Traveller ‘feeling sad’ after entering quarantine hotel
Published: 17:57, 15 February 2021
Updated: 18:00, 15 February 2021
A traveller has expressed his sadness after checking into a quarantine hotel.
Roger Goncalves, who lives in London, entered the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel near Heathrow Airport on Monday.
Speaking to the PA news agency over the phone, the 23-year-old delivery driver said: “I’m feeling sad, it’s not good as I need to stay in the room for 10 days.
“I did my test for coronavirus. The test was negative. Why do I need to stay in my room for 10 days?”
Mr Goncalves was required to stay in the hotel as he flew back to the UK from Brazil, which is on the Government’s “red list” of countries with a high risk of coronavirus variants.
He attempted to fly back last week before the new rules came into force but his flight was cancelled.
He considered not travelling but said: “I need to come back to work.”
Mr Goncalves described the £1,750 cost of his stay was “too high” and “crazy for 10 days”.
He added: “The people in the hotel will give food to me for lunch and dinner, everything, but I can’t go out.”
Asked how he will spend the time in his room, Mr Goncalves said he would “watch TV, watch Netflix”.
Zari Tadayon, from north London, also checked into the hotel on Monday, a day before her 67th birthday.
She was forced to quarantine as she had flown in from Dubai, via Frankfurt.
“I tried to get back to London before the 15th but there were no flights available, everything was booked,” she told PA.
Speaking over the phone from her hotel room, she said she had been in Dubai to attend to “legal matters”.
Asked how she felt about being isolated, she said: “I feel horrible because I live here, I have my own individual home, and also I have some medical issues which I was hoping they would consider that.
“How I’m going to cope I don’t know. It’s going to be tough.
“I’m not prepared. I didn’t bring books and stuff.”
Asked again how she was feeling, she added: “Not very happy because tomorrow is my birthday and I would have wanted to be with my family… those are the rules, what can you do?
“My room is quite basic. The hotel was nice, we were received quite nicely. They were organised.
“We were taken to the ballroom, we filled out some forms, they gave us a welcome pack.”
She said guests have been given breakfast, lunch and dinner menu options for the next 10 days, and the hotel said it could accept food and other deliveries on behalf of those quarantining.
Asked what she thought about the cost of her stay, she said: “I think it’s quite high for what we’re going to be getting.”
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