Gold Coast QT quarantine hotel: ‘Cruel, unusual punishment’

A Gold Coast woman says her stay at a Surfers Paradise quarantine hotel was ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ after enduring two weeks of constant construction noise.

A GOLD Coaster has likened her stay at a Surfers Paradise quarantine hotel to a “cruel and unusual punishment” after enduring two weeks of constant construction noise.

The woman, released on Thursday morning, did not want to be named for fear of impacting her employment but flew home this month after travelling to Melbourne for work.

Like others in isolation at the QT Hotel who have spoken out, the woman said she understood why she was there and abided by the rules, but inescapable jackhammering at the hotel pool was “too much”.

The hotel has since informed the Bulletin the works and noise have stopped.

Left: QT advertising. Right: A shot taken by an unhappy resident.

“I was staying up late to work in peace and quiet,” she said. “I had ear plugs on and the TV blaring through the day to drown it out but it still wasn’t enough. They said there was nothing they could do. Every staff member I spoke to had their scope of responsibility, no one dealt with the issue.’’

LIFE IN QUARANTINE IN VOCO HOTEL

The woman said authorities agreed to stop work for a few hours so she could carry out a Zoom business meeting but the jackhammer started again before the meeting ended.

“At one point I was in tears on the phone to the Red Cross lady checking in on me. I wouldn’t pay $2800 for this. No one would. It was driving me insane. I thought they had international treaties on this sort of thing, for the constant noise. It is a cruel and unusual punishment.

“I told colleagues after two weeks I’d confess to anything. You could lose your mind.”

The Biggera Waters woman said she was also stressed because of the condition of the room and supplied food.

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Building works at the QT hotel pool in Surfers Paradise.

The QT had previously apologised about the works.

Management said as soon as they became aware of it they moved residents such as Palm Beach man Anthony Fogarty – who also complained about the noise – to rooms on the other side of the building.

A QT spokesman said the hotel had been taken over by the Queensland Department of Health for quarantine guests and was closed to the public.

“We were disappointed to hear the works program had disturbed some guests and while the works program was managed, we have now made further adjustments to minimise any disruption to the Queensland Department of Health quarantine guests.”

The woman wrote a short piece on the jackhammer during her time, based on The Twelve Days of Christmas.

On the 12th day of jackhammering my quarantine gave to me: 12 nervous ticks, 11 skin rashes, 10 legs a-twitching, 9 nails a-biting, 8 hairs falling, 7 self inflicted bites, 6 crazy nightmares, 5 crying fits, 4 hysterical giggles, 3 fights with staff, 2 lawsuits pending, and 1 murderous rage!