'A nightmare from start to finish': Welsh engineer wants quarantine for business trips reviewed

Full report by Richard Morgan

A Welsh engineer is calling for quarantine stays for people travelling for business to be reviewed, after a "nightmare" 10 days in a self-isolation hotel.

Richard Morris, an aircraft engineer from Mountain Ash, was forced to quarantine at the President Hotel in central London after a four month work trip to the Philippines. The stay at the hotel cost him £1,750.

Documenting his time at the hotel, he described his stay as "probably worse than prison" and told ITV News he has been "disgusted" by the quality of the food provided.

He said that when he arrived at his hotel room on Saturday June 19, it was "immediately obvious" it had not been deep cleaned.

Richard spent ten days quarantining at the President Hotel Credit: Richard Morris

Now back in Wales, Richard is calling on the UK Government to consider quarantine rules for workers.

He said: "I think there should be something in place where workers can avoid quarantine.

"If it's your choice to go on holiday then you know what you're coming back to. If you're away working then there has got to be some leeway."

Richard says the lowlight of the stay were the chicken sausages Credit: Richard Morris

Richard can now joke that the highlight of his stay at the hotel was when he was allowed to leave, and describes the lowlight as "the chicken sausages and Thai green curry - which I had four times in ten days."

But he says the impact of a stay at the hotel could be hard on a person's mental health.

"You have to request exercise, you have to request fresh air," he said.

"Anyone who's not mentally strong I would think would really struggle with it."

Richard says his next step will be to lodge a complaint about his experience of quarantine in the hotel. Having spoke to other people staying in the hotel, he believes others have similar feelings.

He said: "There will a complaint going in and I believe there will be other people complaining as well.

"The universal feeling was awful."

In a statement the UK Government said the quarantine facilities accommodate the vast majority of people's requirements. The company which runs the scheme could not be reached and the President Hotel declined to comment.

Richard documents his time in quarantine