Withnail star Richard E. Grant feels ‘punished’ after being served ‘grim food’ in quarantine hotel

Actor Richard E. Grant has said he feels ‘punished’ after being forced to quarantine for Covid in a hotel that charges more than £228 a night and serves ‘grim food’.

The Withnail And I star had been visiting his 90-year-old mother in southern Africa when the Government enforced new travel restrictions to fight the Omicron variant. 

He complained of ‘poor’ food at a Gatwick Holiday Inn.

Grant, 64, posted pictures on Twitter of a packaged tuna and cucumber sandwich, a sausage casserole and fish and chips, which he said would cost less than £30 to buy elsewhere. 

Actor Richard E. Grant (pictured) said he feels ‘punished’ after being forced to quarantine for Covid in a hotel that charges more than £228 a night and serves ‘grim food’

The Withnail And I star had been visiting his 90-year-old mother in southern Africa when the Government enforced new travel restrictions to fight the Omicron variant

Speaking in a video posted online, Grant, who used to present the hotel review television series Richard E. Grant’s Hotel Secrets, said: ‘I went to southern Africa to visit my 90-year-old mother and got caught by the red region Covid restrictions. 

‘I understand there are security costs in the hotel and you’ve got to pay for two Covid tests, but £228 a day to receive three meals of this very poor standard, in a supposed four-star Holiday Inn hotel, beggars belief.’ 

Grant said he was ‘confounded’ that a ‘non-quarantine Holiday Inn nearby costs £89 incl breakfast’ and asked: ‘How does Gov [ernment] justify this cost to a traveller for ‘hospitality’… feels punishing!’

A Government spokesman said: ‘The majority of passengers who have used the Managed Quarantine Service have been satisfied with the service.’