My airport hotel hell
OAP’s quarantine misery
A Paisley pensioner has compared a stay in Glasgow Airport’s quarantine hotel to Cell Block H after he travelled to Greece to help his pregnant daughter.
Ron Howe said he and his wife were made to feel like common criminals when they were escorted from the terminal of the Paisley transport hub to the Holiday Inn Express by a guard.
And the pair were alarmed even further at the lack of medial attention on site when Ron suffered a nose bleed so severe it lasted for almost two hours.
He said: “It was a severe nose bleed to the point the blood was pouring into my throat.
“My wife asked for a first aider but she was told they didn’t have one.
“The reception told her to contact NHS 24 but she couldn’t get through so she called an ambulance.
“This was 30 minutes after the bleeding started. The ambulance said they would get someone to us as soon as possible but after an hour and half my wife cancelled it when the bleeding stopped.”
Ron was detained with his wife just yards from his home in the town’s West End and says they felt powerless throughout the episode.
The 68 year old – who claims he was told by a local SNP office that he would not be required to isolate in a hotel– says he was unable to keep up to date with the restrictions due to a poor internet connection in Greece.
He is now warning others about the harsh reality if quarantine hotels before they decide to travel.
“We would never have come home had we known,” he said.
“My wife and I were made to feel like criminals.
“We were escorted by a G4S guard through all the security in the airport until we got to the hotel.
“The quarantine process was explained to us and then we were escorted to our room.
“We were allowed outside for 20 minutes each day if there was a guard available; that was in the hotel car park and the guard followed you then too.
“There were security guards everywhere, at every lift and at the end of the corridors.
“My brother said it sounded like Cell Block H and it was.”
Ron and his wife had flown to Zakynthos in September to visit their daughter Christine, who was pregnant with her second son.
Their return flight at the end of the September was cancelled as the covid situation worsened in the UK and across Europe.
The couple decided to stay on until they could get a flight home last month.
It was only when they got to the gate at Amsterdam Airport for a connecting flight to Glasgow that they were told they needed to book the quarantine hotel.
The Scottish Government said: “Leaving managed isolation to attend an essential medical appointment is allowed and we would expect appropriate medical support to be provided while in quarantine.”
Holiday Inn Express said they could not comment as quarantine and hotel selection was a matter for the government.