No, it’s not okay to claim a pool chair with your towel at a hotel

Aug 22, 2023

Let's dive in.

I was once staying at a hotel in Corfu in the peak of summer. The price for the standard room I was staying in, which looked like it hadn’t received an upgrade since the ’80s, was astronomical. So why did I choose to pay for a sub-par room? Because of the hotel’s stunning infinity pool, perched on a cliff overlooking the Med.

In the months leading up to the trip, I daydreamed about reading a book while bathing in the sun on one of those poolside deckchairs. But once I got there, I quickly realised that if I wanted to make this dream a reality, I would need to rise with the sun. Why? Because hotel guests would get up early, leave their towels on the deck chair, go off and eat their breakfast at a leisurely pace and then return at a more decent hour to begin their poolside lounging.

Now, some may argue: I’ve paid for this hotel, I can use it how I want. And yes, you have paid for the room in which you’re staying. If the room had a private plunge pool, this would be a very different discussion, but the hotel’s common pool is part of a public space that every guest is entitled to use, and should be treated as such.

Towel on pool chair

Let’s define ‘public space’. When in a public space, you’re entering an unspoken agreement that you’re occupying an area that is meant for everyone to enjoy equally, which is undermined when someone calls “dibs” on a pool lounger and prevents other guests from enjoying the space for extended periods of time.

So, how long is too long to reserve a chair? Time to clear the murky waters. We’re not saying you have to be glued to the chair the entire time of use. If you forgot something in your room or need to go to the bathroom, then by all means use the towel as a ‘reserved’ sign. But if you plan on leaving the pool area for more than 30 minutes, we think it’s within the rights of other hotel guests to gently remove your towel from the pool chair and claim it as their own. For all they know, you could be done with the chair and have left your towel for the hotel staff to clear.

Same goes with eating. If you want to quickly duck out to the nearest restaurant to grab some takeaway to eat by the pool, that’s acceptable. But don’t head out for a long lunch and expect the chair to be unoccupied when you return. There’s a reason hotels have a poolside menu.

If you ever find yourself arriving at an empty hotel pool that’s surrounded by ‘taken’ chairs, don’t throw the towel in on your lounge session. We give you permission to politely claim one as your own.