Opinion | As if 21 days’ compulsory quarantine isn’t enough: food thieves in Hong Kong hotels really take the cake

A friend in quarantine complained that he wanted dessert served at lunchtime, not dinner time. Another made a game of catching the hotel staff dropping off food

But it’s food theft in city quarantine hotels that’s perturbing Kate Whitehead, who found someone had home-made meals stolen by the person in the room next door

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Food is dropped off at a quarantine hotel in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. Occupants of rooms in some hotels have stolen home-cooked meals delivered to their neighbours. Photo: Nora Tam

Kate Whitehead

Published: 8:45am, 22 Oct 2021Updated: 3:17pm, 22 Oct 2021

Hong Kong is experiencing a new crime wave – food theft in quarantine hotels. And it’s the hotels with a reputation for delivering the least appetising meals that are heading the trend.

For those unfamiliar with Hong Kong’s three-week quarantine system, the room rate includes three meals a day. Hotel staff are required to place the food on a chair outside the door, knock and then run away. One friend made a game of trying to catch sight of the hotel staff. She is not usually childish, but after a couple of weeks in solitary confinement you crave human contact.

We humans do like to complain. A friend incarcerated at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong on Hong Kong Island whinged that dessert was served with dinner but he wanted to have it at lunchtime, which would allow him to work off the calories on the exercise bike in the afternoon.

The heart bleeds.

But spare a thought for those at the less glamorous end of the hotel food chain. A quick scan of TripAdvisor reviews of the Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View in Sai Ying Pun and it’s clear guests are not impressed – after the poor hygiene of the rooms, it’s the food that gets the most complaints.

A British friend knew this when she booked, but she had no choice; it was the only quarantine hotel with rooms available and she needed to return to Hong Kong for work. She decided to get around the food issue by asking her helper to drop off meals once a day, lunch and dinner.