Hotel Quarantine Chronicles

In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, international arrivals to the Philippines are required to do a few days of facility quarantine before proceeding to home quarantine. The duration for both facility quarantine and home quarantine depends on whether the traveler is vaccinated or unvaccinated, and whether he/she is coming from a “green” country or “yellow” country – a classification based on risk. You can read more about that here on the Philippine Airlines website.

Australia is classified as a “yellow” country, and as I am a vaccinated traveler I am required to stay 5 days in hotel quarantine. Day 1 is counted as day of arrival, and day 5 is the day you undergo a COVID-19 PCR nasopharyngeal swab (PCR stands for polymerase chain reaction, the “gold standard” test for detecting the presence of COVID-19 from a swab done in the back of your nose and throat). Then you go home on day 6 if your swab is negative. Therefore a hotel reservation has to be made for 5 nights/6 days. If that is positive, the Bureau of Quarantine will need to be contacted and they have to figure out what to do with you.

I emailed about five or so hotels to inquire about their prices and whether they arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel. Eventually settled on Seda Vertis North in Quezon City for its proximity to our house and its reasonable price point, plus it had good recommendations from neighbors who have stayed there before. Being close to our house meant my family could easily send me care packages (mostly fruit, to supplement the quarantine food; however dropping off cooked food is not allowed per quarantine protocols). There was a hiccup with the transportation to the hotel which I describe in this previous blog post, along with a brief description.

Let’s start with internal views. Here’s the hallway, from outside and through the peephole. The chairs are there for non-contact delivery of food and whatever else. The delivery person rings your doorbell to signal that your meal is ready for collection. Read about meals in this post.

Interior shots of the deluxe room (cheapest option, single occupancy, 32 square meters).

Some things in the room. Other nice amenities: a hair dryer, safe, kettle, refrigerator, cups, glasses, coffee, tea and sugar. They do keep you well-hydrated – you have an initial 3 bottles of water, and you are entitled to 3 bottles daily plus 1 bottle that comes with each meal.

My room was on the 12th floor. The quarantine part of the hotel has a separate elevator that goes to the designated quarantine areas of the 12th to the 24th floors. I realized why the curtains were shut… I had a lovely view of construction 🙁 and the pool area below.