Hotels forced to shut down for deep cleans as hotel quarantine ends

It was laughed at and praised when travellers thought of ingenious ways to quarantine for two weeks - but it’s also left a lot of hotels in an expensive limbo.

For the past 18 months, travellers who came up with ingenious ways to serve out their two weeks in hotel quarantine were often met with praise and laughs.

But the hotels that embraced the government’s requirements are now stuck in an expensive limbo, as the wear and tear on their once regularly refreshed rooms are in desperate need of a facelift.

The potential damage hoteliers were facing was made obvious in February 2021, when dozens of professional tennis players took to social media to film themselves smashing balls across their hotel rooms.

Some upturned beds and others taped the floors to mark out their workout spaces.

Tennis player Yulia Putintseva hitting her tennis ball in her Melbourne hotel room.

Bernard Tomic exercising in his hotel room in Melbourne on January 17, 2021. Picture: William West/AFP

And while regular Aussies returning home to complete hotel quarantine weren’t smashing tennis balls across their room, 18 months of wear and tear is still having an impact.

Speaking to Traveller, the president of Australia’s Accommodation Association, Leanne Harwood, said hotels were deserving of compensation for stepping up to quarantine travellers.

“Hotels have been proud to step up from the start of the pandemic to play our role in protecting our community by supporting the government hotel isolation programs,” Ms Harwood said.

"Where we were initially expecting quarantine business to continue for a limited time, in many cases hotels have continued under the program for extended periods, up to two years.

“With back-to-back stays over these extended periods, where guests are confined to their room 24 hours a day for 14 days, our hotel rooms have been put under extraordinary conditions without the upkeep they would receive under normal circumstances, which has resulted in significant wear and tear.

"We are therefore currently working with government to agree appropriate reparation (in order) to return those facilities to their prior state, which will give guests full confidence and enable hotels to get back to their core business of providing hospitality to travellers.”

A Victoria Police officer standing guard outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne. Picture: William West/AFP

The amount of time guests spent in their rooms was unprecedented for Australian hoteliers, with some operators looking at closures of up to three months to get the places looking refreshed.

Ms Harwood said some rooms received significant damage “by people who clearly didn't want to be in them”.

However, hotel quarantine will hopefully soon be a thing of the past.

NSW and Victoria will ditch any and all quarantine from Monday for fully vaccinated Australians, capping hotel quarantine at a measly 250 people a week.

And Victoria and Queensland are also in the process of building specific quarantine facilities, to ensure hotels never have to be used again.

Hotel quarantine workers wearing full PPE in Australia. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Hotel quarantine has long been blasted as the wrong way to bring people into Australia.

Earlier this month, before Victoria announced an end to hotel quarantine for fully vaccinated Aussies, cricket legend Shane Warne said the system was “inhumane”.

Taking to Twitter, Warne, who is double-vaxxed against coronavirus, questioned whether those who have had two jabs should be required to complete it.

“Can I do home quarantine in Victoria now as I’m double vaccinated or is it still the inhumane 14 day hotel quarantine in a tiny little room as all residents returning home have had to do?” the player said.

Thanks for having me London ! Time to head home for the Ashes now. Question. Can I do home quarrantine in Victoria now as I’m double vaccinated or is it still the inhumane 14 day hotel quarantine in a tiny little room as all residents returning home have had to do ? Thankyou 👍

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) October 8, 2021