'I rush to get sunbeds three hours before the pool opens on holiday - I'm not sorry'

A mum has revealed how she gets up three hours before the pool opens on to get the best sunbed spot, sparking debate among vacation-goers.

Securing that prime lounger spot - ideally near the pool, basking in the sunshine and close enough to keep the family together - is a common struggle during resort stays. At popular European holiday destinations, this is particularly true during the summer peak.

Mum-of-three Danielle has confessed that she's not ashamed of her early morning dash to nab the perfect poolside spot. "Yes, I'm that mum who gets up really early to put her towels around the pool so that I'm guaranteed to get a bed," she said on .

Sharing her tactics, Danielle explained that while on holiday in Benalmadena, Spain, she routinely woke up at 7am to ensure she nabbed the best seats by the pool at the Holiday Village Hotel, which opened at 10am.

Despite the pool being closed off until 10am, guests can use towels to stake their claim beforehand. Come 9.45am, queues would form - and when the gates were unlocked, a frenzied rush to claim a sunbed ensued, she said.

Danielle asked her 36,000 followers: "This is probably going to be a controversial post, but I just wondered who else does the same?"

After her early rise, Daniell said she tried "to find the best beds that I can." She explained: "The reason that I do this is because I have three young children and one of them is only two." With her toddler spending most of the day in the water, being close to pool is an essential for the mum, she says.

She stressed: "We stay around the pool all day long, probably from around 10am until about 6pm. [I] couldn't think of anything worse than being so far back, away from that pool. And not only that, I would hate to come down in a morning, after breakfast, and there be no beds left for us to sit on."

Even her dad is in on the early sunbed snatch. However, not everyone agrees with her method as hundreds rushed to comment.

One parent, who strongly disagrees with Danielle, said: "Absolutely not! I have kids as well and it is a no from me. I would remove [the towels] and hand to the receptionist."

Another added: "If I get there and want those beds, your towels will be moved if you're not there sorry," Unfazed, Danielle retorted confidently, "No one is touching my towels. Been doing this 10 years and they have never been moved."

Yet, some conceded that they too engage in the early towel placement. "We all do it," one person admitted.

Another chimed in with a different perspective: "I don't do it personally but I have no issues with people that do it and spend the day at the pool. The people that do it and then go out all day and come back at like 4pm are the ones I can't stand."

Do you rush out early to get a sunbed on holiday? Comment below.