'Selfish' move at popular Aussie hotel called out: 'Ridiculous'
There's nothing quite like lounging around a hotel pool basking in the sunshine — except, of course, if you have to go to "war" to do it.
That appeared to be the case at a popular Queensland hotel according to one guest, who compared the "selfish" scenes at The Calile Hotel on Wednesday to "the Fortitude Valley hunger games".
With rooms starting at $400 a night, the hotel in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane is popular among those looking for a luxury night away. But a standout amenity it seems is the hotel pool and sunbeds. So much so, guests flock to the area at the crack of dawn to secure a spot for the day— even if they aren't there to swim or sunbake.
After missing out on beds by 9am on Tuesday, Emily Cooper, who was visiting from Melbourne, filmed the wild scenes on Wednesday morning, ensuring she got a spot nice and early.
She filmed people strolling down to the pool, before dumping their towels and walking away. They do so not with the intention to swim right away but reserve it for the day it seems, meaning those who like a sleep-in will inevitably miss out on some quality lounging-around-the-pool time.
It's a practice European sun worshipers are renowned for at beachfront resorts around the world.
"What time were all the day beds taken at The Calile," Ms Cooper wrote on TikTok with the hastags 'poolwars' and 'sunbedwars'. The answer is 5.52 am, she revealed. At that time, she pans around the pool area from her balcony above to reveal a towel laid out on each and every chair, and only a handful of bodies could be seen.
"The first day we got up and every bed was gone," she told Yahoo News Australia, adding she "didn't know it was a thing".
"The next day was our last day and we didn’t have anything planned except having a pool day. We’re early risers naturally so I figured I’d just go down when I woke up and that’s when I started filming".
'Selfish' sunbed moved slammed
Dozens were baffled by the "nonsense" move and called it out online. Some were shocked "this type of thing exists".
"I can't stand that type of hogging behaviour," one fumed in the comments. "Use the sunbeds while you're down at the pool but no calling dibs all day when you're not even there."
"We need to create an etiquette around this ‘towel saving’ business. If you’re not there, you don’t get to save it," said another.
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Meanwhile, some thought they had a solution to the "insane" and "ridiculous" behaviour. "Chuck the towels on the ground and take the seat," one said and others agreed. "Must be foreign tourists," one assumed.
"I remember being with my UK cousins in Tenerife them doing this, how odd to an Aussie!! I would never," said another.
Others pointed out an even bigger issue than calling dibs on sunbeds — that people on holiday were up that early to begin with. Some weren't bothered by the move though.
"Snooze you lose," one said. Another said this is "the unspoken rule of any hotel" and it's "known to all who stay".
Hotel policy on sunbed 'hogging'
A hotel spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo News sunbeds cannot be pre-booked, but they do their best to ensure "all guests enjoy their time at the pool deck".
"If day beds are left unoccupied for longer than 15 minutes, they will be reallocated by our pool service team to any guests waiting to use them," they explained. "This policy is communicated via signage displayed on each day bed and in our guest confirmation letters."
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