How to win the sunbed wars! They are already raging over Europe. But an ingenious series of new tricks mean you might never face the pre-breakfast sprint to the loungers again…

Clayton Smith takes his job seriously. He is up at dawn in Spain, focused, uncomplaining and determined.

Armed with a few rolled-up towels and smart sneakers that may or may not have given him an advantage when the first gunshot was fired at 9 a.m., he looks remarkably confident.

Mr Smith, 63, who recently retired from a career in the maritime industry and lives in Blackpool, did his research.

As early as 4 p.m., he knows where the pool area will be in shade and where he can best attract the attention of a passing waiter when he needs a drink.

He also knows that five other people trust him. ‘I’m a sunbed packer,’ says Mr Smith, who with his wife Paula arrived at the Melia Costa del Sol Hotel in Torremolinos with two other couples for a ten-night holiday.

‘You really don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself,’ I tell him. ‘Did you know that you can reserve sun loungers at this hotel’s beach even before your arrival? Wouldn’t that make life easier?’

‘I didn’t know that,’ he says. ‘But that’s not very convenient because some of us aren’t keen on the beach. ‘Paula doesn’t like sand on her toes’.

It’s a shame, because he and his friends could easily get sun loungers in the front row for 10 euros a day, or any of the other rows for 8 euros a day. And they could have arranged it back home in Blackpool too.

The advance booking option is an important new development in efforts to reduce hostilities in the ongoing sunbed wars across Europe.

Following the sensational case of German tourist David Eggert, who successfully sued his tour operator following a dispute over sunbeds at a luxury hotel on the Greek island of Kos, something of a crackdown is on and the stakes are higher than ever.

The 48-year-old pilot from Düsseldorf claimed that during a family holiday in 2024, all 400 sunbeds at the five-star Grecotel Kos Imperial were booked with towels (despite waking up at 6am to get a pair of sunbeds for himself) and leaving his children lying on the concrete around the pool. He was awarded compensation of more than £800.

“People weren’t actually using the sunbeds,” Mr Eggert told the Daily Mail. ‘They just went to town or went back to bed and slept. It’s a very important decision. When the holiday season begins and the same problem is encountered, people will say: “Look, someone filed a lawsuit against a tour operator on this issue. I will do the same.”

The rules of engagement are already changing. Resorts in Cyprus and Spain have introduced systems where guests are assigned their own sunbeds for the duration of their stay, thus preventing the arrival of dawn, at least in theory.

At St George Beach Hotel & Spa Resort in Paphos, Cyprus, you will be assigned a sun lounger upon check-in. You can then change your position according to availability by meeting with one of the pool attendants.

The hotel’s website states: ‘Our Sunbed Allocation System works fairly and carefully.’ ‘Every effort is made to accommodate guest requests and ensure that every visitor has the opportunity to enjoy their preferred venue by the pool or at the beach.’

At the five-star, adults-only Iberostar Selection Sabila in Tenerife, guests must reserve sun loungers via an app. They can do this up to 48 hours in advance. If they do not take their seats by 10.30, the place will be opened to others.

This year I stayed at Sandal resort in Curacao, where blocking sun loungers (leaving personal items behind) is not allowed. The signs state that ’empty sun loungers will be vacated every day after 11:00 and every 90 minutes thereafter’.

Cruise companies are also addressing this issue. P&O Cruises has adopted a ‘lounge alone’ policy, where a member of staff wears a beige cap on the head of a sun lounger with the following message: ‘If left for more than 30 minutes items will be moved to the sun lounger alone collection point.’

It was an apparent disregard for others that drove Rachel Rodgers to take matters into her own hands while staying at the four-star Mediterranean Palace hotel in Tenerife recently.

Carnival Cruise Line uses a timed decal system. According to official policy, ‘Crew members of the ‘ChairShare Team’ monitor sun lounger usage and when they see a seat that contains a towel or personal item but appears to be empty, a sticker is placed on the chair indicating when the sticker is placed and when personal items are to be removed’.

‘If the chair remains unoccupied for 40 minutes, its contents are removed and held for the guest’s safety.’

The positive side of this action plan is that passengers are given an indication of when a sunbed will be available. The hogger has timed out and the person looking for a lounger can come in.

Maybe it’s past time to pre-book a sun lounger. After all, we choose and pay for a particular seat on a plane or when going to the cinema or theatre. The problem is that many hotels don’t have enough sunbeds to go around. Therefore, a stampede occurred.

