Popular Post Smiler Posted December 15, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 15, 2020 First lesson learned: Any hotel that has "luxury" as part of it's name probably is not luxurious at all 😏 Arrived mid day 27/11 feeling elated to be back in Thailand and exhausted from the stress of long distance travel in these messed up times. That said both flights from London and Dubai were great with a whole row to stretch out on. I decided fresh air and a balcony were at the top of my list of priorities for quarantine. The O2 did not disappoint. It's out of town about 20mins from Swampy. Having a balcony was an absolute god send, the room only got an hour of early morning sun and I had the doors open all day. The room was around 45 square metres, spotlessly clean and for the vast majority of the time I was there, very quiet. Internet was fast and reliable, no worries running my firestick, lappy and phone at the same time. On day 7 after a negative Covid test I was able to use the roof area. Met some good lads up here which made my incarceration that much easier to deal with. You are only supposed to go up once a day for an hour but it wasn't policed at all, so a group of us would meet up 2 or 3 times a day. Lots of laughs and interesting people/stories. On the downside: I did not enjoy the food. For me it was at best 3 out of 10, I am only giving it that because of the fruit 😬. You get to choose from a menu for the next day. Only 1 guy I met said the food was ok. So pleased I brought a cheese board, bickies, anti-pasta and chocolate with me. You could order from a limited 7-11 menu though. I am not afraid to say the quarantine thing was mentally tougher than I thought it would be. Staying in a hotel room for 2 weeks, how fucking hard can it be?? Well first off you really can't leave the room and I felt the walls closing in a few times. The stress of knowing all could turn to shit if you tested positive or inconclusive really can't be underestimated either. Once I had finished the food I brought with me, I found my day was centered around the meals, if they were shite (most of them were) then that affected my mood. Part 2 coming soon... 11 8 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murchie Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Good post and good info. Not something I look forward to doing but hopefully I'll be doing it in early 2021. Had to do 14 days quarantine in Kuwait but I was in the staff apartment and could order food and takeaways online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob lt Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Looking at the menu for that day, only 3 I fancy, 2 x breakfast and 1 x lunch. My Thai friend fared better in a free state quarantine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydeste Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 (edited) The food looks poor for sure. A bit shocked of how little choice you had. Edited December 15, 2020 by boydeste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightcrawler Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 5 hours ago, Smiler said: First lesson learned: Any hotel that has "luxury" as part of it's name probably is not luxurious at all 😏 Arrived mid day 27/11 feeling elated to be back in Thailand and exhausted from the stress of long distance travel in these messed up times. That said both flights from London and Dubai were great with a whole row to stretch out on. I decided fresh air and a balcony were at the top of my list of priorities for quarantine. The O2 did not disappoint. It's out of town about 20mins from Swampy. Having a balcony was an absolute god send, the room only got an hour of early morning sun and I had the doors open all day. The room was around 45 square metres, spotlessly clean and for the vast majority of the time I was there, very quiet. Internet was fast and reliable, no worries running my firestick, lappy and phone at the same time. On day 7 after a negative Covid test I was able to use the roof area. Met some good lads up here which made my incarceration that much easier to deal with. You are only supposed to go up once a day for an hour but it wasn't policed at all, so a group of us would meet up 2 or 3 times a day. Lots of laughs and interesting people/stories. On the downside: I did not enjoy the food. For me it was at best 3 out of 10, I am only giving it that because of the fruit 😬. You get to choose from a menu for the next day. Only 1 guy I met said the food was ok. So pleased I brought a cheese board, bickies, anti-pasta and chocolate with me. You could order from a limited 7-11 menu though. I am not afraid to say the quarantine thing was mentally tougher than I thought it would be. Staying in a hotel room for 2 weeks, how fucking hard can it be?? Well first off you really can't leave the room and I felt the walls closing in a few times. The stress of knowing all could turn to shit if you tested positive or inconclusive really can't be underestimated either. Once I had finished the food I brought with me, I found my day was centered around the meals, if they were shite (most of them were) then that affected my mood. Part 2 coming soon... Excellent report. Thanks for sharing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightcrawler Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 6 hours ago, Smiler said: First lesson learned: Any hotel that has "luxury" as part of it's name probably is not luxurious at all 😏 Arrived mid day 27/11 feeling elated to be back in Thailand and exhausted from the stress of long distance travel in these messed up times. That said both flights from London and Dubai were great with a whole row to stretch out on. I decided fresh air and a balcony were at the top of my list of priorities for quarantine. The O2 did not disappoint. It's out of town about 20mins from Swampy. Having a balcony was an absolute god send, the room only got an hour of early morning sun and I had the doors open all day. The room was around 45 square metres, spotlessly clean and for the vast majority of the time I was there, very quiet. Internet was fast and reliable, no worries running my firestick, lappy and phone at the same time. On day 7 after a negative Covid test I was able to use the roof area. Met some good lads up here which made my incarceration that much easier to deal with. You are only supposed to go up once a day for an hour but it wasn't policed at all, so a group of us would meet up 2 or 3 times a day. Lots of laughs and interesting people/stories. On the downside: I did not enjoy the food. For me it was at best 3 out of 10, I am only giving it that because of the fruit 😬. You get to choose from a menu for the next day. Only 1 guy I met said the food was ok. So pleased I brought a cheese board, bickies, anti-pasta and chocolate with me. You could order from a limited 7-11 menu though. I am not afraid to say the quarantine thing was mentally tougher than I thought it would be. Staying in a hotel room for 2 weeks, how fucking hard can it be?? Well first off you really can't leave the room and I felt the walls closing in a few times. The stress of knowing all could turn to shit if you tested positive or inconclusive really can't be underestimated either. Once I had finished the food I brought with me, I found my day was centered around the meals, if they were shite (most of them were) then that affected my mood. Part 2 coming soon... I presume that alcohol is a complete No No? