A hotel that canceled weddings to become a Covid quarantine travel base for the government has closed to the public for the second time in a year.
Security forces are again turning people away from the Holiday Inn Birmingham, which is on Kidderminster Road in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove.
The IHG-operated hotel will not be able to take bookings throughout January, and gym members will not be allowed on the premises either.
READ MORE: Bromsgrove Holiday Inn ‘ruined our wedding day so it could become a quarantine hotel’
Both the Holiday Inn and the Department of Health and Social Care remained quiet about use of the hotel today, Monday 10 January, and have declined to comment on its use.
A security guard at the Bromsgrove Hotel claimed the public would not be allowed access as it was being used for “Covid quarantine travelers from the airport”.
Travel rules were relaxed from Friday 7 January when passengers traveling to England were no longer required to take a pre-departure Covid test. They must now have a lateral flow test within 48 hours and self-isolate until they get a negative result.
Passengers who are not dual-vaccinated will have to self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival in the UK, even if they test negative on the second day. They have to undergo another PCR test on the eighth day after arrival and can only leave the isolation if this test gives a negative result.
Jon Shaw and Wendy Thornton, from Redditch, whose wedding at the Holiday Inn in Bromsgrove has been called off as it becomes a red-listed quarantine hotel.
The Holiday Inn first closed to general use on June 24 when people who had booked weddings had to cancel, postpone or relocate their big day.
It reopened to the public after spending nearly four months as a quarantine hotel for travelers from Red List countries on October 29, but has now closed to the public again just over two months later.
Among those affected by the Holiday Inn closure were Jon Shaw and Wendy Thornton of Church Hill, Redditch, who were told by hotel staff on June 19 that their planned July 17 wedding could not take place on site.
The devastated couple were only able to salvage their wedding day with the help of their friends who found a venue at the last minute and a local registrar who organized a waiver to change the venue to the Westmead Hotel in Alvechurch.
A spokeswoman for IHG said: “Due to the confidentiality of the booking, we are unable to share any information or comments with you. If you have any questions about government activities, we encourage you to contact the relevant government press team. “
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We do not comment on individual contracts/providers.”
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