Quarantine hotels: when opportunity meets opportunism
Quarantine hotels: when opportunity meets opportunism
Bambang
Soemarwoto, a resident of the city of Leiden, the Netherlands
(A shortened and edited version is published as an op-ed in in the Jakarta Post on 22 December 2022)
The
progression of omicron is another evidence that we are still very much riding
the pandemic roller-coasters. Each ride has its own theme and setting. Every
turn, climb and dive in covid cases and measures brings an alternate mixture of
hope, despair, confidence, doubt, relief, anxiety, trust and distrust. It impacts different
persons differently. Let me give you a glimpse into our ride recently. My wife
and I both have a decent job in the Netherlands. Our immediate relatives live
in Indonesia. Yes, you guessed it right, it is a family theme in a cross-border
setting.
We belong
to a large group of people on our beloved planet who are attached to two
countries simultaneously. In the autumn, the covid numbers in the Netherlands
and Indonesia were both favorable. The mandatory quarantine in Indonesia being
reduced to 3 days gave a glimmer of hope that it would soon be lifted entirely.
We saw a
window of opportunity, so encouraging, that we decided to book our flight to
see our immediate relatives and, most importantly, our frail elderly whom we
have not been able to attend for almost three years now. We did give
consideration to buying a business class ticket, to allow distancing, to avoid
sitting closely next to other passengers rubbing each other’s arms during a
flight duration of 14 hours, to minimize risk of infection.
Some
airlines indeed offered a tempting bargain for a teasing business class
suite. But in the end, wisdom prevailed, all passengers breath the same
circulated air in the aircraft cabin. Also the price difference from the economy
class is still significant. So we opted the lowest possible price for outbound just
at the end of the low season period. Still, I meticulously chose an airline
with an aircraft configuration that allowed the two of us to sit separately
from other passengers for an extra cost. We got a convenient isolated two-seat
arrangement in an area with an extra legroom inside the Airbus A350.
When
searching for the tickets, to my pleasant surprise, all airlines allow free rescheduling
even for the cheapest ones. Maybe it is due to an IATA regulation. I frankly
don’t know, but such a gesture gives a sense of solidarity on the part of the
airlines in these trying times of the pandemic. Apart from arranging the flight,
I had to do a homework to comprehend elaborate travel rules, advisories and
procedures. All indicators point that all systems can go.
And then emerged
the omicron in South Africa, just two weeks ahead of departure. Hysteria in a
global scale followed. In Indonesia, the trend of the mandatory quarantine was reversed
and set to a challenging 10 days. It took us a significant time to assess all
options to deal with the new situation. We could have postponed the flight to a
certain date in the future, but it felt so random to do just only that. The
psychological burden of being driven by the uncertainty for a long period might
be unbearable. So we ultimately decided
to keep our plan intact, and started to search for a hotel room. We grabbed the opportunity
and we were determined to hold it.
Considering
the possible mental load of a 10-day detainment, we decided to look for a large
room with a writing desk and a sitting area. The writing desk is for me to
continue working during the quarantine period. The sitting area is for my wife,
because the nature of her profession (a scientist in life sciences &
natural products) does not allow working remotely. As my wife formulated it, we
must have at least four destinations in the room: working area (for me),
sitting area (for her), bed and bath room.
Apparently,
only five-star hotels can afford to offer large standard rooms with such a
specification, priced at around Rp 30 million (USD 2000) for a 9-night quarantine package.
We traversed the list of quarantine hotels conveniently provided by
the Indonesian Association of Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI). Apart from the
room area and price, we considered cancellation and refund policy a serious
matter, because a certificate of 48-hour negative PCR test is a condition for
boarding the aircraft in Amsterdam. No insurance company wants to cover such a
risk.
Unfortunately,
most hotels are not willing to state clearly their policy on the PHRI website. Only
three hotels want to take their share of responsibility, to be
considerate in fighting the pandemic together with the society. They are
willing to connect the reservation, advance payment and full-refund policy to the
PCR test result. Unfortunately, the rooms in these hotels were all fully
booked.
Other
hotels whom I contacted, when pressed on the question of what if my PCR were
positive, showed an unethical attitude
of “advance payment, take it or leave it” regarding reservation and “up to the
hotel management” regarding refund. One hotel was so bold to invite me into
negotiation with the hotel management for a refund in case of a positive PCR
test. Another hotel offered to reschedule the stay instead of a refund, while I
have never had the desire to stay for 10 days in any hotel in Jakarta at any
time.
The hotel
where I am staying now sent me this message (copied verbatim from their email):
“we have
pre-booked the room for you and your spouse and will hold it for the next 12
hours before it release automatically. We will send the confirmation letter and
QR Code once we received the payment. […]. Refer to cancellation policy,
should the result PCR are positive and unable to fly, please advise us and we
will ask the approval from management to cancel your reservation without charge”.
This is
another evidence that commercial sectors are prone to opportunism that neglects
societal responsibility. Apparently, some of them don’t have the slightest
sense of conscience that the mandatory quarantine is also a kind of financial support
to the hospitality industry, meant to mitigate the financial impacts of the pandemic.
In return for that, they should at least commit to a sense of societal
responsibility. The mandatory quarantine is a government’s policy, not a
present from Santa Claus.
The support
to the hospitality industry became more apparent in the policy of food that may
be consumed during the stay. The quarantine package includes three times daily meal,
i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a limited choice. We are not allowed to
eat properly on a plate with cutlery, only in a box with a brittle plastic spoon and fork. No
food from outside is allowed, not from family, not via go-food, not even light
food, whatsoever.
However, upon arrival at the hotel, while full payment has
been made one week in advance, they asked me for authorization to charge my
credit card for an unlimited amount. When asked what is the purpose of it, they
explained it is for in case I order extra food and drink from the hotel’s restaurant.
Needless to say, I declined to give the authorization. (The next day they
called me again as a second attempt to get the authorization).
The
government should issue guidelines to ensure the good spirit of the government’s
policy be upheld highly by the hospitality industry. Thousands of people arrive
daily in Jakarta during this period. They don’t deserve such a bad business
practice. Along with the covid measures, consumers grabbing their well deserved
opportunity must be protected against for-profit opportunism by the hotels.
Nevertheless,
after all, I still feel blessed by God to be able to afford a comfortable
five-star hotel in Jakarta, enjoyed the light show of GBK Senayan from the room window and a
pleasant service by the polite hotel crews. Perhaps, most importantly, I have
the time to write my own experience and findings to address a moral hazard of a
government policy.
