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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Help! I've got Covid and I'm stuck in a hotel

559 replies

medusawashere · 22/12/2021 11:26

I travelled to Plymouth for Christmas and did all the right stuff. I'm double jabbed, booster booked for early Jan and have been doing lateral flow tests every day to stay safe and protect others.

This morning, I woke up coughing, sneezing and with chest pains and my LF is positive.

I'm stuck in a hotel with no way of getting home! I live in Bournemouth and my fiance (who was going to meet me Christmas Eve) has also tested positive.

Does anyone have any bright ideas or am I stuck in a hotel room for ten days? I'm devastated. I just want to go home :(

OP posts:
Feelingoktoday · 22/12/2021 17:42

@JisForJellyfish

Why an earth would you test if you're away and not ill? Get the train home and do a PCR to confirm it isn't a false positive when you get back. It's what most people would do. Most of us have had covid now, realise for most it's a cold at most for the majority.
Exactly.
CrystalBollocks · 22/12/2021 17:42

@OwlNChips

Oh and I wouldn't care if someone with Covid got on my train. Just wear a mask, keep to yourself and well... what else can you reasonably do? Not a lot

Ignore the more hysterical posters. They like a good froth

Agreed.
alienbaby · 22/12/2021 17:43

Classic MN. "Just stay in the hotel what's the problem?" like everyone has 1K lying around to spunk on a sick week in a hotel

Delatron · 22/12/2021 17:50

Do you have any friends or family who have had Covid very recently? They’d be pretty immune. Especially with a mask on and windows down.

GertrudeBElion · 22/12/2021 17:50

@alienbaby

Classic MN. "Just stay in the hotel what's the problem?" like everyone has 1K lying around to spunk on a sick week in a hotel
To be fair, if you're going to travel and stay away from home during a pandemic, you probably should have a spare 1k just in case, because this is the risk you take nowadays.

I'm not a stay at home and hide away type, I was out for dinner last night, I've been city centre shopping today and I'm going to the cinema tonight. But I'm aware of the risks, and know that I can at least cope with the isolation consequences.

IloveRitaConnors · 22/12/2021 17:51

@CrystalBollocks

So, MN, what is the OP supposed to do?

She can't drive due to issues with her eyesight.

She can't catch a train because she might pass Covid on.

Her fiance can't collect her because he's also got Covid.

We don't know if she has the money to stay in the hotel for 10 nights, even if she wants to.

We don't know if the hotel has space.

If the OP can't afford it, but wants to stay, and the hotel has space, what's the hotel supposed to do? Are they just supposed to lose another ten nights of income?

Someone come up with the solution to this dilemma because the way I see it, there isn't one. Or certainly not one that's going to satisfy everyone.

The only thing I'd say about trains is that most people travelling by public transport are people who are prepared to run the Covid risk in order to go about their lives, and who are most likely at least doubly vaccinated. I for one wouldn't be fussed if someone with Covid got on my train. I could just as easily catch it from Waitrose (Covid, that is, not the train).

With big brass bells on.

Try actually being up the creak without a paddle and being told tough shit follow the rules. Sometimes life isn't that black and white and you need to make a tough judgement call that goes against the grain.
Unless people can acknowledge this and try and be more practical in their advice i don't know why they bother posting.

PineappleRisotto · 22/12/2021 17:54

He could become more unwell on the journey, and not be able to return

This happened to friends of ours a couple of weeks age. He tested positive and was too ill to drive (on holiday 300 miles away). She drove but halfway back she started feeling ill too. Too ill to drive. She'd felt fine when they set off. Their daughter had to turn out and drive to get them, and leave their car behind 150 miles away.

Lockheart · 22/12/2021 17:55

@CrystalBollocks

So, MN, what is the OP supposed to do?

She can't drive due to issues with her eyesight.

She can't catch a train because she might pass Covid on.

Her fiance can't collect her because he's also got Covid.

We don't know if she has the money to stay in the hotel for 10 nights, even if she wants to.

We don't know if the hotel has space.

If the OP can't afford it, but wants to stay, and the hotel has space, what's the hotel supposed to do? Are they just supposed to lose another ten nights of income?

Someone come up with the solution to this dilemma because the way I see it, there isn't one. Or certainly not one that's going to satisfy everyone.

The only thing I'd say about trains is that most people travelling by public transport are people who are prepared to run the Covid risk in order to go about their lives, and who are most likely at least doubly vaccinated. I for one wouldn't be fussed if someone with Covid got on my train. I could just as easily catch it from Waitrose (Covid, that is, not the train).

She could ask friends or family for help to get home.

She could ask 119 for advice.

