By Kaya Terry for Mailonline
Published: December 12, 2021, 09:35 EDT | Updated: December 12, 2021, 10:55 EDT
A couple who were forced to enter a hotel for isolation after returning from a red-listed country shared photos of moldy walls and damage to the central heating. The cost of accommodation for 10 days was £3,500.
Richard and Emma traveled to South Africa on November 22, when the country was placed on the British red list on the second day of the trip, which meant that they had to stay in designated quarantine hotels.
The couple was placed at the Holiday Inn in South Luton, Bedfordshire on December 8th. The 10-day stay cost £3,500 and was surprised to find that their dietary needs were not properly met-forcing them to order takeaway .
Richard, from Swansea, Wales, said he felt "imprisoned" because the guards sat outside their room 24 hours a day without privacy, and did not collect food waste and pile them in the corridor.
The couple claimed that their dietary needs were not properly met, resulting in people being hungry or having to order meals in the hallway (pictured)
Richard said: "I laughed this morning because my gluten-free and dairy-free meal was a carton of milk and a croissant (above). We were allowed to order, so we have been doing this too.'
The food seems to be microwaveable food, "When we finish eating, everyone puts wasted food outside the room." That photo was taken in the afternoon of the first day, and you can see that there was no collection in the past 24 hours Food bag
Richard said the couple found mold on the wall of their small room (pictured), which only has a portable heater
He said: "Two days before South Africa re-entered the red list, we finally went to South Africa.
"The government cancelled the flight, so we could not go back, so we continued to travel as usual.
"We were supposed to go to Radisson Blu in London, which is a reasonably priced hotel, but the airline changed the date to the wrong date.
'After five or six hours of phone calls with CTM, we were finally booked to the hotel where we are currently staying.
'There is a feeling of being imprisoned. Someone is sitting outside our door, it is difficult to have any privacy. These hotels are not designed for long-term stays, they are airport hotels.
'A lot of people are experiencing the same problem. Our biggest complaint is the price you pay and the lack of privacy in accommodation standards.
Richard said the couple found mold on the wall of their small room, which only had a portable heater.
He said: "You can't choose where to go, but there are Radisson Blu and Montcalm, these are comfortable hotels. I think the price of this hotel is usually around £70 per night.
"I think this room is about 200 square feet including the bathroom, which may be the size of a small bedroom.
Passengers taking flights to South Africa will be taken to an isolated hotel for a 10-day stay. Picture: Passengers going to the hotel by bus
The hotel’s heating does not seem to be running, and Richard claims that there is only a portable heater in their small room
"We can only leave with the escort of the security guards. They walk around the parking lot with us, but at least we can get out." The walls are moldy and the furniture is outdated. The heating in the hotel is not working properly, there is only a portable heater in our room.
"If you itemize the price of £3,500 (the standard fixed fee for Emma and Richard) we got here and compare it with other accommodations used for isolation, I don’t think it’s quite like Similar comparison.
Richard said it was difficult for him and his wife to complete their work in the room because there was only a small table between them. He also said that when they asked to replace the toilet paper, they received a large wet and dirty industrial-style toilet paper.
He said that although he was happy that they could leave the room to breathe fresh air, they were escorted by a security guard and passed many other security guards on the way out, which reminded them of the lack of privacy in this hotel.
He said: "When we go out for a walk, we may pass by 10 to 15 security guards from the room to the outside."
Richard claimed that passengers could leave the room for fresh air, but they were escorted by a security guard and passed many other security guards on the way out
Richard added: "I think this room is about 200 square feet including the bathroom, which may be the size of a small bedroom."
"We are in a room at the end of the corridor. There are five to six rooms. A security guard sits on a chair there 24 hours a day. I can hear his voice on his phone. If he coughs, I can listen. To his voice, so he will be able to hear everything in our room.
Richard said the staff "do their best" to provide guests with "functional" food, but the dietary requirements have not been properly taken care of.
Once, he said that food waste stayed outside the room for about 24 hours.
He said: "My wife and I are intolerant to gluten and dairy products. It caused me migraines and stomach problems.
"They are doing their best. If it's a set meal and you want it to be gluten-free, you just need to take anything out of the gluten-containing meal."
"I laughed this morning because my gluten- and dairy-free meal was a carton of milk and a croissant. We were allowed to order, so we have been doing the same.
“When we finished eating, everyone put the wasted food outside the room. That photo was taken in the afternoon of the first day, and you can see that the food bags were not collected in the past 24 hours.
More importantly, Richard and Emma must take a Covid test on the second and eighth days of their stay at the hotel.
If they test positive on that day, it means they will have to stay in the hotel during Christmas.
Richard said they felt that when they were escorted to a hotel, their risk of contracting Covid was much greater than when they were isolated at home.
He said: "The journey to the hotel is a long-distance bus with about 30 people. There is no social distancing and the windows are closed.
Richard claimed that when they asked to replace the toilet paper, they received a large, wet and dirty industrial-style toilet paper (pictured)
The couple struggled to do their work in the room because there was only a small table between them
'We had to ask the driver to open the windows because we were trapped and waited for two hours before departure, and then the journey took half an hour, plus another 30 minutes in the chaos and lack of communication to check into the hotel status.
"If we were allowed to go home [now in London] and self-isolate there, we would take a black taxi with shielding glass between the driver and us."
A government spokesperson said: "We have taken preventive and temporary actions at the border to help slow the spread.
A variant of the British Omicron from abroad, buy more time for our scientists to understand it, and allow us to build our defenses by acquiring more boosters.
'Most people who use managed isolation services are satisfied with the services provided. All complaints are taken seriously and fully investigated.
MailOnline has contacted InterContinental Hotels Group for comments.
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