Bangkok hotel partners with hospital to tempt guests with a quarantine ‘health watch’ package
- Long stays are nothing new, but a property in the Thai capital has added Covid-19-specific healthcare to the mix
- Guests at the Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok will have their well-being monitored under nurse supervision
Thailand has closed its borders to foreigners, so if you’re reading this anywhere other than in Bangkok, it’s unlikely you’ll get a chance to take advantage of the package, which costs THB 50,000 (US$1,520) for a single room occupancy and is valid until May 31.
Those who are able to do so, though, will stay in a 74 sq metre Wellness Suite (complete with balcony), with full board, and be attended to by staff from the Bangkok Hospital. They will have an initial consultation with a doctor – who, if symptoms are already present, may insist on a Covid-19 test before a stay is cleared – and have their health monitored each day, under nurse supervision. Immune system-enhancing supplements (Cordyceps Mix C and mushroom extract) will be administered. At the end of the fortnight, guests will be given a Covid-19 test and, with any luck, the all-clear.
If a guest tests positive during their stay, they “will be immediately transported to Bangkok Hospital by ambulance,” says the resort’s general manager, Bruno Huber. “The room will be locked down and completely disinfected. Staff members who were in contact with the guest will be asked to go into 14-days quarantine and they will receive a Covid-19 test.”
The resort’s bars, fitness facilities, spas and pools are all closed by government decree and an evasive Huber hints at the depth of the problem his industry is facing when asked what his property’s occupancy rate currently stands at: “Many hotels have closed down in Bangkok. The hotel is performing as well as the competitive set.”