I stayed in a quarantine hotel for two weeks AMA

[Cissyandflora]

I didn’t know whether to make a thread about this but I’ve been thinking that maybe people would be interested to know something of the experience. I was in Sydney and spent two weeks at the end of last year. If anyone has a question I’ll answer it!

@bluetongue

I assume you travelled from the UK.

How different does being in Australia feel to being in the UK? Obviously I can read about how things are with the pandemic in the U K but it’s very different to being there (I’m in Australia.)

So different! Yes I travelled from the U.K. and then spent some months in Australia and then Singapore and then back to the U.K. Each of these countries are dealing with the pandemic very differently. But the U.K. feels chaotic, out of control, sloppy and frankly dangerous. Honestly when I came into the U.K. it was during lockdown here. There was not one member of staff to check my passport even. No checks whatsoever. No staff at all. I filmed it all because I was staggered. In the other countries I had been met by the army and medics in full PPE and could not have left the airport without either escort or full checks. And the U.K. was the country in lockdown when I arrived. The other countries had few cases.

@GreenUp

Did they cater for specialist diets like kosher, vegetarian, Coeliac or diabetic?

I don't see how people with coeliac disease would be able to eat things like bread rolls or cereal.

They didn’t offer to. You get a chance to say vegetarian or meat and that’s written on paper on your door. I said vegetarian but they gave meat anyway. If you had a dietary issue I think you’d need to order out for every meal. The food was basic. It was airplane food.

@OakSnows

Remember how our country drove people from the cruise ships and rescue flights from China to the hotel, and had the drivers just in their seat, no mask and then let the drivers continue to work for 2 weeks.....

Other countries were in hazmat suits.

I think Australia and New Zealand is harsh but they are right.

Absolutely agree

@OakSnows

The not opening the windows to the outside world for fresh air is bonkers and horrifying, surely they are well aware how air con spreads it and the corridors must have been laden if someone had covid.

Did anyone test positive whilst you were there?

The aircon is deactivated and no vents to circulate any air. The windows in hotels are not really built to open. I was on 30th floor. They’re just fixed window panes.

@OakSnows and yes two people tested positive whilst I was there.

@MintySpice

You mentioned doing quarantine both in Australia and Singapore. What was the difference between the two?

Very different. Singapore are very regimented at the airport. They only accept people from safe travel corridors. You have to apply in advance to be accepted in. You have to book and pay for test in advance and you have to book and pay for hotel quarantine. Then you are tested at the airport and go into quarantine and not leave the room until you’ve had a negative result.

@ShanghaiDiva

It’s certainly a weird experience. China was also well organised. Arriving passengers were issued with hazmat suits, taken to a processing centre and then put on a bus to take them to the hotel.This was March of last year.

It is weird but I totally agree that it’s the way to deal with it. States in Australia lockdown if they have a couple of cases. I know this is contentious but I admire the countries who do this well. And I felt safe. My family lives in Australia and Singapore and I feel that they are much safer than us in U.K.

Thebluepope.wordpress.com. This is the blog of a family member who had to quarantine in Perth on the way home to Melbourne in the autumn. He REALLY struggled as he wasn't working at the time, whereas wife and son were and therefore had more structure to their days. The non-opening windows were a huge issue. On the other hand they had a suite with kitchenette, which was great. They had no choice in the type of room or any warning of type of room and were therefore quite anxious beforehand.

@Lucienandjean

Was there any way to get fresh air into the room? I think I'd be fine staying in one room for two weeks, but if the window didn't open and the air conditioning was turned off, I think I'd have nightmares about suffocating!

No fresh air no. All air con deactivated. I used to prop my door open with towels sometimes. We weren’t allowed but the guard didn’t say anything. They patrol around.

When you book a flight is it automatic pick up at the other end or do you actively gave to book a quarantine place before booking flight?

How do you get to the hotel? Is it person with your name on card? Do they have your photo so they know it’s you

I imagine anyone who smokes would be tearing their hair out, especially if they were only permitted to leave the room so many times per day! I thankfully gave up over 10 years ago but I remember the last hotel I stayed in (before quitting) having to go outside first thing in the morning with my coffee for my first cigarette of the day. Also noticed the last hotel I stayed in you can’t vape in the rooms either!

