Returned travellers confined to their rooms in coronavirus quarantine hotels say their alcohol is being rationed and their beer has been confiscated.
An couple said they placed a significant order to get them through the government mandated, self-funded isolation at a Brisbane complex.
The pair said when staff brought it to their room they were told they were only allowed six beers per night, rather than the two cases and bottle of rum they ordered.
The couple paid $3,710 out of their own pocket to stay at the hotel for 14 days as required by the Queensland government.
They had returned to the state on Monday after working in Melbourne.
Hotel guests trapped in coronavirus quarantine say authorities are ‘Un-Australian’ for withholding their private alcohol deliveries. Pictured: Returning travellers are checked into hotel quarantine in Brisbane for 14 day mandatory isolation
‘If I was a paying customer … and I walked through reception with a carton of beer, would they pull us up and say that we can’t take that up to our room,’ the guest told The Courier Mail.
They were told by staff the decision was made to ‘limit the ramifications of hooliganism’.
The couple said it was ‘Un-Australian’ to punish them for doing the right thing by waiting out the 14 days in quarantine, unlike those who have tried to sneak across state borders.
‘How do they have the right to confiscate my alcohol when I haven’t done anything wrong … I wasn’t drunk and disorderly, I wasn’t drinking in the street,’ they said.
The couple claimed they were being punished for doing the right thing by waiting out the 14 days in quarantine (stock image)
‘They’re holding back our alcohol deliveries that we’ve paid for, that we own.’
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A manager at the hotel the guests are staying at declined a request for comment from Daily Mail Australia on Thursday night.
Daily Mail Australia understands the alcohol rationing in the hotel was the result of strict liquor licensing regulations under the Responsible Service of Alcohol.
Allowing guests a six pack of beer or a bottle of wine is standard procedure.
An industry insider told Daily Mail Australia it was likely the hotel had a ‘no party policy’ – being a licensed venue with a duty of care.
The hotel employee said it would be a ‘recipe for disaster’ for staff to provide excessive amounts of alcohol to clients.
Australian Defence Force Personnel patrol outside the a hotel in Brisbane
According to information on Queensland Health’s website the quarantine fee including accommodation and daily meals is $2,800 for a single adult over the 14 days.
This translates to $3,710 for two adults, and $4,620 for 2 adults and 2 children.
At the end of your quarantine, an invoice is issued which needs to be paid within 30 days.
Payment plans are available for those who can’t pay by the due date.
Travellers wait outside the the Brisbane airport ahead of their stay in hotel quarantine
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