It appears that things are so bad that the luxury Sofitel at Heathrow T5 is to become a quarantine hotel for those coming from Red Countries.

If you travel from one of the countries on the UK Government Red List you have to pay £1750 in advance of arrival to spend 11 nights at a hotel, full room and board included. As flights from Red List Countries are prohibited, the arrangements are for those travelling via a Red List Country or via a third country from a Red List Country.

So far only a small number of hotels have participated and it is interesting to note that the Sofitel T5 is probably the nicest hotel being used.

It seems that the change will be running for several months.

My reservation for the end of May is still on my account and there was no word from the hotel until I contacted them. They are offering a refund, even for a non-refundable rate or a switch to the Hilton Garden Inn at Terminal 2/3, at the same rate as the Sofitel. The two hotels are not really comparable.

It will be interesting to see how long this is happening for and when we might be able to get back to the best hotel at T5.