Canadian woman paid $3,458 CAD for a night in a quarantine hotel
With each passing day, Canadians are realizing how ineffective and underdeveloped the mandatory quarantine system is.
An Ontario woman who went overseas for her father's funeral says she feels cheated because of the government's ill-conceived plan to quarantine hotels, which cost her $3,458 CAD for one night.
According to Cristina Teixeira, returning to Canada has been a real nightmare: "The stress we have been subjected to is unthinkable. As a Canadian citizen, I can say that it is wrong in many ways. We've never experienced anything like it."
Teixeira returned to Canada with her brother and daughter on February 27 after spending about a week in Portugal. While still overseas, she tried to get any answers about the quarantine program at hotels, but was unable to make a reservation until she was in Toronto.
The woman also made a request to see if her family could be excused from the hotel's compassionate quarantine, but her request was denied. She was told to call the nearest Crowne Plaza hotel to make a reservation.
"We notified the Crowne Plaza of the situation and booked a room," Christina said. — The receptionist quoted a price for one night of ".
After that, they waited for a transfer for an hour, but didn't wait for a taxi.
"When we got there to check in, the room rate suddenly went up from $369 CAD per night to $769 CAD per night plus tax," Christina says. — They initially knew there were three of us, but didn't give us the correct information."
She said that they had not been informed over the phone that the price per person was quoted and that because there were three of them, they would be charged a higher rate.
Including all taxes and surcharges, the Canadian's credit card was charged $3,458 CAD for her hotel stay between February 27 and March 1: "When we arrived at the hotel, it was 1:30 a.m., we were exhausted and just agreed to the conditions voiced, deciding to worry about it in the morning. We were handed three sandwiches, water and nothing else".
She said they were not given any instructions about the quarantine process, only told that food would be delivered under the door. The next morning they had to wait until 9:45 before they received their breakfast, which the Canadian woman said looked like "cesspit".
That same day, the family received negative results for the COVID-19 test, meaning they could leave the hotel and complete their quarantine at home. At that point, they had only spent 15 hours at the hotel. In spite of this, the hotel demanded full payment for the 3 nights stay.
"If we had come 'off the street,' this room would have cost us $159 CAD plus $10 CAD for each additional person," Christina said. — We were treated differently because we came from the airport. The government hasn't worked out a plan yet. And it's terrible."
Public Health Canada reports that hotels set their own rates and can change them.
New requirements to undergo mandatory hotel quarantine, the cost of which varies by hotel, went into effect last week. All travellers arriving in Canada by air must spend up to three days in one of the government-approved hotels at their own expense while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test.
