A frazzled mum claims she was left almost "in tears" on her summer holiday as intense sunbed wars broke out. Footage showed keen Brits "swarming like ants" for the best spots by the pool first thing in the morning.
Cayleigh Tuffs splashed out £2,000 for a Jet2 package holiday to Magic Aqua Rock Gardens in Benidorm with husband Andrew Tuffs, 37, and eight-year-old daughter Charley Tuffs. However, the 34-year-old was on the verge of tears on their first day – a Sunday – after she had to sit under a waterslide because no seats were free.
Since spending time at the resort where they were booked to enjoy an all-inclusive stay, Cayleigh claims she’s noticed that the pool is packed with holidaymakers. The Brits start queuing for their loungers an hour before the pool even opens at 10am, she reports.
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The mum then noted that when the gates do open its total "chaos" as holidaymaker sprint across the slippy floor to throw towels on the beds in the shade. They recorded the footage of tourists "swarming like ants".
In the clip, shot on August 3, Cayleigh can be heard saying 'Jesus Christ' as she and Charley waits to see if Andrew, who began queuing at 9am, could bag a spot for them. Andrew managed to reserve two beds, one more than the crane operative could grab during his other attempts on Monday and Wednesday.
On his unsuccessful attempts, Andrew had tried to queue at 9.20am – 40 minutes before the pool was open. Cayleigh says there's at least three different entrances to the pool and some have even resorted to using a 'sneaky' entrance near the toilet blocks.
The mum-of-one claims that despite there being a rule against towels left on beds for more than 20 minutes, some are left for up to six hours unattended. Cayleigh says the experience has been "horrendous" and that she will never go back to Benidorm.
Cayleigh from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said: "They're like ants scurrying for food. It's horrendous. We've seen people throw towels across the pool to get beds and people are running even though it's massively slippery.
"We go on holiday five times a year and this is the first time we've ever seen anything like this. On the first day we got here in the afternoon so there was no chance of getting a bed so we sat under a slide to get some shade.
"I was nearly in tears, it was horrendous. I've never wanted to cry on holiday before, but I did on that first day."
She explained the intense attempts to get a lounger and noted: "The pool opens at 10am and Andrew has had to queue while I get Charley ready. He started queuing at 9am so we could get a bed and watch Charley play in the pool.
"When it opens one of the staff tells people not to go [and get a bed] yet but you can see them edging forward to try and get there early.Staff have no control.
"There's a sign that says 'if you leave towels for 20 minutes, we'll remove them' but I haven't seen that happen in five days.There's people saving beds for five or six hours when nobody's been on them.
"That's really frustrating when I just want to watch my daughter play."
Plus, she thinks it’s a safety issue too. Cayleigh added: "When we're not sitting around the pool we can't see her play so she's either got to stay with us or we've got to be in the pool with her. We can't leave her on her own.
"Everyone's moaning about the situation but I just avoid the conflict.People I've shown have been shocked about it and they think it's hilarious.
"You've just got to laugh about it.I've never seen so many people packed into one area in my life.
"I’ll never come with my family again because of how chaotic it is. I've been with my friends before but it's been nothing like this year."
The family flew home on August 4 after five nights away. She says she usually goes to "more relaxed" destinations like Tunisia or Turkey.
Having posted the footage on Facebook her friends and family noted: "It's like a swarm of ants when you lift a rock up lol."
Another person said: "My idea of hell. And pushed right up against people you don't know, and in the shade!! Madness."
A third added: "Nightmare." Magic Costa Blanca, which oversees Magic Aqua Rock Gardens, has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for Jet2 said: "We have no control over this and encourage hotels to set their own policies on guests reserving sunbeds."
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