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Christmas in a managed isolation facility has not been as terrible as Rebecca Snape and Jeramie Harden feared.
The day was filled with a few surprises, including Christmas cookies on the breakfast tray and a delicious roast dinner, with all the trimmings.
The couple are two of 5,724 returnees who spend Christmas Day in controlled isolation at 32 facilities across the country.
LAWRENCE SMITH / Things
Rebecca Snape is spending Christmas Day with her partner Jeramie Harden at MIQ at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Auckland.
Snape and Harden will stay at the Stamford Hotel on Auckland’s Albert St, after arriving in the country from the UK on December 19.
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Snape said she was amazed at how far the hotel staff went to make sure guests didn’t miss out on the Christmas celebration.
The employees surprised them with bottles of non-alcoholic grape juice, just before lunch.
“It has been a strange Christmas because we never imagined that we would spend Christmas in isolation. The hotel has done everything possible to make it Christmas, ”he said.
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The hotel and MIQ staff at the Sebel Hotel Manukau on Christmas Day.
“It doesn’t look like Christmas, but we appreciate the hotel’s effort. The staff have been pretty cheerful considering they have to work today. “
The couple had planned to arrive in New Zealand earlier and come out of isolation before Christmas, but the spaces in the hotels had filled up.
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Stamford Plaza Hotel surprised guests with non-alcoholic juices on Christmas morning.
“It was either this or February, so we booked this and will leave on January 2nd.
Snape said they flew out of the UK just before the country entered another lockdown.
“Either way, if we were there, we’d be stuck at home,” he said.
A quarantine and managed isolation spokesperson said staff were committed to providing returnees with the best possible holiday experience, while keeping them safe from Covid-19.
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Health workers got into the holiday spirit on Christmas Day in Auckland.
Most of the facilities have decorations and Christmas trees, Christmas music and other treats for the guests.
There was even a reindeer feeding station at a hotel so the kids could keep up the tradition of leaving treats for Santa’s helpers on Christmas Eve.
The spokeswoman said: “Hotels are used to caring for people and showing manaakitanga (hospitality) during the holiday season.
“Some facilities are extending the good mood until New Year’s Eve, such as the petit fours and a glass of bubbles to drink at midnight.”
Guests can also choose to pay for a special Christmas menu, which includes a barbecue for $ 90, high tea for $ 59, and a New Years seafood platter for $ 180.
Snape said they bought the Christmas roast and were looking forward to dinner of stuffed chicken, truffled duck, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and wine.
LAWRENCE SMITH / Things
Rebecca Snape says that spending Christmas Day in controlled isolation is not so bad.
Harden, whose family lives in Wellington, said being stuck in an isolated hotel for two weeks over Christmas wasn’t the worst place to be.
“I am surprised and very impressed by your attitude of thanking us for quarantining us instead of [thinking], ‘Why did you come home and put us all at risk?’ “