She could ask the hotel for help (I would hope they have a contingency plan!).

Taking the train or having her fiancé collect here are not the only options.

gofigureit · 22/12/2021 17:57

This thread is bonkers.
It's pretty obvious what you need (clue: it's not stay in a hotel for 10 days)

And your fiancé? Kick his arse to the curb!

Disneyblueeyes · 22/12/2021 18:01

I wonder how many people have taken the train in the last week with covid and not even realised it?

CoedenNadolig · 22/12/2021 18:07

If I were you OP I'd catch the train but a ridiculously early train or the last train at night. So off peak travel. So you can basically come in contact with the least amount of people as possible.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 22/12/2021 18:25

It's 5 hours since OP last posted, despite being in a hotel room on her own. Hmm

OP, assuming that you and your fiance live together in the same place, i.e. Bournemouth, and that's where you travelled from, it's a bit of a wierd choice to decide during surging cases to use public transport to leave home early to go and sit in a hotel room on your own for a few days, knowing that your fiance is driving up on Xmas Eve. As you say yourself, you're not going near your sister so what was the point in wasting money on train fare, hotel room and food while sitting waiting for him to arrive?

I take it the reason you are staying in the hotel in Plymouth and commuting to family in Totnes on Christmas Day from there is because there is nowhere for you to sleep at whichever family member you've travelled to visit?

alienbaby · 22/12/2021 18:28

Yeah true @CurlyhairedAssassin OP has been stingy with her posts

Chasingaftermidnight · 22/12/2021 18:28

Classic MN. "Just stay in the hotel what's the problem?" like everyone has 1K lying around to spunk on a sick week in a hotel

It’s hardly the most unlikely, unforeseeable event though, is it?

Lots of people would like to travel but don’t because they realise they can’t afford to end up in this situation.

diddl · 22/12/2021 18:49

Op, has your fiance said that he won't collect you at all/until after 10 days or Christmas Eve when he was due to travel to you anyway?

WonderfulYou · 22/12/2021 18:52

How long have you got the hotel for?

If you’re staying another night or two I would go and do a PCR at a walk in clinic and get the results - it may be negative which means you’ll be able to see your sister and carry on with your plans as normal.

ImNotDancing · 22/12/2021 19:03

Jesus fuck, no wonder numbers are high! The amount of people suggesting OP and her partner travel out and about.

Sadly the legality is isolate in the hotel.

As others have said, traveling could likely kill other people.

Vapeyvapevape · 22/12/2021 19:04

I think op has lit the touch paper and retreated !

RantyAunty · 22/12/2021 19:30

Possible options

Offer to pay someone(woman) on Facebook who has recently recovered to drive you home. Plenty of people out there who could use the extra cash.

I know nothing about that train service but is there a late night train going back that would likely have empty cars?
That might be an option only if there would be some empty cars or near empty like less than 3 people.

Ditch the fiance. I'm sure he's lovely when he's not inconvenienced, doesn't have to put himself out, and everything goes his way.

Cocomarine · 22/12/2021 19:33

@Vapeyvapevape

I think op has lit the touch paper and retreated !
OP has: (a) taken the train and can never say that here (b) realised her fiancé wasn’t supportive and doesn’t want to say that to herself, let alone here

I doubt she’ll be back!

GatoradeMeBitch · 22/12/2021 19:42

Classic MN. "Just stay in the hotel what's the problem?" like everyone has 1K lying around to spunk on a sick week in a hotel

In all honesty I assumed there was some kind of allowance for that, maybe from the government (which has been quite happy to spunk our money about on the hospitality industry).

rookiemere · 22/12/2021 20:36

OP may also have travel insurance through her bank account which might cover any extra costs incurred to either stay at the hotel or get home.

userxx · 22/12/2021 20:38

@GatoradeMeBitch

Classic MN. "Just stay in the hotel what's the problem?" like everyone has 1K lying around to spunk on a sick week in a hotel

In all honesty I assumed there was some kind of allowance for that, maybe from the government (which has been quite happy to spunk our money about on the hospitality industry).

The hospitality industry haven't received anywhere near enough, buts that's another thread.

WildFlowerBees · 22/12/2021 20:50

Poor op must be really stressed out, I hope you've managed to sort something. Speedy recovery.

misssunshine4040 · 22/12/2021 20:58

@NoBetterthanSheShouldBe

There is a hotel in Plymouth which is acting as a rehab for bed-blockers. (Dont know which, possibly FI?) Perhaps they could let you have a room, a normal hotel will evict you.

Who were you planning to spend Xmas with here?

A normal hotel will not evict you?! You pay you stay, if the room is booked out they move the new guests to another room.
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