A Paisley grandad has shared the quarantine hotel “nightmare” he faced after returning to Scotland from helping his pregnant daughter in Greece.
Ron Howe, 68, said he and his wife were "made to feel like criminals" during their two-week stay at the Holiday Inn Express near Glasgow Airport.
He told the Daily Record: "There were guards at the end of the hotel corridors and another guarding the lift.”
But his real worry was the lack of first aid at the hotel. Ron suffered a severe nosebleed and his wife asked a security guard for first aid help. He said: “He told her there were no first aiders in the hotel and we should call NHS 24."
Finally, after two-and-a-half hours, the bleeding stopped and he cancelled the ambulance. Ron added: “I can’t believe there was no one available to give first aid.”
Ron and his wife had flown to Zakynthos in September to visit their daughter Christine, who was pregnant with her second son. He said: “Her wee boy was getting baptised in October so we decided to stay on. But then all flights were cancelled so we couldn’t get home. We ended up staying for the birth of her second child in January.”
When flights opened up again, Ron could not get a seat on a plane until April 5. But Scottish quarantine rules had changed and Ron was unaware he’d have to book into a hotel on his return.
He claimed he got an email from the SNP saying he and his wife could quarantine at home but it was only when they tried to board a flight to Glasgow they learned they had to check into a hotel. Ron said: “If we had known we’d have had to book into a hotel for 10 days we would have stayed where we were.
“It cost us £2400 to stay at the Holiday Inn Express.”
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.
