Covid Isolation Hotel Nightmare

[Suppermumzy]

Stuck in this London Isolation Hotel...food is terrible...if you are lucky to go out for exercise you are hurriedly sent back in as there is always a list waiting to go out and use the outdoor space which can safely have 4 people in at a time..i will add photos of food. Cost for 11 days £2285.

I asked today "Would they stop me if I wanted to leave?" Answer No..but you will be reported as an absconder and may face a £10,000 fine....Surely this is not voluntary nor is it fair...who is monitoring this system..we seam to be a forgotten minority rotting away behind fences..

I am coming back from Africa to bury my 99 year old father who died 1/08....and I couldn't have not gone...I had to see him through....Surely this is not voluntary imprisonment as without the hotel booking reference you are not allowed on your flight at the departure airport...

AIBU to feel aggrieved by the system..when i left England the hotel fee was £1750...when I went to book it had gone up £500....NHS nurse looked after British public throughout the Pandemic but I feel that I am incapacitated to look after my own..including my young kids...

Businesses profiteering on this horrible pandemic should be held accountable. Sorry OP that food is totally unacceptable.

@smallgoon

I still can't workout what that brown stuff for breakfast is...

I think it might be something similar to Keema curry.

Hope it’s not the London Airport Novotel. It was so bad they let them print a “DM sad face” article on BBC. I would really order one delivery (to make the most of the delivery charge) with as many snacks as you can afford and try to just live through it as a diet. Seriously, if it is the Novotel, maybe don’t eat anything that’s not in a store package: www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-57304880

What do they do with smokers, especially in oz where they don't get to go.outside?

@Suppermumzy
I was speaking to DH about this and he just commented that 2250 is almost a quarter of the fine anyway so he would walk without doing the hotel quarantine and isolate at home. And risk the fine..
Have you looked up any 'awakened' groups on Facebook? They assist with advice Re unlawful imprisonment.
Walk now I suggest xx

@LH1987

Businesses profiteering on this horrible pandemic should be held accountable. Sorry OP that food is totally unacceptable.

This.

It's one thing requiring hotel isolation, that in itself is a reasonable thing in the pandemic. Charging 5 prices and providing a 1 service is profiteering. That is what this is. Costs should be kept as low as possible (normal rates) and the service should be a reasonable 3* service. People should be able to pay to upgrade to more expensive hotels if they wish.

We recently travelled to see family (for similar reasons to you OP) thankfully not a red list country, but the cost of covid tests on the UK website went from 40 pounds to 65 pounds overnight so for a family of 4 that's 100 pounds more per time (and you have to test more than once!). Not a big deal but it might be a make or break for some families as to whether they could go to a funeral or not. It's blatant profiteering.

But many of the Tory ministers have made a profit, quite blatantly with family members involved with companies that got PPE contracts that weren't put out to proper tender.

The only thing to do a fuss is to complain loudly and long on social media - posting pictures of what they are passing off as food should help (and contact your MP if you have one).

Listen to my case! In St Lucia staying with son got caught up in the virus situation and deciddd to sit it out here nearly 2 years ago. Booked to fly home in early Sept but now it serms we will go into red zone. Looked up amber rules PCR Test before flight and further tests booked for days 2 and 8. I am double jabbed and at 87 i do not mic with public. I have car booked to drive me home to central London where i live alone. So with all tests in place and double jabbed i cannot see why i should pay £2400 to some second rate hotel. I have never been so disgusted at such poor planning. So the two jabs are not sufficient plus self isolation and 2PCR TESTS is not enough? I am lucky in that i can just stay here but The Afro Caribbean countries have a population who refuse to get vaccinated and so numbers rise! But i.need to get back to London but will not give in to this money grabbing exercise. The Conservative party will hear from me. I am a party member snd intend to expose this ridiculous decision!

A friend that recently returned from SA faced the same thing and shared this website for an ongoing petition petition.parliament.uk/petitions/588072

Sorry OP it is horrendous but has anyone thought it is done on purpose to try and discourage the traveling!

@Cupcakeschocolate

Sorry OP it is horrendous but has anyone thought it is done on purpose to try and discourage the traveling!

Yes, I’ve absolutely thought that, just for one. If people think the price isn’t meant to be a punishment, IMO, they’re wrong.

@RightYesButNo completely agree. I told my sil to changer her plans and holiday next year but she ignored me and now will be going to a similar hotel with 4 kids. I showed her different things online about the food and no outdoor space. And the cost. She's a single mum on Uc with 4 kids 11 and under. But she decided her right to a holiday was important. Surprise surprise she's now complaining and regretting her decision.... but what can you do? The food is crazy and I agree it is really not acceptable. But.... its not a secret and most could be avoided by just waiting longer. Ops situation is different but my SIL has just been stupid....

It's the same story wherever countries are running Quarantine hotels.
Cabin fever, no exercise, lousy food, no room cleaning. Same story again & again. Few exceptions.

It sucks, I'm sure.
it's what most citizens want to happen, if not actually close the borders completely. What OP is experiencing is pretty much what most UK citizens think is fair enough.

People like me get shouted down for saying that the covid controls are too strict and unrealistic or unfair.

OP's selection is probably the items most likely to be eaten by most people.

That food is ridiculous. It doesn't look appetising or particularly healthy. These are people that have come from Covid high risk areas. If they come down with Covid, we want them to have the best chance of fighting it off without needing hospitalisation. We want them eating healthily. If food is not nutritionally balanced, it puts them at greater risk. It isn't about the money. Healthy food does not need to be expensive.

@ghostyslovesheets

I'm sorry for your loss - but we are in the middle of a pandemic and hotel isolation was a known thing - it's not great I agree but with new variants occurring it's necessary.

