Could THIS be one of Britain’s quarantine hotels? West London three-star offers government its rooms for traveller forced to spend 10 days in isolation
- Government is in the process of reserving thousands of rooms for passengers
- St Giles Hotel’s site near Heathrow could be among those chosen to host people
- Chief executive Abigail Tan said ‘we are ready’ to support Government’s plan
A hotel chain says its rooms are ready to host travellers as part of the Government’s delayed quarantine scheme.
Ministers are scrambling to reserve 28,000 rooms across the UK to accommodate those arriving from red list countries for 11 nights.
Earlier today the Government defended another 10-day delay to the start of the scheme.
But St Giles Hotels says its site near Heathrow Airport can be ‘quickly scaled up’ for the new programme. Its sister site in the Philippines is already working in a similar role.
St Giles Hotels says its site near London Heathrow Airport could be ready very quickly
Safety precautions such as hand sanitiser is laid out in the three-star ready for guests
Seals have been added to doors of rooms at the hotel in readiness for people’s stay
Chief executive Abigail Tan said: ‘We are awaiting the government’s details of the mandatory hotel quarantine programme.
‘However, as we’ve been welcoming individual quarantine guests since July 2020 here at St Giles Heathrow hotel, we are ready to quickly scale up our operations to meet this service request. We are flexible and will be able to cater to requirements within the short notice
‘St Giles Heathrow hotel is currently partially open for essential workers and those requiring emergency accommodations, therefore, our operations can swiftly expand to meet demand.
‘Our sister hotel in the Philippines, St Giles Makati, has been working with the Government there in a similar role, as a quarantine property since June of last year for returning residents, and we have been in discussion with our colleagues in Manila about the operational requirements we will need to implement here, since we first understood that the same process was being considered for the U.K.
‘We are ready to support the government’s quarantine programme and do our part to allow for safe travel during these unprecedented times.’
And Jojean Porte, regional director of operations at St Giles Hotels, added: ‘We have already done a very thorough risk assessment in accordance with WHO protocols and the UK Government guidelines.
“We just have to really upscale the number of rooms as soon as we get some updates from the Government.
“But we are ready. The hygiene protocols, the cleaning procedures, the staff training – we are there.”
Andreia Neves, guest service manager, prepares a room at the St Giles Hotel in Feltham, west London
The lobby has been clearly set out for people looking to check in at the hotel
Pictures show hand sanitisers and door seals on prepared rooms at the three-star hotel near the airport.
The hotels are expected to have ‘Government-approved’ security staff on every floor to ensure people do not leave rooms, and smokers will need to be escorted outside.
Three meals a day with fruit and water will be delivered to the door, with hot and cold options available. Tea and coffee will be available in the room, but guests are expected to clean their bathrooms and change their own sheets. Some hotels have suggested they will provide yoga mats to help people exercise and de-stress during their detention.
Mr Hancock said the Government would be ‘vigilant’ about which countries would be subject to the measures.
Seals are also on guests’ toilets at the hotel near Heathrow Airport which could be among those ready to host arriving passengers
Andreia Neves stays safe behind a plastic shield at St Giles as the group’s chef executive revealed they are ready
Speaking on a visit to Gatwick Airport, he said: ‘We’ll be vigilant in making sure that the hotel quarantine that we’re introducing applies to the right countries where we see these new variants.
‘We have a programme to have surveillance right across the world, working with international partners to make sure we can spot where these new variants pop up, like Brazil and South Africa that we’ve seen so far, and make sure that we can keep people here safe with the new hotel quarantine.’