking the damn things on the floor! (I´m very tough sitting on my sofa).

an irish friend of mine told me about this!! i didnt realize it was so widely known, and why they think they can get away with doing that, anyone laying out for an hour or 2 will notice that theyve done this and move their towel. is this done a lot in germany or something?
and yeah, like someone said, in america the towel would be long gone when you got back from sightseeing.

You're gettin' soft in your old age.

The legal truth behind 'towel reservations'

German's have competition.

sort of did that in Egypt, got a tongue lashing from some uptight German, but we sat there and just laughed, as the towels were supplied on this beach, so all the towels were the same and told them that they misplaced their chairs.

So true! Maybe in this case, though, it's almost justified (Although the "towel in the pool" idea would be more personally satisfying.)

I actually had someone steal a freakin' nightgown of mine out of our apartment complex laundry room in Colorado Springs. The ho must've actually snuck in there while the dryer was going, opened the dryer, found something she liked, stole it and then turned the dryer back on. After that, stealing a towel on a lounge chair is nothin'!

Same thing happened with underwear (not mine though) in my apartment complex in Oklahoma, got stolen out of the dryer in the laundry room.

How do you know it was a she? After all if you're weird enough to steal someones nightgown...

Hmmmm. Very true. I thought the same thing about Mariposa's underwear story. In that case it absolutely most likely was a guy

I do not believe anything Mariposa says regarding laundry. She has accused her washing machine of eating socks and then finds them rolled up in the bedding.
Mariposa, take a look inside your pillowcases, I'm sure you will find your undies there.

I just thought of another interesting point to this towel thing. It's sort of telling about the German species and world history. Germans amass huge numbers of towels, plan their invasion, sneak in when no one's looking, take over the place with lightning speed and the attitude that it was always theirs anyway (!) and then put up a big fight when you try to liberate "their" beach territory. We, however, don't bother so much with the long-term planning. These days we just decide we want a chair on the spur of the moment, swoop in there and take the oil... oops, I mean the towels, free the beach and then claim the place as ours. In the end, the Germans will lose. They always do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuIJqF8av6I

If I encounter this towel problem, then I am DEFINITELY going to the wrong places.

Same thing happened at UT in the apartment complex where I was living. It wasn't a she though!

Considering the premise of this discussion, that would seem to be a most appropriate response.

the longest beach towel in the world.
they must feel very proud

The towel thing would be very annoying, but if that is what Germans "do," then I'd probably remove a towel to get on with MY day, but also recognize that it's "just their culture." However, marking off space on the beach as "German" with sandcastle walls would really amaze me. Not annoy--I think I'd be too shocked for that. What's the purpose of going on holiday just to hang out with others like you? (As well as not minding that people thought that the Germans were exclusionary, given their awful history!) Well, I suppose that's what people want. European adults don't travel solo or in couples, but in large groups that just want to be groups.

Ah well. Yes, very annoying, and I salute you all for not resorting to stronger behavior!

there's an article in the telegraph saying that apparently Russians also use this trick, by placing pebbles or apples on chairs

She says, posting on an Internet forum for English-speaking expats in Germany...

Yeah, us Europeans are well weird like that. Whenever I see the coachloads of american or japanese tourists in London, I wish I was like them instead.

I always travel in groups, I cant help it. One minute I'm sitting at my desk, the next Im thundering in a massive herd across the serengeti

We were then again in July - including 19 year-old son... Two excellent weeks: came back much fitter due to attending Sven's daily Gymnastik "Leistung durch Gewalt"...

The sunbed-reservers were present but here they start at 8am and not whilst its still dark. What is annoying is the increased tendency to put one sunbed inverted on top of another, drape with towels & have the kids play in it for 10 minutes before pushing off to the beach for the rest of the day to return on the evening, claim the towels and disappear. Still, we had no issues getting sunbeds and having a great time.

Next year? I cannot see us being there with a 20-year old son fresh out of his Bundeswehr service - but he currently claims he wants to come...

Here we go then : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuIJqF8av6I

It's a funny ad, but it's f**king shit beer!

funf continues to amaze me with her total and utter misunderstanding of anything European.