Will be interesting to read the UK quarantine experience. Does anyone know which hotels are being used?

@RaininSummer

Just saw the example of a day's food. That would send my blood sugar through the roof as I have to eat low GI, low carb. I know my ex has to quarantine several times for work and the food ruined his diabetes management. Did they ask or bother at all about that kind of thing?

There is a form to fill in about dietary requirements but honestly the food was so bad they wouldn’t be able to deal with anything other than vegetarian or non vegetarian. Even that they got wrong for me. The food was the worst part of the experience!

If no air con was the room hot?

@FlameHairedRachel

I imagine anyone who smokes would be tearing their hair out, especially if they were only permitted to leave the room so many times per day! I thankfully gave up over 10 years ago but I remember the last hotel I stayed in (before quitting) having to go outside first thing in the morning with my coffee for my first cigarette of the day. Also noticed the last hotel I stayed in you can’t vape in the rooms either!

Will be interesting to read the UK quarantine experience. Does anyone know which hotels are being used?

I didn’t even think of that! Yes you’d be absolutely stuck if you smoked. I can’t see how they could accommodate that really. Possibly a policeman would take you outside if you were desperate but I’m really not sure.

I can only imagine how chaotic you found it here! I admire the way Australia have dealt with this.

Even now, Scotland want to quarantine everyone from every country and England don’t, major loophole there! We should all work together and quarantine from every country!

@MarshaBradyo

If no air con was the room hot?

Not really. The room was ok. It was large. I didn’t feel like it was hot. And it didn’t smell!

@FlameHairedRachel

I can only imagine how chaotic you found it here! I admire the way Australia have dealt with this.

Even now, Scotland want to quarantine everyone from every country and England don’t, major loophole there! We should all work together and quarantine from every country!

Absolutely agree.

@MarshaBradyo

When you book a flight is it automatic pick up at the other end or do you actively gave to book a quarantine place before booking flight?

How do you get to the hotel? Is it person with your name on card? Do they have your photo so they know it’s you

In Australia the army takes you from the flight and they know exactly who is on each flight. There are strict quotas and the Australian embassy had to work with the airline to let me in. The army then takes you to the hotel where you are handed to police. In Singapore the authorities meet you and question you about where you’ve been etc. Very detailed. Then you have your pre booked Covid test. Then you are given a sticker you have to display. But you can then take your own taxi to the hotel. The sticker means you can’t get a coffee as I found out because you can’t be served anywhere when you have the sticker.

@MarshaBradyo

When you book a flight is it automatic pick up at the other end or do you actively gave to book a quarantine place before booking flight?

How do you get to the hotel? Is it person with your name on card? Do they have your photo so they know it’s you

With Australia it’s automatic. The army meet you at the airport. With Singapore you have to make arrangements but you have to prove it all and fill forms and pay for test before travel. And the airline phoned me to make sure I had done all of this pre flight.

@waterlego

the person couldn’t bear the quarantine. I saw the police come and escort the person.

Do you know where they were taken?

I think I would go nuts spending two weeks in one room with no option to go outside and no fresh air.

Really interesting thread, thanks OP.

Yes they were taken to a hospital quarantine hotel. They were two separate cases. The nurses wouldn’t tell me which flights they had been on but I managed to find out online. And they weren’t on my flight!

Thanks op really interesting. My family are in Aus so it’s good insight just in case.

@waterlegosorry I replied to wrong question. That person was taken to the airport to return home.

@ineedaholidaynow

I am just thinking about all the people on another thread who can't sleep at night without a window open no matter if it is freezing. I wonder how they would cope in a quarantine hotel

Ha yes. I’m a pretty resilient and independent person. I’ve been through a lot worse in my life.

@JustAnotherBrick

You say about the awful food - what would have happened if you’d had an allergy or intolerance - or don’t you know?

You would have had to order out every meal.

@Redsquirrel5

We stayed at the Marriott. Did you have a view of the Opera House?

No. Just Pitt Street! But my auntie came and brought me treats twice and stood on the street corner where I saw her as a little dot out in the real world!