Melia Costa del Sol has 540 rooms and the hotel is almost fully booked until October. That means, judging by two people’s post, there would need to be more than 1,000 sunbeds to keep everyone happy.

‘That would be impossible,’ says Jose Benitez, Melia’s assistant Guest Experience Manager. ‘So what we do is put a note on all sun loungers informing them that staff will remove towels and other items if the sun lounger is not used for 45 minutes.’

Mr Benitez admits that this rarely happens in practice because it would cause too much turmoil. So, is he afraid that guests will take legal action if they cannot find sunbeds in the coming months? ‘All guests sign a contract on arrival and nowhere does it say there is a sunbed for everyone,’ he says. ‘We just rely on people to be considerate.’

It was a distinct disregard for others that drove Rachel Rodgers to take matters into her own hands while staying at the four-star Mediterranean Palace hotel in Tenerife recently.

Furious at the hoggers emerging from the shadows at 6am, he began removing towels from reserved sunbeds and filmed his adventures to the tune of The Heavy’s How You Like Me Now, ending with a triumphant bow.

The social media video has been viewed 2.3 million times; many hailed him as a hero and some suggested he should be given a free holiday.

‘I enjoyed doing it and if I had a little more time I would keep doing it; I might even throw some away. [the towels] in the pool,’ says Ms Rodgers. When asked to comment on his critics, he said: ‘I don’t care about anything.’

It’s clear that this is a sensitive issue. Tui did not want to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail and Jet2 said ‘sunbed policies are governed and managed by individual hotels’.

Meanwhile at Melia Costa del Sol, where the swimming pool’s glass doors open at 9am, Mr Smith is only half-satisfied with his morning’s work. He placed six sun loungers in a perfect location next to the pool, guaranteed sunshine until the afternoon – but not all in a row.

Melia has launched a system to reserve your sun loungers by the hotel pool and beach

A couple (“Probably from Germany,” he says, “but don’t quote me”) are sitting on two lounge chairs in the middle of the six-person row and are reluctant to ask them to move for fear of causing a scene.

‘Even if you can book sunbeds in advance, you may not necessarily be positioned in the best spot,’ says Joanne Bromilow, of Plymouth, who is part of Mr Smith’s gang. ‘If you’re paying a lot of money to stay in a resort, you don’t want a sunbed next to the toilet or in a dark corner.’

This must be on the minds of guests at the even larger Sol Hotel a few hundred meters down the strip. There are around 1000 rooms at Sol, which perhaps explains why most of the sun loungers around the main pool were reserved and towels hung behind them when I arrived at 7am.

Some even have signs saying ‘This is my place’. Toril Rasmussen, 40, from Norway, is on holiday with her daughter and grandson. ‘I come every morning before breakfast and reserve two sun loungers,’ he says. ‘Over the years it’s become a ritual and I quite like it.’

This is the early morning alarm call I could do without. And unlike Mr. Smith’s wife, Paula, I like the sand between my toes. Around 7pm, I booked an eight-euro sun lounger at the beach club for the next day. I would like to be in second place if possible.

Then, 15 hours later, after a good night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast as long-suffering Mr Smith queues up at the entrance to the pool, I walk down to the beach, give my name and am shown to my lounge chair, which has an upside-down plastic table and the word ‘Reservado’ written on it. Eight euros will be added to my bill at check-out.

This certainly sounds like a bargain to me, compared to the five-star Hotel Martinez in Cannes, where a cabin on a pontoon costs 757 euros for two, with a bottle of Taittinger, fruit plate and mineral water included in the package.

At Martinez beach, the cost of a sun lounger in the front row is 99 euros per person, while sun loungers in the other rows are 74 euros.

British holidaymakers are known as the biggest offenders of sunbed bagging; But there was good news last summer when a survey of German tourists revealed that 71 per cent believed it was a ‘predominantly German’ tradition.

Lisa Henning, boss of Cheshire-based travel agency Inspire, believes sunbed booking will soon be available as an add-on.

‘I can see sunbed booking becoming an important part of the holiday,’ he says.

‘Many of our customers are particular about where their room is located in their hotel and I can see that they want to make sure they have a sun lounger in the right place and are willing to pay for it.

‘Hotels should try to offer sun lounger room type.’

Mr. Smith may need some convincing because he enjoys a challenge, especially since it means he gets the day off for a round of drinking as a reward for his early morning exploits.