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiler Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 ^^^^^^°°^°° Part 2 Alcohol is strictly prohibited during quarantine. Most people I talked to smuggled a bottle of wine or whatever in. Some bags are scanned going through customs (mine wasn't) but if you are under the limits then.. I have read reports where booze was confiscated at the hotels on arrival, even cleaners grassing up people in quarantine. I had a couple of miniature Lafroigs and 2 1 glass Merlots which lasted 3 nights! Not a problem for me but yeah it certainly can be for others. There was a German guy who really suffered, he was a total mess after his vodka ran out and I mean a real mess. He reckoned it was the first time in 25 years he had gone a week without drinking. Not that he was an alkie or anything you understand 😏 My last night was eventful. A new arrival in the room opposite me was quite obviously pissed and loud with it. The manager and security were called, not sure exactly what happened. I guess the last thing the Thais want is drunken farangs losing it during quarantine. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickrock Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 That menu would cause me to do nightly break outs to the local pizza hut etc 1 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy dee Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 excellent report. I can see me using the sheets to climb down from the balcony in a jail style escape, just to buy edible food tho. 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esco Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Good report. The quality of the food was extremely important to me in choosing a hotel and I read many reviews on FB of people in ASQ to see which hotels would serve decent grub. The Anantara was miles better than this but of course comes with a different price tag. We did not get to order food from the 7/11 though and trips outside the room were monitored 24/7 unlike at your hotel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiler Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 32 minutes ago, Esco said: Good report. The quality of the food was extremely important to me in choosing a hotel and I read many reviews on FB of people in ASQ to see which hotels would serve decent grub. The Anantara was miles better than this but of course comes with a different price tag. We did not get to order food from the 7/11 though and trips outside the room were monitored 24/7 unlike at your hotel. Food is subjective of course. I read a number of reports, even asked someone I know who stayed at the O2. Concensus of opinion was that it was "alright". However, I thought the quality of the rice for instance, was really low grade. Has to be said as well that I am a fussy eater 👀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toy Boy Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 4 hours ago, tommy dee said: excellent report. I can see me using the sheets to climb down from the balcony in a jail style escape, just to buy edible food tho. Yeah, and you might as well pick up a few beers and a bottle of Blend while you're out there, lol. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esco Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 3 hours ago, Smiler said: Food is subjective of course. I read a number of reports, even asked someone I know who stayed at the O2. Concensus of opinion was that it was "alright". However, I thought the quality of the rice for instance, was really low grade. Has to be said as well that I am a fussy eater 👀 Indeed. There were some folks complaining about the grub at Anantara as well but the overall feedback was overwhelmingly positive so I ignored the fussy cnuts 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
code_slayer_bkk Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Happy you survived .... being all by yourself at times is good for the soul .... gives you time to think about your priorities ... where is life taking me ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Smiler Posted December 18, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) Part 3 It's all about quarantine. The 02 hotel is paired with Chularat Hospital. On arrival you are met by nurses from there who take your temperature, blood pressure and ask about any medication you use. I take BP tablets daily and this was noted. Strictly speaking you're not supposed to keep any pain killers or stuff to help you sleep etc but my personal medicine cabinet remained with me. You are given a thermometer and told to record temperature twice a day, report via line. Some lads I spoke to said they couldn't be arsed and would cheat by sending photos they took the previous day, I didn't because I couldn't see the point. On day 5 I got the first Covid test. Was escorted from my room to another on the same floor for the swab test, just the one nostril invaded unlike both in the UK. Was a nice change to have some interaction all be it with people in full hazmat suits. Spent the next 24 hours trying not to but inevitably stressing about the result. I knew I had been super, ultra extra careful at Heathrow and Dubai, I felt absolutely fine but.... Next day I opened my door to an absolutely lovely lady who gave me an envelope with the test results and a lanyard, " you ok, can exercise on loof". Yay, I did a little dance 😀. When I got the second test results I nearly cried with relief 😂. Overall I was impressed with the way the whole quarantine thing was ran. Talking to others nobody had a bad word to say. It was professional and I did feel safe during my time at the 02. Checked out at 5:45 am on day 16 feeling over the moon, then.. "Solly sir, no have certificate but email soon". Upon completion of quarantine you should get a letter to confirm you have in fact done it. Even though they knew 3 of us would check out early, the letters weren't ready. Is this important? Well it could be if you needed to go to immigration for visa stuff as my new mate Jay did. There could also be an issue if you had to get an internal flight. I did and yes they asked for the letter when I checked in at Swampy 45 mins later. 6 days later I am still waiting for confirmation that I completed ASQ. I wasn't going to let anything spoil my first week back with the family, however if I still haven't received anything on Monday then the kee will hit the fan 👀😬 Edited December 18, 2020 by Smiler 2 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nampla69 Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Not having the certificate ready kind of defeats the object. Must be so frustrating. Great report by the way and very much appreciated. Thank you. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiler Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 1 hour ago, nampla69 said: Not having the certificate ready kind of defeats the object. Must be so frustrating. Great report by the way and very much appreciated. Thank you. Yeah it was or rather is frustrating. I have a letter of apology which Thai Smile accepted at Swampy for my flight up to Udon, however supervisors were called and I was stuck at check-in for 10-15 mins while ALL of my paperwork was checked including boarding passes from my original flights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esco Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 They had our certificates ready upon checkout but never had to use them since. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 3 hours ago, Esco said: They had our certificates ready upon checkout but never had to use them since. A lot better than the other way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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