Travellers emerging from UK quarantine demand refund over ‘shocking’ standards

Guests say hotel staff failed to impose social distancing rules

Suzanne and Chris Styles are asking the UK government to refund them for their hotel quarantine stay. Photo: Suzanne Styles

A couple caught up in the UK’s abrupt decision to reimpose a travel red list and make hotel quarantine mandatory have called on the government to refund those subsequently released when the order was scrapped.

Suzanne Styles, 56, and her husband Chris Styles, 52, said they were charged “shocking” rates for a basic standard of accommodation. The couple paid £3,715 ($4,919) for a 10-day stay at the five-star Sofitel Hotel near London’s Gatwick Airport.

Mrs Styles, who is British, and Mr Styles, who is South African, had been visiting his terminally ill father in South Africa when the UK government issued a new set of travel rules after the discovery of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in November. South Africa was among 11 nations to be red-listed, which meant arrivals from those countries had to spend 10 days in hotel quarantine upon arrival in Britain.

The rules were scrapped on Wednesday, however, and the couple — along with others confined to hotel rooms — were allowed to leave before reaching their 10th day, provided they tested negative for the virus.

They are now calling on the government to offer them a refund, after they were served chocolate muffins for breakfast and had their travel documents handled by hotel staff not wearing gloves.

“It’s not just the time which is an issue, it’s the money — it’s a huge amount of money,” Mrs Styles told The National.

“It’s just absolutely shocking. We had to use the savings we had for a new car.

“It means we are not going to get a car which will affect our ability to work. We lost our business due to Covid so I am hoping that the funds for quarantine will be returned to us.”

The couple lived in South Africa before moving to the UK in June.

Mrs Styles has written to her MP requesting a refund due to the low food standards and lack of co-ordination at the Sofitel Hotel.

She said on their first morning they were woken at 7.15am by the sound of a fire alarm and staff appeared unsure of what to do.

“It was absolute chaos. First they told us to stay in our rooms and then they decided to evacuate us and we were taken outside,” she said.

“Some people were not wearing masks and there was no social distancing. There were children and old people. We were confused and nobody knew what was going on.

“I had more of a chance of catching Covid from the procedures in the hotel than I did in South Africa.”

After the incident, the couple refused to go out of their room when they were allowed to exercise in the fresh air each day, due to fears they would catch Covid from other guests.

Mrs Styles believes the UK government’s decision to impose quarantine on double-vaccinated travellers was excessive and instead people should have been told to self-isolate at home.

“I think it was unnecessary action.

“I would rather have an ankle tag and isolate at home than spend it in a hotel,” she said.

At 4am on Wednesday the red list of 11 nations — Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe — was scrapped.

Mandatory PCR tests on day two for everyone arriving in the UK will remain for now.