A former Aberdeen resident who moved to Dubai 15 years ago has spoken of the “food horror” she faced during her time in a quarantine hotel in the city centre.
Sarah Murray, 32, travelled back to the Granite City from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days in a bid to see her family who she hadn’t seen in seven months.
However, the executive assistant at a management consulting firm in the UAE was left horrified with her first few evening meals at Sandman Signature Aberdeen Hotel on St Andrew Street, that she cancelled the remainder of her meals for her stay.
The overseas expat paid £1,750 to travel back to Aberdeen and stay in a quarantine hotel before being allowed to see her family. She arrived on Saturday July 10 and her last day in quarantine was Wednesday July 21.
Sarah booked her trip via a booking portal called Corporate Travel Management (CTM) which allocated her the hotel.
She said: “I only get to see my family a few times a year – if that. I wanted to come home and spend as much time as possible with them.
“I didn’t get to choose the quarantine hotel I would be staying in. Before leaving the UAE I had to book and pay for my package which was done through a government website called CTM.
“Payment included accommodation, breakfast, lunch, evening meals, hot and cold drinks, two Covid tests and a transfer to the hotel. Once I had secured my reservation, I was sent an email confirmation which stated the hotel details.”
Horror meals
Experiencing what Sarah describes as “horror food” at the four-star hotel, she was extremely disappointed with the quality of the evening meals which she says were “greasy” and “inedible”.
The hotel is currently operating as a quarantine hotel and will reopen to the public in August.
She added: “I am not one to complain, but the standard and quality of food provided was an utter disgrace – this mainly goes for the evening meals as they were not edible. The breakfasts and lunches were OK but dinner was dreadful.
“There was a frozen greasy fish with stale cold chips and peas, vegetarian chilli which was dry and looked like it had been made earlier in the day and left out, and a baked potato with chilli, but the whole meal was floating in orange grease.
“I was also given a chicken hot pot meal which was cold with gloopy cream sauce and slices of potatoes that were brown/black in colour.
“This is totally unacceptable for a hotel of this standard. Just because it isn’t currently open to the public doesn’t mean standards should drop to this level. Nobody should be given food like this, there’s really no excuse.”
Mum’s the word
Sarah’s mum, who lives locally, delivered meals to the hotel to ensure her daughter wasn’t forking out more money after turning to deliveries to get something to eat.
“The added expense for alternative food arrangements was approximately £120 on top of what I have already paid,” said Sarah.
“I didn’t eat any of the evening meals as they were awful and inedible. I had to make other arrangements for dinner which meant spending more money on orders from Deliveroo.
Nobody should be given food like this, there’s really no excuse.”
Sarah Murray.
“Thankfully my mum was also kind enough to go shopping for me and cook some homemade meals that she then sent into the hotel. I am so thankful these deliveries were allowed or I really don’t know what I would’ve done.
“I complained to the hotel on two separate occasions. When I first complained the staff were very apologetic. I didn’t cancel my meals to start with as I wanted to see if they had taken on board my concerns, but when my next dinner arrived the standard and quality was still the same and some meals were even worse!
“When I called them to cancel my lunch and evening meals, I received around three calls that day to say they were extremely sorry and offered to provide me with alternative meals.
“I said no and told them I would arrange my own meals going forward. They also informed me that I wasn’t the only person who had complained about the food. But nothing was done about it.”
Government answers
Sarah was informed by the hotel that they receive £20 a day as part of the package to provide guests with three meals per day.
She added: “I would really like a breakdown from the government on what the £1,750 was spent on as the hotel told me they were given £20 a day to provide three meals.
“In my opinion that was a reasonable price to provide three nutritional meals, the hotel was obviously trying to make a profit from the amount they were being paid.
“I don’t think that one transfer, 10 nights accommodation, two Covid tests and security came to £1,750 so I think the government is keeping back quite a sum of the money for admin purposes.
“There are so many people stuck overseas that desperately want to come home to see their families, some of whom have been unwell, but they just can’t afford to and I don’t think anyone should be benefiting from these terrible circumstances.”
Hotel’s say
According to a spokeswoman from Sandman Signature Aberdeen Hotel, there is a team of 11 chefs preparing meals fresh each service ahead of delivery to the rooms. Currently 50 to 60 guests are staying at the hotel this week.
All meals are delivered in takeaway packaging in line with government guidelines and are served differently to the restaurant presentation.
She said: “This figure of £20 per person per day is incorrect, we work within certain allocations agreed in our contract with the government. We are unable to give exact figures but can confirm the number is higher than that stated.
“As with any hospitality setting small complaints can come up from time to time. We work extremely hard to ensure should a complaint arise, it is dealt with quickly and effectively. Our team go above and beyond to ensure most importantly the safety of guests and the satisfaction.
“We’re very proud of the team who have received an incredible number of compliments whilst working in a setting different to anything they have experienced before. Should requests or complaints arise, the team have done everything they can to fulfil it including bringing guests off-menu items should they ask for them.
“Guests are also able to order food to be delivered from outside sources which is dropped off to their rooms in accordance with security regulations set out by the government.”
The Scottish government have been contacted to clarify the costs hotels receive for quarantine guests’ food allowance.