A Tsing Yi hotel used to house inbound travelers awaiting their COVID-19 test results overnight has come under fire for what many say are shocking and unsanitary conditions.
According to an Apple Daily report published Friday, travelers staying at the Rambler Garden Hotel have complained of bad smells, dirty bathrooms and even a rat sighting.
One man surnamed Wong told the local paper that he smelled a foul odor coming from the sink every time he flushed the toilet, and that the floor and his bedsheets were wet.
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The next morning, he saw toilet paper scraps littered in the standing shower, making him suspect that the water from the toilet had flowed through the pipes and into it.
Chairman of the Hong Kong Licensed Plumbers Union, Mok Kwan-hung, told Apple Daily that foul smells emitted when flushing the toilet could mean faulty pipe connections, which could increase the chances of cross contamination.
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Arriving travelers waiting for their test results wrote similarly negative reviews on Google, including that stains and food scraps were found on the bed and that the bathroom.
Dozens of one-star reviews have been left for the hotel since the government designated the hotel as a holding facility in mid-October. One review called the room “marginally better than sleeping on the floor of the airport.”
Another comment left earlier this week read: “I am truly appalled at the complete lack of cleanliness the room had as this was a mandated quarantine hotel!!”
Apple Daily reported that hundreds of arriving travelers move into the hotel every day, with a short two-hour gap between check-in and check-out time likely making it difficult for staff to clean the rooms.
Kwai Tsing district councilor Daniel Kwok said he has received around 10 complaints about the unsanitary conditions of the rooms. He called on authorities to suspend the use of the hotel immediately.
The Department of Health told Apple Daily that the Rambler Garden Hotel fulfils requirements regarding facilities, number of rooms and disease control. The department said that they would urge the hotel to follow up.
Coconuts has reached out to the Rambler Garden Hotel for comment but has not heard back at the time of writing.
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