[canucklad]

Meant to add in to my above comment — Think yourself reasonably lucky Ian. Spoke to my pal this morning. He irked me by stating he was enjoying a beer in the plaza, something i’m along from (not just the distance to DB) enjoying anytime soon here in Scotland —- Yet the rugrats and older kids still running amok === ahhh well

[cwoodward]

[postquote quote=1056534][/postquote]

I do sympathise with your frustration re room service and no take-away delivery and at first pass I would probably feel similarly.
However the other side to this is that, as annoying as it may be, the hotels do need to make the most of all legitimate opportunities to turn a dollar and of course all that they are doing here is operating to their normal business model.
Given the present circumstances of the hospitality industry it would, I feel, be over harsh to criticise them for this particularly as the government may also have mandated re take-away delivery.
Much depends on the hotel and the quality of the room service of course and personally I could probably survive rather well for a couple of weeks on the room service at the Mandarin (one of the government nominated HK hotels) on the other hand of course one would not perhaps fair nearly so well at say at a 3 star.
I am reasonable sure that already you would have considered exploring with the room service manager the possibilities of ordering ‘off menu’ dishes. This is something that I do often if there is nothing on the RSM that I fancy – very often with excellent results at 4 and 5 star properties.

[K1ngston]

[postquote quote=1060833][/postquote]

In Singapore and we were in the Shangri La Sentosa a 5* hotel, and the food served was awful, in fact worse than awful, the hotel food offered as room service wasn’t so bad but the budget given to the hotel by the Government was clearly minuscule and the food therefore was simply awful and in most cases inedible, my husband chose the Asian options which were just as bad so if the same goes in HKG the 2 weeks could be a very long time indeed… we lived on delivered food for 14 days

[CathayLoyalist2]

Canuckland – Which succinctly sums up where we are nine months into this nightmare . Cwoodwards comment above really proves the point that collectively we’ve made a bums rush of this. Hopefully the people who make the critical decisions can learn from their up to now total failure in managing this crisis. Especially with the vaccine light now appearing at the end of the tunnel.God help OUR politicians and scientific advisors if they don’t raise their game in the coming weeks[/quote

In my opinion the government is dammed if it does and dammed if it doesn´t. There have been so many different and constrasting views from experts and non experts alike to what should have been done and when plus what shouldn´t have been done etc. People need to relook at what unprecendented actually means means “never done or known before”. I would say to the constant complainers “walk in the shoes of the lead politicians, medical and scientific personnel for a week or two after which I suspect views would change”. I would support an inquiry to learn the lessons as is predicted another virus is not far around the corner.To describe the response as a total failure is disingenuous. Pretty much every country in Europe has struggled. If you want to complain about the manner in which the media has reported on this pandemic i.e. incendiary headlines. I am with those who believe it has been poor and amatuerish and that is an understatement

1 user thanked author for this post.

cwoodward

[IanFromHKG]

Well, the girls escape tomorrow night. Because of the timing of their trip they didn’t get the madness of the latest restricted list of government-approved hotels, and they have still been able to get food deliveries (both from us and from Deliveroo/Foodpanda). Since their quarantine ends at 23:59 we did ask if they just wanted to sleep over but they were adamant that they expected a car outside at midnight!! We can’t wait to see them.

We are still astonished that their hotel hasn’t made it onto the latest approved list. They have tried so hard, and there is no obvious reason why they can’t continue taking quarantine visitors.

To respond to cwoodward’s point about surviving at the Mandarin, and about it being harsh to criticise hotels – the delivery point seems to have been mandated by the government, and I criticise the government, not the hotels, on that point. However, there is clearly some price gouging going on. The Landmark Mandarin (on the earlier list) was going to charge in excess of HK$51,000 (over 5,000 pounds) a NIGHT.

However, the latest list doesn’t include any Mandarin hotel form indeed, any hotel I would choose to stay in. We were parked in the Dorsett Tsuen Wan for our first night and it was bearable, although the food was shite. Apparently now, for the first night (for those who arrive later into the day and can’t get their arrival test results the same day), travellers are put into The Rambler, which by all accounts is an absolute shocker – mould, stains, bedbugs, you name it.

[cwoodward]

To be fair to the Mandarin
The cost mentioned above for the Mandarin was actually for 14 nights NOT 1 NIGHT

per HK government listing 18/12
Price (for 14 nights)
L450 superior/deluxe: HKD50,820 including food

About their normal tariff I would have thought.

