Horley B&B owners have mixed reaction to potential new quarantine measures
"If there's some kind of business I can get from it then I'm all for it"
Quasim Suhail, owner of The Lawn Guest House in Horley
Bed and Breakfast owners in Horley are split over a potential quarantine of plane passengers coming into the UK.
Set to be announced by Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday, the policy would primarily be targeted at the high-risk countries of South Africa and Brazil, but there are growing calls to put a blanket rule on all flights entering the country.
It means visitors to the UK from the two aforementioned countries would have to stay in hotels for up to 10 days. For some guesthouse owners in Horley, neighboured by nearby Gatwick Airport, they thought the policy would not benefit their businesses in the long-term.
"I don't know anything about it at all. All I've seen is what's in the news," said Julia Roberts, owner of Trumbles Guesthouse in Charlwood.
"Our business relies on people flying in and out of the airport going on holiday, we don't have business people as such. If people have to quarantine for a few days when they come back I can't see they'll want to go away on holiday. Business-wise it would be awful.
"We're an eight bedroom guesthouse out in a rural location and I don't think we'll even be contacted to be a quarantine hotel. I don't know if I'd really want people quarantined in a place which is also my home," she added.
Other hotels were more enthusiastic about a mandatory quarantine. Quasim Suhail, owner of The Lawn Guest House, said the move would be welcomed in a year he expects to be even more difficult than 2020.
He added: "Where at the moment we've got no business coming in at all, I don't mind it. These people will be staying in their rooms, we'll be doing a self check in where we leave the key out for them and there's no breakfast so it's self-sufficient.
"If there's some kind of business I can get from it then, as long as it's still safe, I'm all for it. Otherwise I've got nothing. Because they're got to do it at their own expense they'll probably want to go for a cheaper option than a hotel.
"Even if it's £40 a night it's still something coming in to me. We've got to keep our lights on, still have to heat the house, otherwise you'll get damp. As long as it's done safely I'm all for it."