Remind me once again why someone is posting from the USA on a Germany based ( mostly ) expat site?

Apparently this is why.

@ BD she's luvved up with some German dood she met on t'internet.

I love her sweeping pronouncements:

"internets". Ahh, so cute!

Ah blue! Lieber Trollchen! And other fans...As you know I am the ONLY person posting here who does not live in Germany. I also ONLY hang out with expats on sites such as this, and of course, NONE of these expats is from any culture different from my own. And NONE of you have ever overstated the case. I suppose I was thinking primarily of Danish and other Scandinavian adults who take their vacations en masse, as well as large groups of Italians, not to mention Brits on stag and hen do's. No, you are right, most European adults travel solo, or just with their spouse/partner. Not.

STD, I concur, this was shameful. At least I didn't write "the" internets. Sadly, this is locked in my brain from a silly miss elsewhere. All apologies.

Oops, automated editor corrected the intentionally misspelled "the."

When you are in a hole, stop digging eh?

Ah, blue! Thanks for looking out for me, Schatz!

We found that when you live in Germany, and wish to take a beach vacation from a German airport, well, you either have to go where the Germans go, or pay more and go out of your way not to.

Let's take Mallorca for an example. You could book a flight to Mallorca and do the lodging arrangements yourself (which we've done), or you can take a package, all-inclusive deal. The package is going to be quite a bit easier and cheaper, but if you depart from Munich, your plane and hotel are going to be full of Bavarians. Mallorca itself is practically partitioned off, with the Germans concentrated in the southeast, the Brits in the northeast, the Dutch in the southwest, and the native population inland and in Palma. (Correct me if my geography is wrong, this is how I remember it.) The individual Greek Islands are similarly patronized mostly by certain nationals and not others.

It makes sense. When we were in Tunisia (beach holiday on Djerba), we had to speak German the whole time, because that was the language the locals had learned to communicate with the majority of tourists in that particular area. And of course everyone else in the hotel was German, because we'd booked from a German website.

HEM, with the big whole wide world out there, why oh why return to the same place every year. I just don't get that. Maybe once every 5 or 10 yrs, but every year?

I used to think that way - but when looking for a Summer holiday that involves warmth, water, some sports & the family we have tried a few places and come back to this one. For us the holiday begins instantly when we arrive... Must be getting old

Exception: we all went to Hawaii 2 Christmases ago - a long long way but we all enjoyed it... Onxce the kids no longer come with us AND my wife is prepared to leav ethem there are a number of places on ze list...

STOP. You can get guns in your country. Buy one. Point at own head. Pull trigger.

But why? I am happy. You guys are seemingly proof that Germany is boring, or at least your own employment is. What a negative space you all live in!

It seems that I am already on the way to having a better German social life than a lot of you here, but at least you aren't putting up flags around this site saying "British tw*ts only."

Have a better night, right, mein Leibchen?

Kussy.

What have you been smoking? If you ever make it out here you will come down to reality with one hell of a bump...

From someone who has to resort to meeting someone online to get a cyber romance . . .

Oh the irony.

I am so sick of reading about "these Germans and their towels" ad nauseam.

I am not German, but if I go somewhere and there are places free, I will put my coat on them. I would not believe anyone who says that they never do so.

Let ***s/he who is without sin ... and all that.

***(I won't believe them anyway)

(This probably belongs on the Vent string but I think I have been "chatting" too much, so it would be removed)

We were talking about stereotypes in my German class the other day. I brought this thread up with my German teacher, who is from Berlin. She said that all tourists have a strange mentality. Travelers don't do this sort of thing, but tourists do, and tourists are tacky from whatever country. Hm. Still, it is the German tourists who do this, but she makes a good point.

I also said that I think that Germans must not have a sense of humor, in jest, as she disappointed me by saying that little kids do not flood into peals of laughter when they make the connection between "du wirst" and wurst. I was amused to make the connection. *Sniffle. I'd not even have a German kid who'd back me on this being hilarious. *Sniffle. Better to think that they don't have a sense of humor than to think of myself as immature.