Hotel boss condemns 'lack of dialogue' from the Government on quarantine hotels
5 February 2021, 14:44 | Updated: 5 February 2021, 14:47
'There's clearly a lack of dialogue between Government and hospitality on quarantine hotels'
There is "clearly a lack of dialogue" between the Government and hospitality industry over quarantine hotels, a leading hotel chief has told LBC, as the 5pm deadline to secure rooms looms.
The comment was made by Meher Nawab, CEO London Hotel Group which currently operates the only Covid positive hotel running in the country.
His comments come as the Government announce travellers arriving in the UK from countries on the travel ban "red list" will have to quarantine in a Government-approved hotel from February 15.
The decision to require travellers to self-isolate for 10 days in approved accommodation to ensure they follow the rules was originally announced last week following the emergence of new coronavirus variants in South Africa and Brazil.
Ministers are racing to book 28,000 hotel rooms before a 5pm deadline today, having reportedly informed the industry only yesterday that quarantine hotels are officially to come into force.
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Mr Nawab told LBC's Nick Ferrari: "We have taken nine months of research to open the first [quarantine] hotel.
"We've tried to have dialogue with the Government over this. Some of the points which we sent in a letter last week have been taken on board.
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"There is clearly a lack of dialogue between the Government and the [hospitality] industry."
He added: "We have been trying to reach out and get dialogue with the Government on this and unfortunately we've had very little feedback."
The boss of Best Western hotels has also criticised the Government, saying he is still "in the dark" over details of its new quarantine policy for UK arrivals.
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