A week-long holiday in Salou, Spain, turned into a competitive race for sun loungers, according to a British mother who claims guests enlisted children to secure spots before the pool area officially opened.
Cait Fennel, 42, traveled with her husband Matty and their five-year-old son Ralphy to the Hotel Best Oasis Park on August 5. Upon arrival, she observed that free sun loungers were scarce. Holidaymakers began queuing outside the pool area as early as 8:45 a.m., despite the pool not opening until 10 a.m.
Fennel reported that once the gates opened, guests would "charge" towards the loungers, with children reportedly being sent ahead to claim them. She observed that some guests would leave beach bags in the queue to reserve spots and even used the hotel gym to gain early access to the pool area.
After three days of being unable to secure a sun lounger, Fennel and her family decided to join the early morning queues, though they did not participate in the running. She posted a video of the situation online, with the caption "The sun bed wars are wild! Pool doors open at 10am - it's survival of the fittest!"
The footage showed children sprinting to the loungers while adults followed, placing towels on them. Photos also depicted beach bags in the queue.
"The second they opened the doors they would charge. They definitely enlisted the kids to run and get the sun beds," Fennel stated. "It was madness. I've been on a lot of holidays and never experienced anything like that."
Fennel noted that the chaos led her family to avoid the pool for the first three days of their trip. "The first three days we didn't go to the pool for that reason. We saw how busy it was and never got beds," she said. "We had to get involved to an extent. We actually went down and attempted to get a bed, we didn't run. The rest of the time we spent our time on the beach."
Fennel believes the daily scramble detracted from the relaxation of their approximately £3,000 holiday and suggested the hotel could have taken measures to prevent such a situation. "It's not what you're on holiday for, you go on holiday to relax," she commented. "It was chaos, it was stressful."
Her online post garnered over 27,000 views, with commenters expressing dismay. The Hotel Best Oasis Park has been contacted for comment.