To think this is ridiculous?

[Toddlerteaplease]

Booked into a premier inn tonight, on the first night of my holiday. Booked months ago at the cheap rates. Got a phone call while driving to the destination this morning. Cancelling my booking as the entire housekeeping team are self isolating. All other local hotels booked. And the ones that aren't are 3 x the price I paid. Surely they have contingency plans for this! Arghh!

@MotionActivatedDog

They need to warm up first.

A quick rub-down from the physio and they're ready to high-five the departing staff and start hoovering your room.

@Orf1abc

It’s lockdown without the government funding it.

This is actually a really good point.

it is, even if it's not "the government" funding it, it's us the tax payer!

Apparently I'm being unreasonable. Since it's a tourist city with loads of other PI's. I assumed they'd just borrow staff. My work has a business continuity plan for all eventualities, so I presumed they would too.

What do you expect them to do? The bloody NHS app is disrupting many industries. On Thursday I went to the chemist for my prescription and the delivery hadn't arrived due to lack of staff in the distribution team. Went again this morning to find a note on the door that it had closed due to isolating pharmacist.

I don't understand why people aren't turning the bloody thing off!

It's a premier inn... have reasonable expectations.

They are very popular, very convenient, and rather cheap. There's only so much they can do.

@Toddlerteaplease

I don't understand why people aren't turning the bloody thing off!

because they accept the world doesn't revolve around you them and hiding the problem is not solving it?

As the OP was clearly mobile an PIs are fairly thick on the ground they could have offered another location at the original price. If they were prepared to travel.

The hospitality industry is already crying out for staff. Many have gone back to EU countries post Brexit. Add in Covid. Hotels are already on a skeleton staff. They will be closing as an absolute last resort.

LOL

what kind of contingency plan would they have for high rates of self isolating staff during a pandemic?

@Toddlerteaplease

Apparently I'm being unreasonable. Since it's a tourist city with loads of other PI's. I assumed they'd just borrow staff. My work has a business continuity plan for all eventualities, so I presumed they would too.

Borrow staff? Every hotel in the entire chain will most likely be fully booked (it’s the school summer hols?) and operating at capacity with no staff willing or able to take on more work to cover an entire hotel. Depending on the size of the hotel they could have a team of 20 housekeepers! There’s no way other hotels will have enough staff free to help.

I work for a similar chain and we are scraping the barrel for staff. Nobody is applying for the advertised vacancies and we’re short already. We are unable to plan for the odd staff sickness, let alone the entire team.

TL:DR - YABVVVVU

I know it's disappointing but the only thing they could possibly do, is to reduce the price of another location. IF this is possible (ie If another nearby branch is actually open and they're not fully booked) then I'd be demanding they do this. Apart from that, I don't know what else they could possibly do

@NotReallyTheVicar

As the OP was clearly mobile an PIs are fairly thick on the ground they could have offered another location at the original price. If they were prepared to travel.

They are all fully booked.

The only thing they’ve done wrong is if the whole team is isolating due to the same single contact - they should be able to work without being in contact with others, certainly not the whole team. But if it’s just they’ve all been pinged due to separate contacts then it’s just hard luck. It’s frustrating but there really isn’t a practical back up plan for this - critical National industries like energy and food distribution are struggling to have a back up, a cheap hotel chain has no chance.

A quick rub-down from the physio and they're ready to high-five the departing staff and start hoovering your room.

Oh please. Don’t be ridiculous.

They’d elbow bump them in this Covid world.

@Toddlerteaplease

Apparently I'm being unreasonable. Since it's a tourist city with loads of other PI's. I assumed they'd just borrow staff. My work has a business continuity plan for all eventualities, so I presumed they would too.

What staff are they meant to borrow? There is a massive shortage of hospitality staff. Any staff they could find are hardly likely to volunteer to do and do the deep clean needed after a covid outbreak instead of their normal role.

Since it's a tourist city with loads of other PI's

Which you’ve already said are full.