Europe’s most expensive sun loungers: From €80 for two basic sunbeds at family spots to €685 luxury Italian champagne beds and bouji €150 Ibiza and Mykonos deckchairs – beaches charging holidaymakers a small fortune to top up their tans
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Britons hoping to secure a place on a sunbed at one of Europe’s prime beach club resorts this summer are facing eye-watering costs of up to €80 (£70) for two basic loungers at popular family beaches.
Exclusive clubs in the Italian destinations of Capri, Sardinia and Positano and the Spanish resorts of Mallorca and Ibiza are charging up to €685 (£590) to get a spot in the sun.
Beach clubs in well-known locations have become a popular choice for celebrities, wealthy tourists and wannabee influencers happy to pay as much as it takes for an exclusive day on a private beach away from the crowds.
But even families looking for a cheap getaway are being stung, with sunbeds on Fornillo Beach in the Amalfi coast resort of Positano costing €40 (£34) per person.
Tourists are effectively being forced to cough up the prices in the summer months because the scorching sand is too hot to sit on, even with a towel on top.
It comes as UK tourists on the Costa Del Sol have been battling for a sun lounger this summer, with some queuing for up to two hours to get a place by the pool.
Scenes of parents and children running in to grab a prime spot have been witnessed across Spanish holiday hotspots in recent weeks, with guests racing each other to grab poolside loungers early with a towel at the exact moment that a site opens.
This will no doubt make holidaymakers even more keen to enjoy time at a quieter resort where their sun lounger is already reserved.
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And among the most expensive beach clubs found in research today was the Arienzo Beach Club in Positano.
Here, it is €685 (£590) for a ‘VIP experience’ including a sunbed, umbrella, water, starter, main course and a vintage Dom Perignon champagne.
You could also find yourself paying €500 (£430) at Nikki Beach in Sardinia for an ‘iconic beach bed’ experience for two to three guests which includes champagne.
Other sites of notable price found today include Scorpios Beach in the celebrity hotspot of Mykonos in Greece at €160 (£140) for one cabana, and La Reserve A La Plage in St Tropez, France, where it costs €80 (£70) per day for a deckchair – or €200 (£170) for a double deckchair
Meanwhile La Fontelina in Capri, Italy, charges €70 (£60) for a sunbed, umbrella and towel.
Reservations here also requires a booking at the restaurant, where the cheapest option would be a glass of water for €4 (£3) and spaghetti with tomatoes and basil for €19 (£16) – meaning a total of €93 (£80), not including tip.
The Only Way is Essex’s Amber Turner poses up a storm outside of Nammos – a club in Mykonos where bar bills regularly exceed £100,000 thanks to the sale of Cristal Exclusive Limited Edition champagne from France for £55,000 and a three-litre jeroboam of Cristal Rose Vintage 2007 for £32,000
Footballer Jack Grealish on Mykonos with Josh Denzel last month
Positano on the Amalfi coast is one of the locations where pricey beach clubs can be found
A minimum spend of at least €100 (£86) is therefore likely here.
But those planning a visit are clearly happy to pay such a price, with the resort revealing on its website that it was fully booked the whole of July and August this year.
Anima Beach Palma in Mallorca, Spain, also charges €70 (£60) for a sunbed, umbrella and towel.
And Blue Marlin in Ibiza, Spain, charges €30 (£26) for a sun lounger, but there is also a minimum spend on site of €50 (£43) per bed.
Meanwhile a ‘Moet VIP Cabana’ at the resort is €500 (£430), plus a minimum spend ‘on request’.
Of course, travellers will also be hit with additional costs, with bar bills at Nammos club in Mykonos – beloved of celebrities including Only Way is Essex’s Amber Turner – regularly exceeding £100,000 thanks to the sale of Cristal Exclusive Limited Edition champagne from France for £55,000 and a three-litre jeroboam of Cristal Rose Vintage 2007 for £32,000.
In 2019, research by parasol supplier We Are Promotional found Waikiki beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, was the most expensive beach in the world to hire parasols and sun loungers, which were available for $50 (£39) per day for a combined package.
South Beach in Florida came second at a combined price of £20, ahead of Tropea in Italy at £23 and Nazare in Portugal at £19 and Lloret de Mar in Spain, both £19.
Also on the list were Bondi Beach in Australia and Coney Island in the US, both at £17, then Bournemouth in Dorset – the only UK location in the top ten – at £13. After that were Copacabana in Brazil and Spiaggia Grande in Italy, both £12.
The study looked at the world’s 30 most popular beaches, as measured by number of TripAdvisor reviews, and took the costs from a number of sources such as TripAdvisor, Airbnb and service providers’ websites.
* Have you paid an extortionate price for a sunbed? Email: [email protected] *
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