Hotel Hell

  

Travel Restrictions are extremely irritating. When I left England at the end of January there was no such thing as Red lists or hotel quarantine, however all of this came into effect whilst I was abroad. The British Government decided that if you where to enter the UK from what they classed as a Red List country you would have to pay £1750 to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 days to make sure you didn't have the dreaded Covid. I really wasn't a fan of the idea but knew that I needed to come home to sort my health out and get a job to earn some money again as by this point I was on the last bit of my savings after contemplating the enormous amount that would be used for quarantine. 

When I left South Africa I still hadn't fully recovered from my illness but decided that I needed to be home near family so took the 9 hour journey to France then had a layover of 3 hours then the 2 hour flight back to the UK. This is where I was separated in to the Red List Line. I was at the back of the queue with a few other English couples so had a great laugh chatting whilst waiting for 3 hours to get through immigration. 

At this point, I said goodbye to the people I had met and was ushered through with someone from security to collect my cases then to go and wait in a queue for the bus to transport us to the hotel. 

The security marched us through the airport in a line and honestly I felt like a prisoner they may as well have shackled our feet, a few of us joked about how silly it all was. We were being watched from every angel to make sure we didn't do a runner. 

Anyway after 2 hours to make it 15 minutes away from the airport to the hotel I was finally allowed off the bus where I was escorted by yet again more security. 

It was here where I was told to fill in a health and allergy form. They told me I was too late for lunch but there was a burger I could eat If I wanted it... I kindly pointed out that I couldn't eat the burger as my allergies where stated on the form I had handed back to him two minutes prior.

I was then taken to my room and told If I needed anything to ring the hotel phone and if I wanted to go outside I would need to ask for security then they would come and collect me.

I found my 'Deep cleaned' room to have half a toilet roll missing and a pack of opened medication under the bed. This made me already feel disgusting as well as the strange stains on the bed. If I was going to catch Covid It would definately be from here.

The security rarely kept their masks on, The cleaners didn't wear gloves and there was no such thing as aprons or any sanitation really. They mixed me and a pregnant lady with her son in a lift and also when I was on day 9 put me in the lift with someone who had just arrived so they really didn't care about the risk of us catching Covid. 

When my first meal came, I laughed seeing as they put the main ingredient that makes my lips swell all over my food... a large cut up tomato. I didn't say anything to them thinking that it was just a mistake however when I went for my walk outside their was an Indian guy who really advocated for the fact they were giving me food I was allergic too. He spoke to the Liason officer who assured me it wouldn't happen again. 

However, It did happen again ... It continued to happen every meal until day 7, by this point I had spoken to the same Liason officer twice, the chef and multiple security officers who all seemed to blame the next person. 

Day 7 was a rough one, I hit rock bottom! My lips were swollen my face arms legs and stomach covered in eczema and blisters from being fed food that I couldn't eat and clearly stated that on 2 forms before I arrived at the hotel and on the form the day I arrived also. So, I phoned my doctor and asked for a emergency prescription to be sent to a pharmacy near by then dropped to the hotel, Over £50 more later. 

Up until day 7 we were allowed 2, 20 minute walks a day so I did it was hot and the window barely opened. Smokers were allowed out as much as they needed. So, I phoned security and headed down, where I was shouted at by a Security man who told me I had already been out in the morning. I told him It wasn't a problem until that point and that because of them at the hotel I was becoming more and more sick I needed my inhaler and fresh air. So, I continued to walk out the door. I phoned my parents told them what had happened and was then followed by a security guard. He followed me for a while and then disappeared. Then shortly after 2 security came and followed me and told me to go inside. I politely declined as they said all they could do was ask me to go in. This continued to happen until I had 5 male security and 1 female surrounding me. I felt more threatened at this hotel in the country I was born in than walking in Johannesburg to my hotel I was staying at.

I was shocked when after 7 hours of declining to go inside the security guard handed me a handful of paperwork explaining that I was basically mental signed by the same Liason officer that claims he helped my situation with the food and told me that I needed police intervention. 

They thought I was a threat, The person that wouldn't hurt anyone, the person who had just come back from helping to look after children abroad, the person who felt more threatened by a bunch of security in her home country all of whom struggled to speak English and that was part of the problem. Everything to do with my allergies was getting lost in translation. During my stay in hotel hell I met 3 english people 2 being them mother and child and another being a lovely lady all whom said the same as me it was hell and they felt like a foreigner in their home country...