Quarantine hotel ‘inmates’ told: stop smoking and buy nicotine patches

TRAVELLERS staying at a quarantine hotel faced further curbs on their freedom after staff discovered frustrated guests cavorting outside during an illicit booze-up.

The plight of self-isolating arrivals at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel had earlier plunged into farce when bosses advised any smokers to order nicotine patches as their cigarette breaks were being halted to keep guests in their rooms.

But up to 15 guests gathered in a smoking area outside the hotel near Heathrow last Wednesday night. They were spotted drinking and sharing cigarettes, with several failing to wear masks and some seen hugging. Many were said to be members of a WhatsApp group for ‘rebel guests’ of ‘HMP Radisson’ – the nickname they coined for the hotel.

A guest said the phone app was widely used by those staying to compare notes during the ten-day quarantine and to arrange meet-ups and coordinate smoking breaks.

‘It’s a shame that one group of guests have ruined it for everyone,’ a security guard told an undercover MoS reporter on Thursday, ‘but it got out of hand last night. There were at least 11 of them drinking and partying for like two hours.’

Hotel chiefs ordered a fresh crackdown in response, insisting that guests be allowed to leave their rooms for 15-minute spells – and only under escort.

Poor communication and disagreements between the hotel and security staff have prompted complaints from guests ever since the controversial quarantine programme began on February 15.

Radisson bosses had sent a letter under hotel room doors on Tuesday night. The letter said needing a cigarette ‘is not a reason to go outside’ and that guests ‘as a matter of course will not be allowed outside to exercise’ during their stay.

‘You are likely to need nicotine replacement products,’ the letter read, ‘ you should order nicotine substitute products to your hotel.’

The letter infuriated guests, including a key worker from South Africa who said: ‘It’s ridiculous, everyone is losing their minds.

‘It’s a bloody nightmare, they are trying to crack down and make smokers survive on nicotine replacements, it’s horrible. We are all tearing up the letter and saying we do not consent.’

The hotel declined to comment.