A woman has revealed the conditions she and her husband experienced at a quarantine hotel in London following their return from the United Arab Emirates - claiming the 'shocking' food caused her 'serious distress'.
Tracey Smith, from Grimsby, repatriated to Dubai, a 'red-list' country, in February of this year to join her husband, Jim, who has lived there for the past two years.
However she flew back to the UK on May 11 as her home was due to be sold and checked in at the Courtyard by Marriott London City Airport for 11 nights under imposed quarantine conditions, at the price of £1,750.
In addition to the £1,750 fee Mrs Smith had to pay an extra £650 for her husband Jim, to stay at the hotel with her - bringing the total cost to £2,400.
Now, Mrs Smith, who remained at the hotel until May 22, has claimed she and her husband were unable to open the windows in their room and the food they were given was 'often cold, wet and small in portion size', making it 'difficult to digest properly'.
Tracey Smith, from Grimsby, and her husband Jim (pictured together) checked in at the Courtyard by Marriott London City Airport for 11 nights under imposed quarantine conditions
Mrs Smith said the food she was served at the quarantine hotel (left and right) was 'often cold, wet and small in portion size', making it 'difficult to digest properly'
The couple, from Grimsby, checked in at the Courtyard by Marriott London City Airport for 11 nights under imposed quarantine conditions
She said: 'The room had windows but I couldn't open them so it felt as though we couldn't get any proper ventilation entering the room.
'The room was very clean, not exactly huge, but manageable to live in.'
Mrs Smith said the experience of the stay was made worse by the quality of the food.
She added: 'It was the lack of nutrients in the meals provided.
'The food on offer at the hotel was shocking and caused me serious distress.'
Under the imposed quarantine conditions, Mrs Smith and her husband could only go outside of the hotel building for 15 minutes of fresh air at a time and sometimes this was not even possible if the hotel was busy.
Mrs Smith said: 'It was impossible to do any exercise in our room and the best we could manage was walking around the building when we were allowed fresh air, and this was under close supervision from security guards.
'We must have looked ridiculous but we had no choice because we needed to let off steam somehow for being stuck in a room for almost 23 hours of the day, laying on a bed.'
Mrs Smith believes the Government has played a big role in complicating travel for thousands of people during lockdown.
The couple were only able to go outside of the hotel building for 15 minutes of fresh air at a time but this was not always possible if the hotel was busy. Pictured: View from the couple's hotel room
Mrs Smith , who paid £1,700 for the hotel plus an additional £650 for her husband, said she and her husband would be stuck in their room for almost 23 hours of the day. Pictured: The couple's bathroom
The couple said they would spend most of the day laying on a bed and it was impossible to do any exercise in the room
Mrs Smith believes the Government has played a big role in complicating travel for thousands of people during lockdown
The couple said they would walk around the building when they were allowed fresh air but this was under close supervision from security guards
She said she felt more exposed to Covid-19 as a result of being inclose proximity to other people from red, amber and green listed countries whilst she was transitioning at London City Airport.
She said: 'People only see the government doing good by placing people into quarantine, which I fundamentally believe in, but the system just does not work.
'The government made this mess possible and are painting a false picture to the public of what is happening to people like me and my husband.
'But people don't understand the experience of having to do this [isolate in an expensive hotel] and the huge stress it creates on people.'
She added: 'We held off coming back for as long as we could to see if hotel restrictions eased but it was evident from the government's announcements that it would never happen so we had no choice but to fly back and quarantine in a hotel.'
Government guidelines state arrivals from 'red list' countries, including India, Brazil and South Africa, must quarantine for ten days inside a designated