[PeterCoultas]

Not much luck then for backpackers !!!!!

[cwoodward]

Are there still REAL backpackers Peter ?
The offspring of friends that I hear about all seem to bigger off to a 5 star ‘for a spa’ every 5th night !
Now back in the day…………………

[Woodpecker]

News coming through that HKG has for two weeks prohibited all non stop flights from UK, as well as anyone coming from the UK if via transit.

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1566413-20201221.htm?spTabChangeable=0

[IanFromHKG]

[quote quote=1068612]To be fair to the Mandarin
The cost mentioned above for the Mandarin was actually for 14 nights NOT 1 NIGHT[/quote]

No, it is for ONE night. Take another look at the government’s official site and look at the column heading above the prices, which reads: “Room Rate per Nightfor Quarantine Guests (in HKD)*” (emphasis added). There are cheaper rates, but that one grabbed the eye.

Incidentally our beloved Offspring leave hotel quarantine at 23:59 tonight but it seems likely that they will be subjected to another five days’ home quarantine, which is absurd. They were tested before they left, they were tested on arrival, they were tested again ten days after arrival, they have to do an additional test on day 19 or 20 – it’s complete overkill, given that the normal incubation period for covid is 5-6 days and the highest medical estimate I have seen is 14 days.

This quarantine extension will, of course, take them up to Christmas itself. Senior Offspring was already enduring 14 days of hotel quarantine to be with us for 9 days, now she will only be able to go outside for four days of her trip – unless, of course, it gets extended because of a lack of flights. It makes me boiling mad…. As if I needed ANOTHER reason to despise our government.

[cwoodward]

The Mandarin rate per HK government listing 18/12 WAS per room as below.

Price (for 14 nights) NOT ONE NIGHT
L450 superior/deluxe: HKD50,820 including food.

Possibly the Presidential suite (or the like) was listed also at the ridiculous rate mentioned above but that could hardly be called a room and if listed I could not find it.

[DavidGrodentz]

The rate of 50,000 HKD per night is for the Entertainment Suite at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental on Queens Road Central, roughly 70,000 GBP for the two weeks quarantine

The more famous Mandarin Oriental is not one of the approved quarantine hotels

[MartynSinclair]

Is the food extra? 🙂

https://www.mandarinoriental.com/hong-kong/the-landmark/luxury-hotel/accommodations/speciality-suites/entertainment-suite

[canucklad]

[quote quote=1065241]In my opinion the government is dammed if it does and dammed if it doesn´t. There have been so many different and constrasting views from experts and non experts alike to what should have been done and when plus what shouldn´t have been done etc. People need to relook at what unprecendented actually means means “never done or known before”.[/quote]

Hi CathayLoyalist2, I agree with you to a degree and understand the underlying sentiment of your comments
So, I’ll start with the fact that I don’t blame our politicians for this mess, and for once since they’re now trying to rewrite history and deflect blame i’ll mention specifically where the fault lies ….. China and its oppressive regime !

What I’m unhappy about is the unbelievably passive manner in which most countries in the West have managed the pandemic , and worse the continual removal of our civil liberties with not even a whimper from us, because we all understand the severity . Yet , almost a year on here in the UK and we’re worse off now than when we began.

Boris bumbling along on his tier roller coaster, Nicola and her team trying to prove she’s more competent by acting like a stricter schoolmistress thus pushing her own political agenda, and I’ve not yet mentioned the Welsh and Northern Irish approach. And this is only the UK —- A global pandemic requires joined up international agreed leadership.

I would also add that I’m again in full lockdown yet , local businesses are now collapsing and our government is still pushing the narrative that we’re at fault, for misbehaving, and just about everybody in Scotland knows that its the schools and universities that have caused this 2nd wave , yet this is denied by our politicians . again for their own political agenda !

Fingers crossed that our light at the end of the vaccine tunnel gets brighter, rather than dimming like it did on Sunday !!

2 users thanked author for this post.

DerekVH, esselle

[Tom Otley]

Interesting first person piece in the Financial Times about the 2 and then 3 week quarantine….

Opinion Life & Arts

Hong Kong diary: locked down in luxury
The city’s quarantine restrictions, among the strictest in the world, come at a high price

[Author]

Posts