Woman reveals how she saves sunloungers for holidaymakers – and charges £500 a time
A WOMAN has revealed how she reserves sunloungers for the rich – and makes £500 in the process.
The battle for sunbeds is a scene that plays out around hotel swimming pools every summer.
But a certain group of holidaymakers are able to avoid the carnage by hiring a sunbed sitter.
Alexia Parmigiani works in Ibiza as a luxury concierge, and in an article in Business Insider she explained the ins and outs of her role.
She said: “It’s not about contacting the client every minute but anticipating their lifestyle.”
And part of that lifestyle includes making sure rich holidaymakers don’t lose their coveted spots on those poolside beds.
To bag a sunlounger at the Ibiza’s best beach clubs, guests could end up paying as much as €150 (£129) for a single lounger with a four-person bed costing as much as €500 (£430).
Despite the hefty price tag, if guests are more than 20 minutes late guests will lose their spot and won’t be entitled to a refund.
Holidaymakers who don’t want to be up at the crack of dawn fighting over a lounger can hire Alexia to reserve their spot.
Instead the sunbed sitter will arrive at the beach club at 10am to nab the best poolside position for her clients.
As she waits for them to arrive, she refrains from sitting on the bed to avoid leaving creases in the linen.
At the same time, she’s in contact with the guest’s private driver so she can be ready for their arrival.
While hiring a sun bed sitter may sound like an ideal solution to this year’s upcoming sun bed wars, Alexia’s services don’t come cheap at €500 (£430) per day.
This is on top of the cost of hiring the sunbed as well as any other experiences and activities.
On top of this bill, holidaymakers will still need to pay for their sunbed and any other experiences.
Instead of hiring a sun bed sitter most people will rush to reserve a sun bed using their towel.
Renowned etiquette expert, William Hanson, believes there is a 30-minute grace period on poolside reservations.
William told the Sun Online Travel: “In the morning, at the start of the day, and you’re by the pool after breakfast, then it’s fine at 8.30 to put your towel on the bed to reserve your spot.”
However, there are some caveats to that 30 minute grace period.
For instance, if someone is actually using the pool, then the lounger is still theirs to use.
Meanwhile a video shared on Tiktok sparked debate about which nations are the worst offenders when it comes to sunbed hogging.
A German commenter wrote: “I’m German and live in the U.K. On my last holiday to Greece it was the English that had the towels out before 6 am.”
Meanwhile, someone else said it was French holidaymakers who were the biggest hoggers, writing: “The French were up at 5am on my holiday I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
But one Brit admitted that we are just as bad as anyone else when it comes to sunbed hogging.
They said: “I’m at an English hotel in Spain and can confirm it’s us Brits. Lots of towels and no Germans.”