Revealed – the holiday destination with the most sun loungers! Crete is the place to go
Sunbed wars at Britain’s favourite holiday destinations continue unabated this summer, with swarms of families rising at the crack of dawn to bag a spot by the pool.
But a hotel in Crete has been revealed as the place where holidaymakers have the best chance of avoiding the fierce morning race to reserve a lounger.
With 3,500 sunbeds available, there is at least one sunbed available for each of the 2,150 guests staying at the Lyttos Beach Hotel on the Greek island.
Expanding across seven pools and the hotel’s private beach, there are always loungers available, according to research by holiday experts On The Beach.
A further five hotels also have more sunbeds than guests. These include the Akti Imperial Deluxe Resort & Spa Dolce by Wyndham in Rhodes, Greece, where there are 2150 sunbeds for 1850 guests.
A hotel in Crete has been revealed as the resort with the most sunbeds available to its 2,150 guests. File image
Expanding across seven pools and the hotel’s private beach, there are always loungers available, putting an end to the vicious sunbed wars. File image
Also in Rhodes, the Lindos Imperial Resort & Spa offers 1800 loungers to 1600 guests.
The Rixos Premium Seagate in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and the Titanic Palace And Aquapark Resort in Hurghada, Egypt, offer a sunbed to guest ratio of 1.03, with 1850 beds to 1800 guests and 1196 beds to 1160 guests respectively.
Meanwhile the Leonardo Plaza Cypria Maris Beach Hotel & Spa in Paphos in Cyprus offers 800 loungers for 790 guests.
Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach, said: ‘The issue of reserving sun loungers at hotels has been raging since the birth of package holidays! The reality is that a lot of holidaymakers – even those who say it’s wrong – have chanced their arm with a 6am towel dash for the best poolside spots.
‘We have six brilliant hotels in fantastic locations that have more sunbeds than guests, which means you can wake up without setting an alarm knowing there will always be a sunbed available for you.’
It comes as tourists staying at resorts across the Mediterranean this summer have been filmed fighting it out in hotspots like the Costa del Sol and locals in Benidorm have been caught setting up loungers in the middle of the night to beat the swarm of Brits.
Earlier this month families including young children were caught on camera racing out of the gates to grab a sunbed at a resort in Benidorm – as VIP loungers watched on in hysterics.
Tourists carrying towels and bathing gear sprinted past one another to make sure they secured the prime spot after the doors were opened to the Spanish resort’s pool first thing in the early morning.
To add insult to injury, the tourists’ mortifying attempts to secure a bed were filmed by VIP guests, who seemingly didn’t have to put themselves out to secure a lounger.
Bizarre footage shows holidaymakers running full pelt. Others appeared to temper their pace, slowing to a power walk as they seemingly deciding not to demean themselves in the pursuit of a sunbathing spot.
Families including young children were caught on camera racing out of the gates to grab a sunbed at a resort in Benidorm
This month MailOnline revealed how sunbed wars have become so intense at one hotel on the Costa del Sol that they have introduced a parking ticket style system – with towels left on beds unattended removed after a time limit.
Staff at the hotel, which has seen tourists go to extreme lengths to secure a sun lounger, have brought in new measures to curb the madness.
Guests at the Estival Torrequebrada in Malaga, who have often paid thousands to enjoy a break, have been warned they can no longer leave towels as a marker on a sunbed to claim it for a whole day.
Management instead began leaving cards on sunbeds with towels, handbags and other personal belongings on them, warning they will be removed after 45 minutes if they remain unoccupied.
People queue for sun loungers at Hotel Estival Torrequebrada near Malaga – many brought chairs and a good book as they waited for almost two hours before the beach and pool opened
Hilarious footage captures the moment holidaymakers get the whistle as they race to collect their sunbeds for the day