New Zealand government forced this couple to quarantine – and gave them a 4-star hotel with gourmet meals

Returning home after travelling abroad is always a bit of a letdown, but this couple who returned home after weeks of stress were quarantined in a 4 star hotel in New Zealand.

New Zealand closed its borders to all nonresidents on 19 March and made it compulsory for everyone returning back to the country to quarantine for two weeks. It also set up a network of hotels where people could stay, to make sure that they didn’t end up coming into contact with more people than was necessary.

Two of those people, a couple called Chuck and Wilson, ended up staying in a 4-star hotel during their quarantine and even created an Instagram to document their stay, after flying in from London on 11 April. That hotel was a Novotel in Auckland, and they were hoping to travel onwards to Wellington, where they are from.

They created an Instagram account called @quarantinecanteen_NZ, and posted photos of their meals, as well as updates about what they were able to do each day.

Their photos included an Easter Box that was given to them by staff at the Novotel, as well as shakshuka, strawberry cheesecake and other meals.

On their profile, they also saved their daily Instagram stories where they had provided updates about what else was happening in at the hotel they were staying at – like when they found out that their walks were supervised because someone at the Novotel had tried to leave.

They’ve since left quarantine and are hoping to get home.

Their experience is a contrast to what travellers in other countries have undergone – in Australia, people who had flown back home were given unidentifiable food and not enough.