It was awful to see my loved one - with severe learning disabilities die alone on a ward, scared and in pain from covid - without us around them or to be able to celebrate their life as a family (or even hug at the funeral) - it's all really shit right now - but the more people follow the rules around isolation the quicker this might be over

I am sorry this has happened but the above post is right. We just have to get on with it. Things could be worse.

Another example of the current government's disgraceful profiteering from the pandemic. Jobs for the boys. Contracts for testing and quarantine and PPE given out to all their friends. Quality control non existent. Impossible to avoid their stupid rules and no way of getting a refund when things go wrong. Any other group of people would riot in the streets, but the British just passively suffer in silence. This government is a joke. The French would have rioted long ago. Remember the "gilet jaunes" protests which paralysed France in 2018 and 2019? What would it take to unseat this government? They are morally bankrupt. I am ashamed to be British.

It is utterly disgusting the way they are charging an absolute fortune to then be treated this badly. Fair enough if they have to this hotel quarantine which personally I think is ridiculous but after paying that much why can you not get a menu and order what you want? It’s criminal and should be stopped immediately! email your mp to complain not that it will change your situation now but they need to know and see the way people who are more than likely not travelling for pleasure but vital family events are being treated! I’m so sorry for your loss x

@NumberTheory

So you have crappy food for 11 days?

I think it could be better and the prices going up without plenty of notice is unreasonable. And there are some serious issues with women's safety that still don't seem to have been addressed.

But you're complaining about 11 days of crappy food and a bit of boredom which sounds, well, really childish. I get that your'e still grieving, but this isn't a productive way to focus that anger. You need to acknowledge it for what it is, not turn it on things that are inconsequential.

Agreed - very childish

My sister is quarantining in a London hotel at the moment. She is a british citizen who got stuck overseas when covid hit due to flights becoming extortionately priced and then the country she was in going on to the UK's red list.
She's tried to wait as long as poss in the hope that it'd get moved to amber but it hasn't and she's had to return as her son is due to start school in a couple of weeks.

She is 6 months pregnant, and is quarantining with her 1.5 year old daughter and her 4 year old son. (Her DH wasnt able to come with her as he isnt a british citizen and hence not allowed into the UK from a red list country). I phone her almost every day to see how shes doing and she is really just taking it in her stride and soldiering through it. Her children are able to eat something or another from the food provided and she has done a small sainsbury's shop via deliveroo for some extra snacks/fillers.

It really is mind over matter OP and remembering you're only there for 11 days (with a warm bed and cooked meals!)

P.S. from your pics it looks like you're getting the Indian/asian menu - would it be possible to ask if there is an english/western menu?
Hang in there!!

This thread and the circumstances around it are horrible. Shame on the government and shame on some posters, for their lack of compassion and for their racist views. Horrific thread.

I do wonder if this post would have been kinder if this NHS nurse had travelled from a 'white' country.

@Cupcakeschocolate Yes, I actually feel bad for people like the OP (not your SIL - what a berk, good Lord, though I feel badly that her children who may find quarantine difficult) because it’s not like planning ahead now will help. I checked the quarantine hotel site, just to see what prices were like now, and even if you booked ahead the farthest you can which is now 14 October, it would still be £2250. I do think the Chinese had perhaps the right idea (I read an article by someone who had to go through it). They let you go to your own apartment or home, but placed an alarm on the door. You were allowed to open the door three times a day to receive food/delivery, and that was it. Once more than three times, and the alarm would go off and send them notice, like an ankle bracelet on a criminal. Seems to make more sense than a quarantine hotel to me. (Of course, the Chinese were also sending someone to take your temperature once every day or two, so she was one of your “door-opens” so you really only got two!) But seriously, a month’s salary for someone JUST to monitor such alarms (or they could just be routed to the police) would be the same as probably only 2 people staying in a quarantine hotel.

God, I'd starve to death. I loath curry and other spicey foods. I also loath pasta.
That food looks like complete slop, whatever it's nationality is.
I wouldn't feed it to a dog, let alone a human.

I haven't read the whole thread but the breakfast looks like Pav Bhaji and the dinner also looks Indian, it all looks vegetarian. India was on the red list until a few weeks ago and the hotels would not have predicted that it would get downgraded to amber, I imagine that's why it all looks India. Pakistan is also on the red list so I imagine quite a lot of people quarantining right now are Pakistani and they also would be pretty happy with that food (not having to worry about whether it's Halal or not because it's vegetarian). It looks like they are catering for the majority. I'm appalled but not surprised at how racist this thread is.

@BigRedFrog

God, I'd starve to death. I loath curry and other spicey foods. I also loath pasta. That food looks like complete slop, whatever it's nationality is. I wouldn't feed it to a dog, let alone a human.

Just because you don't like those food types, it doesn't mean you have to be racist about normal Indian food.

There’s a law firm PGMBM taking the Govt to court over it saying this is an "unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Let’s hope they win the case, you win damages and this nonsense can end.

@isthisareverse

Jesus Christ🤨 you may want to namechange after that comment.

why? Get off your high horse, it's perfectly legitimate to expect "traditional" food from your own country/culture in your own country.

Even better, to offer people some kind of choice, to cater for the multicultural inhabitants stuck in these expensive hotels.

Actually, a large survey of British people asking for their favourite dish showed Brits heavily favour Indian food. The most popular dish was Chicken Tikka Masala. You sound like you are a leftover from another era 🙄

It's a national disgrace. In a case such as this, some discretion should have been used. In any event, charging over £2,000 for a poor hotel and disgusting food is just plain wrong.

So sorry to hear about your dad - and that you have had to undergo this ordeal in such sad circumstances.