a day ago
Mother's controversial method for securing sunbeds DIVIDES opinion: 'You're part of the problem'
A British mother has sparked fierce backlash on social media after demonstrating her controversial method to bag a prized sunbed whilst on holiday.
Venice Alexandra, from Essex, documented the eyebrow-raising tactic in a TikTok video taken during her stay at a hotel in Tenerife in June.
Sunbed wars have been raging across Europe in recent years - a trend that sees tourists compete for prime sunbathing spots at hotel pools and on beaches, often armed with towels and blankets to 'reserve' their place before returning hours later.
The peak season practice has spiralled in popular hotspots frequented by Brits, such as Spain and Turkey, with staff at hotels clamping down on 'sunbed hoggers' by hiring bouncers and introducing parking ticket-style systems.
But in footage shared to her page, @lifewithven, Venice unveiled her strategy to secure a lounger by any means - even if it meant waking up hours before the first alarm of the morning goes off.
She explained in a caption: 'At 6am every morning, the same sunbeds at the kids pool get taken.
'I'm not usually one to race for a bed on holiday, however, the way our pools are set, there's limited beds by the kids pools.
The mother recorded herself posing in the mirror at 6.30am clutching a number of towels whilst wearing pyjamas and flip-flops, having hauled herself out of bed to embark on her mission.
She added in accompanying overlay text: 'I am up and ready to go to war for these beds.'
Venice ventured to the pool area outside and draped towels over three sunbeds to secure the prime spots, adding: 'No one comes between a mum and visibility of her kid going down a slide lol.'
Remarkably, the mother captured the moment she took herself 'back to bed' to catch up on sleep whilst avoiding the early-morning rush to snag a lounger. She smugly added: 'Venice 1 - Everyone else 0.'
Over 470 viewers flooded the comments with negative responses, with many blasting the mother for her 'pathetic' and 'selfish' tactic.
One person wrote, 'Now you're part of the problem,' while another said, 'Disgusting... you save beds, then come down at lunchtime, plain selfishness.'
A third said, 'I'd chuck your towels in the pool and use the beds,' as a fourth added, 'Sad and pathetic.'
Another wrote: 'Clearly you're a cheap person staying in a cheap hotel. Anywhere decent doesn't allow this.'
A fellow viewer said: 'How do you even enjoy the holiday when you're forced to get up at 6am and stress about these things. Simple solution is to just go to better hotels.'
Over 470 viewers flooded the comments with negative responses, with many blasting the mother for her 'pathetic' and 'selfish' tactic
However, one person defended: 'Y'all so mad but she made sure to save her spot before anyone else likeeeee I don't see a problem if you care that much then do the same. "First come first serve" yeah and she was first.'
It comes after a British couple captured the hilarious moment they discovered every sunbed had been snapped up by sun-worshipping guests in Benidorm only a minute after their hotel pool opened.
Mark and Karen had recently enjoyed a relaxing break at the Hotel Ambassador Playa - but were left stunned after noticing all but one broken poolside lounger had been occupied within seconds at 8.30am.
Sharing a clip to their TikTok page, @benidormmarkandkaren, Mark and Karen documented their own experience of having to hunt for a prized bed.
