Out of sight, out of mind—are we right? At least, that appears to be the mantra that one Hong Kong hotel has adopted.
A drone photographer recently did some flying over the North Point neighborhood and came across a not-so-palatable view: a rooftop pool in a hotel that had turned a murky shade of green, presumably due to algae accumulation during this protracted period of COVID-induced dis-use.
The pool belongs to Ramada Hong Kong Grand View, a three-and-a-half-star hotel near the North Point market.
Since last December, the hotel has been serving as a quarantine facility for returning travelers.
According to pool maintenance guides, algae in pools is caused by poor water filtration and circulation, and can create a dangerous environment for bacterial growth.
Coconuts has reached out to the hotel for comment but has not heard back at the time of writing.
Read more: Instagram influencer rants about hotel not letting her take poolside selfies with pet hedgehog
Operated by Ramada, an American hotel chain under the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts company, the hotel has three locations in Hong Kong. The other two are in Sai Ying Pun and Tsim Sha Tsui.
In the bygone, pre-COVID days, visits to the North Point hotel’s 28th floor rooftop pool were a highlight for many guests, according to reviews left on booking sites Agoda and TripAdvisor.
“Remember to check out the pool. The view is spectacular!” One reviewer wrote on Agoda in a comment from 2018.
