Hotel Quarantine Life: Room Tour

So it’s been more than a week in the hotel now, and I’ve settled into a pretty good rhythm in the hotel quarantine life. Here’s a bit about how I’ve organized my room, along with some packing tips if I were to do this again.

Starting at this end of the room, I have the big bottles of water and the flowers that my office sent over, along with my dish drying area. Definitely bring some dishes and a cup, because my room didn’t have tea cups or mugs, and if I want to eat fruit, the dishes come in handy.

From left to right below, I have my “health and disinfection” zone. The mask I put on whenever the trash and disinfection people come around, and after they come around I use Lysol around the floor areas they’ve been in, and any surfaces they’ve touched, e.g. any light switches. It’s a bit ironic because their job is to disinfect with their spray bottles, but the way they go room to room collecting everyone’s garbage, I can’t help but think that they might be tracking in germs themselves.

Next to that zone, I have 2 big bottles of water, and 2 small ones. These I don’t use for drinking, but rather, I use these bottles instead of weights when I do my workouts with the Centr app!

Then on the right, I have my coffee and tea area, and some hotel-provided water behind. I do recommend packing coffee and tea supplies - in my case I packed the coffee and coconut creamer, and my office sent over the tea in one of their care packages -, because my hotel didn’t have any of these amenities. But they did provide the kettle and quite a few bottles of water (and one bottle of water every day with dinner). Beneath the TV, inside the cabinet, there’s actually a mini-fridge. It’s one of those that don’t make any noise (thankfully), but don’t get super cold. I don’t use it at all.

Then I have my bag with the rubber gloves and my contactless instant read thermometer. I read in other people’s packing lists that they recommend this type of thermometer, and I wholeheartedly agree. The hotel provided a mercury thermometer, but not only is it kind of a hassle to disinfect, the time they come around to check the temperature twice a day varies somewhat, so sometimes I’ve really needed to rush and give them my temperature right away!

Next to my bag, I have my snack area. I have to say, I’ve barely eaten any snacks. Not only did I bring snacks from San Diego, my office also sent a bunch of snacks. But I’ve been so well fed everyday (see my other blog posts about the food), I’ve barely touched the snacks. I had read “it’s hard to overpack for quarantine” and people recommended bringing lots of snacks, but I’m just here wondering how I’ll be able to bring everything home when I check out!

Then on the end of the table (thank goodness I have a table - I’ve seen other quarantine hotels that don’t provide a table!), I have my dining supplies. The vacuum-insulated water canteen is handy to store hot water, and I have my aforementioned cup and bowl. I do recommend bringing along some seasoning, like salt, pepper, and hot sauce. I hadn’t deliberately planned this, but the hot sauce I was bringing to Shanghai anyway, and decided to crack it open here after one too many plain boiled eggs. The silverware I took from the airplane because I knew I wanted those, especially the knife for cutting fruit.

And with the silverware, I took the napkin and the salt and pepper shakers. I really like having that cloth napkin to use as a placemat - it just makes dining on the glass tabletop where I also work feel a bit more dining table-like! And the salt and pepper shakers have come in handy, to give a bit of oomph to the breakfast congees (with the pepper) and the lunch and dinner soups (with the salt). So these have come in super handy - thanks United Airlines for these wonderful supplies! (In the picture you can also see below my computer(s) and notebooks: when I switch the table to “dining” from “work” function, I put my work stuff on the bed.)

At the far end, I have my backpack and power cords. I like how the hotel has a decent amount of outlets at the right places.

I’ve also expanded onto the pretty generous window ledge, where I keep the fruit and the bottles of water I’m currently drinking. Maybe there’s a bit more air here?

Then in a corner where I might imagine would usually have an armchair and side table, I’ve disinfected with Clorox wipes, and put my suitcases. Yes, it looks like a bit of a mess, but it’s easier for me to not completely unpack this way. This is also where I keep the all-important menu of food, to refer to when I’m eating.

Then next to this area, coming around in a circle, is the bed, which is quite comfortable I must say! The only complaint is that the power outlet for charging one’s phone is a bit distant. Here there is the phone, which I’ve used more than in any other hotel stay. That’s because they call three times a day to tell me when my meals are ready for pickup, and it’s also how they communicated with me to inform me that my home quarantine application was denied, and asked me whether I want Chinese or Western meals. And I’ve used the phone as well to ask for more tissues, disinfection tablets, and also to inquire about when exactly I would be released from quarantine. So it’s really the conduit with the hotel and medical staff.

The hotel also has a small closet with normal hangars, not the anti-theft type (thank goodness). There’s space for an iron and ironing board, but they’re not provided. I also found a bag with an extra blanket, but I’m a bit loath to use it in case it’s not been cleaned. Finally, there’s a safe, but who needs a safe when you’re in your room the whole time! I do use the closet to air out my clothes.

And then there’s the bathroom, which is actually pretty pleasant and functional. There’s a good amount of counter space, and it’s free of mildew and stains. I keep chopsticks on one of the shelves, because I use that to dispense the chlorine disinfectant tablets into the red bucket for the toilet. And because they put out two water bottles at the bathroom sink when I arrived, I’ve continued to use bottled water for brushing teeth.

The water pressure and temperature are excellent, and the vast volume of water that comes out of the shower head seems like it should be illegal! I brought a solid bar of Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap, which I use for hand washing, dish washing, and laundry, and I highly recommend this solution because I’ve used it for all three. Plus, I love the Flexo-Line Clothesline, which is this braided string of rubbery material, you just kind of use it to pinch your clothes up. I’d used it before in my Camino de Santiago journey, and I bought one for this stay because the one I used on the Camino is inside my apartment here!