to ask for advice on 10 days in hotel quarantine with DD 6 & 9!?

[newtoedinburgh]

We are moving back to the UK in a few weeks, we face 10 days in a hotel room with our 2 daughters. We would wait until post pandemic but we can't, our visas are about to expire where we are. Looking for any tips from anyone who has done it already. We will be flying up to Edinburgh but seems we will quarantine first in a Heathrow hotel. 10 days is a fuckin g long time in one room let alone with my 2 children. But there we go. Has anyone seen any blogs or brilliant articles on how other people have coped. I should add my DH is also travelling. We may be the 4 of us in interconnecting rooms, but if there are none available we will be split for the entire stay, I will have DD6 he will have DD10.

Not looking for advice on how to avoid it, just how to 'cope' so to speak
THANKS x

Try and come back via an Amber country.

I drove past a quarantine hotel last week. It was awful. People including young children walking round the exercise yard ( I e car park ) being watched over by security guards.

I know it's a pandemic but it was uncomfortable to see.

Could you do a vlog and upload it to YouTube?
Could help other families in similar situations. Potentially you could earn a bit of money too.

@Toottooot the hotels are airports hotels. No courtyards , just car parks with planes over head every few minutes.

Two words, Nintendo switch. Perfect for the task in hand. I would also suggest speaking to the hotel, they might be able to lend you games, etc

My friend went to Ireland and quarantened there before coming to the UK. depending on where you are coming from you can go to other countries first. My friend is going to dubai (red list) to visit her husband and then quaranteening at her mums home in france (amber) before coming back to the Uk and quaranteening at home as france lets dubai arrivals quaranteen at home

[quote PringlePonders]@Toottooot the hotels are airports hotels. No courtyards , just car parks with planes over head every few minutes. [/quote]
Not every hotel is an airport hotel. My husband has done it twice and first hotel was most definitely not an airport hotel. He was allowed out daily to walk round the courtyard. Second time he wasn’t so lucky.

@Toottooot fair enough.

I think you've had some brilliant advice so far, the most important being to not let your kids see you're dreading it and it's just a big new adventure. Kids see all sorts of stuff as exciting, this is hopefully going to be one of them! I hope you're not split up, that seems particularly mean.

Lego, hama beads, Nintendo switch all great ideas.

Yoga YouTube vid together after waking up and before bed for a bit of routine

PE with joe wicks everyday. There are also karaoke videos on YouTube which my DDs LOVE. They're annoying but bring them much joy so that could be handy too!

Audible subscription? We bought it on a road trip a few years ago and the whole family enjoyed it.

Netflix too, for obvious reasons or even Disney plus (free subscription for one month- we did all the Disney classics in lockdown eg lady and the tramp one day, the little mermaid the next, it was lovely)

Learning chess is a great idea. Any mini travel games perhaps. Jigsaw puzzles can use up a lot of time, as can craft kits eg little sewing ones (maybe more for DD10 though).

Popcorn flat packs for movie snacks if you have a microwave?

Twitter is full of comments about very bad food, and also meal times.
In some cases the dinner is not brought until 9.00 pm (apparantly).
Also, apparantly the food has little in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables, so I would try and bring some fruit (if permitted) for a day or so, and some goodies/ treats in your case. (obviously I guess the hotels vary in quality, but be prepared for this anyway).
Rooms are not cleaned, so try to get everyone to be as clean as possible, and make beds and tidy up after themselves.
Will you all be together in a family room, or will they have their own room.
I agree with others; make something lego, other crafts, etc

whilst I appreciate amber list country tips - not possible in our case.

The only way we may get out of it is our DD has anaphylactic nut allergy and no hotel menu is able to guarantee non contamination. But this is a different thread altogether!
I am so stressed about the whole thing to be honest that I just wanted so time passing tips :)

Oh no, the nut allergy adds a whole new level of stress. The details of this scheme are so poorly thought through.

Would they allow you and DH to supervise both kids for 5 days each? That way the kids might entertain each other for some of the time and you will each get 5 days respite.

Before I decided to go via amber country, these were the tips I took from the FB group I mentioned earlier. Take an extension lead adaptor so you charge all your devices. Take an HDMI cable so you can get Netflix on tv (not all TVs have a port for fire stick), take nespresso machine and pods if you don’t like instant and take proper cutlery.

Online exercise! You need to be exercising a lot for the endorphins. The whole thing will be much better if you are as high as a kite and taking actual drugs is frowned upon around children so endorphins are the best you can do. I’d do three lots of Joe Wicks a day

I agree that exercising will be very important........ but I feel Joe Wicks 3 times a day might be a bit much? Maybe also try Rebecca Louise and Popsugar Fitness?

I'd check with greengrocers around Heathrow. Many will offer local deliveries, you could get a box of fresh fruit and veg delivered.

@khakiandcoral I'm struggling to work out if deliveries are definitely allowed, apparently dependent on hotel you in - which you don't know until you land

Great

So, aside from food, you know to pack absolutely everything you need! Things like kindle and tablets don't take much space.

Don't forget adapters for your chargers if you are not allowed deliveries.

My brother has quarantined twice in Heathrow due to work.

Food has been dire. He’s used Amazon to have food delivered from Morrisons, as well as takeaways. He says it breaks the day up quite apart from anything else.

He packed plenty of electronics, including his games console, to pass the time.

Other than that, just accept that it’s going to be grim and hope it passes quickly.

Personally, if your passports / visas and COVID rules between your current country allows - I would try and go to an ‘amber’ country for 10 days and stay in a normal hotel there on holiday. Then return to the U.K. and only undertake the home Q.

Oh shit just see. You can’t go to an amber list first 😞

thanks all, it is a shitshow seemingly. The nut issue is of major concern, and we are pursuing different avenues to see if we can get an exception in her case. It's proving very tricky.

When checking in ask are there two bedroom suites available or rooms with kitchenette etc. A friend of mine did this when checking in for a two week quarentine and was given a room with a seperate sitting room. She was advised to do so on some forum board.

I hope you can get deliveries. If someone has to leave your daily food in front of your door anyway, it makes 0 difference risk-wise to add a package dropped at reception.

Wrap up toys and give them one a day. Bath time crayons, skipping rope, bouncing balls, sticker books, balloons and fly swatters and you can play balloon tennis (suitable for everyone and not noisy, it’s actually quite fun
littlebinsforlittlehands.com/balloon-tennis-gross-motor-play-activity/ )

Pedometers and see how many steps you can do in a 5 minutes.

Balloon tennis :) ha! I love mumsnet