What is the sunbed war?
short answer
The sunbed war is the daily contest for pool loungers at hotels, resorts and cruise ships, where guests reserve sunbeds with towels at dawn (the dawn dash) and leave them empty for hours, so latecomers find a full deck of empty loungers.
It is also called the towel war. SunDibs ends it by making every claim explicit and time limited: a guest claims a lounger from a phone, confirms at the lounger within a window the property sets, and an unconfirmed lounger goes back to everyone automatically.
What is a sunbed reservation system for a hotel pool?
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It is software that handles sunbed reservation and lounger booking on the pool deck, so guests book a lounger instead of reserving it with a towel. SunDibs works as a sunbed booking app for guests and a pool deck management console for staff.
A guest makes a pool lounger reservation from their phone, confirms it at the lounger within the window the hotel sets, and an unconfirmed sun lounger reservation goes back to everyone. Staff see live pool occupancy, claimed, confirmed and free, on one map.
How is SunDibs different from a pool chair reservation form?
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A booking form records who asked for a lounger. SunDibs also checks that the guest actually arrived at the lounger, and releases it when they did not, so a booked sunbed is less likely to sit empty.
That makes it hotel pool management rather than a booking list: resort pool reservations, walk-ups and premium zones run from the same deck, and sun lounger booking works the same way at one pool or across a group.
What problem does this actually solve for the property?
short answer
The deck is sold twice every morning: once by the guest who leaves a towel at six and once by the guest who arrives at eleven and finds nothing free. SunDibs makes the claim explicit, time limited and checkable, so the same loungers serve more paying guests.
SunDibs is a patent-pending lounger management platform for hotel pools, resorts and beach clubs. Guests claim a lounger, confirm at the lounger within a set window, and unconfirmed beds return to everyone. A claim is held for a stated window, confirmed by a tap at the lounger itself, and released automatically when nobody arrives. The deck stops depending on whichever member of staff is willing to move a towel.
What changes for the pool team on the deck?
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They stop arbitrating between guests and start working from a list. The console shows what is claimed, what is confirmed, what has been released and which towel or bar requests are waiting, with the lounger number already attached to each one.
There is no morning towel sweep to run and no argument to settle at the sunbed. Requests arrive with a timer against an SLA the property sets, so a supervisor can see at a glance what is late without walking the deck.
What changes at the front desk?
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The pool stops arriving at reception as a complaint. A guest who cannot find a lounger has an answer in the app instead of a queue at the desk, and the desk can see the same deck state the pool team sees.
Front desk training is short because the desk view carries three numbers: available, claimed and confirmed. Anything that needs a decision is a single action against a named lounger.
Where does the revenue come from?
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From selling the deck rather than policing it. Premium zones carry their own price, mornings and afternoons can be priced differently, loyalty tiers get their own rate or complimentary access, and charges post to the room folio.
SunDibs takes no share of what the deck earns and charges no per-booking or per-guest fee. What the property sets, the property keeps, less the card fees its own payment provider charges.
What does it cost and how does it reach the invoice?
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Easy is software only: €36 per lounger per season for a boutique deck, €24 for a larger resort. Pro is twice the Easy rate (€72 and €48) and that rate covers the markers and the offline gateway, on a 24 month minimum term.
One invoice per venue per term, raised before the season opens, at the per-lounger rate multiplied by the lounger count agreed at signature. There is no separate hardware invoice on Pro and no installation fee. Groups can consolidate several venues onto one agreement.
What does IT have to approve?
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On Easy, nothing beyond a browser and the guest phones already on the property wifi. On Pro, one small poolside enclosure per pool that joins the existing network and one marker per lounger that carries no network credentials.
There is no server to host, no wiring to pull and no change to the property network beyond an outbound connection. The PMS connection is made with credentials the property issues and can revoke.
What happens to guest data?
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There are no cameras, microphones or pressure pads, and nothing on the deck identifies a person. SunDibs tracks claims, furniture and usage, not identity. On Pro, each marker senses when its lounger is moved or used so the deck map stays accurate, but it records no personal data and is not used to monitor who sits where.
Guest identity comes from the property's own systems and stays scoped to the property. Data handling, retention and deletion are set out on the trust page, and a guest can be erased on request.
How long until the deck goes live?
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Easy needs an overhead photo of the deck, the loungers marked on it and a printed label on each frame. A single pool can be running the same day. Pro adds mounting the markers and placing the gateway, planned as a scheduled visit per pool.
An Easy layout is not thrown away on upgrade: it becomes the starting template the Pro markers calibrate against, so nothing is redrawn.
What happens when something fails?
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On Pro, the poolside gateway keeps enforcing arrival windows on its own clock when the property internet drops, then reconciles when the line returns. If a marker fails inside the term it is replaced at no charge.
If the guest app is unreachable for a guest, staff can claim, confirm and release any lounger from the console on the property's own device, so the deck is never blocked on a guest's phone.