TASSIE TEEN’S QUARANTINE NIGHTMARE

Next stop: dirty quarantine hotel

HOBART teenager Paris Burns thought the worst of her overseas travels were behind her before a late-night emergency hotel evacuation added further stress to her journey home.

The Hobart College student flew to Japan in March, ahead of the coronavirus outbreak, for what was booked as a three-month study trip.

But after enduring several flight cancellations she found herself stuck in the foreign country months later, while relying on the support of a

Japanese family. Her pleas with authorities, airlines and travel agencies in a request for an earlier flight home had, until this week, fallen on deaf ears.

But while she is now back in Australia, the dramas haven’t ended. On day three of her 14-day hotel quarantine on Tuesday, the teenager was among 366 guests at a Sydney hotel who were moved to nearby accommodation after authorities deemed the hotel dirty and unfit for isolation.

Paris said an intercom announcement at 5.30pm blasted through her hotel room advising she would be transferred. Four hours later she was taken by bus to a nearby hotel.

Paris said the past few months had been draining on her mental health while awaiting her scheduled flight home and said Tuesday night’s hotel transfer magnified her stress.

“I got so anxious from the announcement. The hotel wouldn’t tell us where we were going. We were just told we were being moved but I had no idea why,” she said.

NSW Police said in a statement an inspection of the quarantine hotel “ascertained that one such hotel did not meet the expectations required”.

Paris said she noticed minor cleanliness issues in her initial room, while other guests took to social media deploring the conditions, as photos showed dirty floors and clumps of hair on furniture.

“The towels weren’t very nice and the kettle was leaking,” Paris said.

“But I wasn’t complaining. I was just happy to be back in Australia. I think it’s important for hotel accommodation to be of the highest cleanliness at the moment, though.”

Paris, whose prolonged stay in Japan meant she missed the birth of her brother, said she felt like the worst of her travel hiccups were behind her.

“It’s a really huge weight off my shoulders to know that I’m now coming home,” she said.

Paris said a travel agent at Kingston Flight Centre had been particularly supportive in arranging an earlier flight with her international airline.