Travellers placed in an enforced 14-day quarantine in luxury five-star hotels after returning from overseas are complaining about the ‘prison food’ being served to them three times a day.
Thousands of people flying into Australia have been shuttled to makeshift quarantine facilities after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced strict new restrictions in an effort to contain the ever-evolving coronavirus pandemic.
But many guests are becoming increasingly frustrated, with one woman revealing she was served ‘airline food’, while others described their meals as ‘atrocious’, ‘horrible’, ‘disgusting’ like ‘dog food’.
The woman (pictured) who’s cooped up in a Perth hotel after returning from Bali said while she understands the government’s tough measures to minimise the spread of COVID-19, she has been struggling with the meals served to her (left of cheese, bun, crackers and dried fruits)
One woman who’s cooped up in a Perth hotel after returning from Bali said while she understands the government’s tough measures to minimise the spread of COVID-19, she has been struggling with the meals served to her.
‘The room is great but the food has been my biggest complaint. I’m trying not to be negative because this is a situation that’s completely unprecedented,’ she said.
‘The food has been really atrocious, it’s worse than a struggle meal. My breakfast was a total of nine cubes of random fruits, it’s not amazing.’
She told The Bali Sun she was given shellfish for dinner but she was forced to return it due to her allergies.
Shortly after, she was given a plastic container with pieces of cheese, crackers, dried fruits and a bun with butter.
‘But the nice thing is they are listening so they’ve changed the rules on outdoor food being allowed to be brought in so we’re now allowed to order UberEats, we can have friends and family deliver foods,’ she said.
‘It’s two weeks, it’s such a short period of time for the greater good of everyone. I’m stuck in a hotel room with a beautiful view and no fresh air but I’m ok with two weeks of not stepping outside. So it’s really short term pain for long term gain.’
One woman – who’s staying at the ParkRoyal along Sydney’s Darling Harbour – shared a picture showing steamed broccoli, baby corn, beans, cauliflower and mushrooms filling just less than half of the container
Another woman – who’s spending her isolation at the Crown Metropol Melbourne – said she felt sick when she was served a foil container filled with mash potatoes, meat with gravy and vegetables
One man – who’s staying at Novotel Sydney Central – shared a picture showing his breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage
However, not everyone has been lucky with their meal options, as scores of guests staying in hotels around Sydney and Melbourne reveal their horror after being served ‘prison food’.
One woman – who’s staying at the ParkRoyal along Sydney’s Darling Harbour – shared a picture showing steamed broccoli, baby corn, beans, cauliflower and mushrooms filling just less than half of the container.
‘This is ‘dinner’. Is this acceptable? I am wondering if the government is aware how the hotels are treating us,’ she said, adding she was also served a a side of rice.
Another woman said she was still waiting for her dinner at 9.30pm after she sent her previous food back because she couldn’t eat it due to dietary restrictions.
‘I didn’t want to complain because some people during this pandemic are in worse conditions however the food situation is bulls***,’ she said.
‘I have dietary requirements and every time they send food, they send things I can’t eat so I have to spend 30 minutes on hold only for them to apologise and send different food two hours later.
‘I totally get that they are under the pump and finding it tough to deal with this because it was extremely last minute but it’s not our fault we have to stay here.
‘We can order room service now of course it’s expensive and I spent my money on last minute flights so I can’t afford that or Uber eats either, I’m definitely not the only one in that position either.’
A third woman said she realised her dinner served at the hotel was airline food
Her spaghetti bolognese was served with steamed carrots, beans and came in a foil packaging
One mother, who’s staying at InterContinental Sydney with her family – said they were delivered ‘dog food’ with ‘not one single piece’ of vegetable in sight
A third woman said she realised her dinner served at the hotel was airline food.
‘Quarantine meal reveal day two: I think dinner tonight is from an airline judging by the silver foil packaging and water cup,’ she said.
One mother, who’s staying at InterContinental Sydney with her family – claimed they were delivered ‘dog food’ in a ‘rubbish bag’ with ‘not one single piece’ of vegetable in sight.
‘The food is one of those ready meal microwaved ones. I have a one-year-old and there is absolute no option. They deliver our food in rubbish bags,’ she claimed.
‘A container of the meal, an uncooked small bread roll, and an apple. My baby has vomited after two mouth spoons of the bolognese pasta. Other options included butter chicken and Moroccan Tagine. Sounds all nice but it’s nothing but horrible.
‘Meals are super salty and spicy for a baby. Not to mention they repeated lunch and dinner. Same horrible food twice in a day. I asked for another option and they sent us a container with cold chicken nuggets and chips.’
While one woman shared a snap showing croissants, sweet pastries, milk, juice, yoghurt, muesli bar and two eggs but complained she was served ‘so much sugar’
One man – who’s staying at Novotel Sydney Central – shared a picture showing his breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage.
While one woman shared a snap showing croissants, sweet pastries, milk, juice, yoghurt, muesli bar and two eggs but complained she was served ‘so much sugar’.
‘Also said I couldn’t have milk or yogurt, but still got it both days,’ she said.
Another woman – who’s spending her isolation at the Crown Metropol Melbourne – said she felt sick when she was served a foil container filled with mash potatoes, meat with gravy and vegetables.
Hotels across the country have revealed guests in quarantine are fed three times a day between set times.
At Novotel, guests are fed at breakfast between 7.30am to 9.30am, lunch from 12pm to 1pm and dinner at 5pm to 7pm.
‘Unfortunately, any external deliveries such as UberEats, Deliveroo and all external packages cannot be accepted into the hotel and this has been advised by NSW Public Health,’ the hotel said in a statement to guests.
While InterContinental Sydney general manager Jennifer Brown told The Guardian the government’s strict measures ‘will inevitably have some impact on the quality of service delivered’.
‘It includes a requirement that only three meals are delivered a day, medication and baby formula may be delivered to guests, and nothing else,’ she said.