Rachel McGuigan and her husband David divided opinion after they placed towels on their poolside sunbeds while they went for their morning meal – now they’ve defended their actions
A holidaying couple have defended putting towels on their sunbeds while nipping for breakfast after sparking furious reactions online. Rachel McGuigan and her husband David enjoyed a plush vacation in Turkey. The couple, who work for a water gardening company, were holidaying with their friends Adam and Hayley.
The couple, from York, stayed at The Residence Hotel in the resort of Fethiye, west of Antalya. But Rachel divided opinion after she placed towels on their poolside beds for half an hour while they visited the resort’s restaurant. One angry holidaymaker, Harry Crumb, said: “I just remove them, if full. I don’t care and the hotel doesn’t care.”
Livid Brits take ‘sunbed wars to a whole new level’ with sneaky 2am tactics
Another added: “Just throw the towels in the pool. It’s not allowed to do this in most hotels and resorts.” But another person leapt to their defence, saying: “I don’t understand. I thought it was normal to get up, grab your towels, pop them on your bed then go for breakfast.”
“I just thought it was crazy that people were so upset about leaving a towel for half an hour to go for breakfast,” Rachel told What’s The Jam. “They accused me of being selfish and all sorts.”
Rachel, from York, then posted about it on her ‘Holidays & Hangovers’ TikTok page.
She then decided to stoke the fires further by posting a joke one of her leaving towels at 5.30am to go on a series of fake excursions that lasted until bedtime.
The punchline was that they never got to spend a minute on the sunbeds they reserved at dawn.
In the footage, she shared a screenshot of an angry user’s message that read: “Really annoys me that people put towels on sunbeds then go away somewhere? Why? Everyone wants to enjoy their holiday.”
Rachel captioned her clip: “Fine, you’ve all caught me out, this is how our day really looked…”
However, many furious Brits took the joke literally and flooded her comments section for a second time.
One riled tourist said: “So you reserved the beds and didn’t use them but wouldn’t let anyone else use them? Have you ever thought that you may be the problem?”
Another raged: “You go on holiday for a rest but end up getting up early like you do at home just to put towels out. Hotels are not for me, that’s why I Airbnb, not having a go, just saying.”
“The most council estate thing ever!” said a third, while Craig remarked: “Some people ain’t getting the joke, love it!”
After ruffling a few feathers, Rachel explained: “After the first time, I thought it would be funny to play up to it.
“It was a joke and I didn’t expect anyone to take it seriously, but I ended up opening a can of worms about sunbed reservations!”
She added: “We went to The Residence in Fethiye for two weeks in May for the second year running.
“There wasn’t a lack of sunbeds so putting our towels down before going for breakfast wasn’t an issue for anyone. I was surprised with everyone commenting about it.”
Rachel admitted it can be “annoying” when some tourists leave their towels on sunbeds “for hours on end”. But she doesn’t see it as a problem if it’s “only for half an hour and someone stays with them”.
