The virus crisis has brought most travel to a halt and has decimated hotel reservations, but some hotels have found a new niche, housing people who are going through self-quarantine or isolation.
Although that hasn’t really taken off in the U.S., in a number of places around the world, especially in Asia and Pacific areas, it has; the advertisement above is running for an Australian Novotel in Sydney. It offers a two-week stay with complimentary room service with three meals and two teas.
And there’s a reason for that: hotels that are going this route scrub like crazy everywhere they can, and completely avoid contact with the guests; food and linens are placed at their doors for them to take in after the deliverer has gone.
For some people, it may be more pleasant than at home, but the real market for the service is the significant number of people trapped far from home and with no other place to self-isolate, including a significant number of British subjects who have not been repatriated. It’s also an option being considered in San Francisco for homeless people ordered to self-isolate without a place to do so.
UPDATE: Red Roof Inns is offering a different sort of shelter to serve college students who have been forced to leave their dorms but cannot return home for various reasons including travel restrictions. The chain is offering 30% discounts for stays through May 31. Valid college ID is required.
For those with money to burn and a bit of disdain for ‘the rest of us,’ there’s an alternative in Zurich: Le Bijou Hotel and Resort, formerly a luxury apartment building and now renting out as “quarantine apartments” for $12-14,000 a night.
As an add-on, the hotel is offering a $500 virus screening test by a local clinic: “You don’t need to expose yourself to infected patients and hospital infections: Together with our healthcare partner Double Check, we provide medical check-ups and coronavirus tests inside your Le Bijou apartment.”