Nina Hospitality's COVID-19 disinfection charge sparks negative brand sentiment across social

Hong Kong based hotel group Nina Hospitality will charge customers HK$5,000 if they are tested positive for COVID-19 during their stay or within 24 hours after departing the group's non-quarantine hotels. The measure sparked heated debate among netizens.

In a letter issued by Nina Hospitality's director of operations Simon Lee on 14 February, Nina Hospitality said, "In view of the current pandemic situation, the hotel will charge an additional disinfection fee of HK$5,000 per room to hotel guests who are classified as preliminary or confirmed cases during their stay with us or within 24 hours after departure."

It added, "Hotel room guests will be required to sign a letter to consent the hotel to charge the additional amount through their registered credit card."

Moreover, in a statement, the group said that upon check-in, all hotel guests are required to sign a consent letter. "If the hotel guests submit dishonest health declaration, and are proven to be preliminary or confirmed cases of COVID-19 during their stay or within 24 hours after their departure, the hotel will charge the guests an extra HK$5,000 per room."

The fee is to arrange a professional company for disinfection, cleaning and sanitisation at all concerned public areas and rooms, said the group.

It added, "To ensure the well-being and safety of all our guests and staff, our non-designated quarantine hotels under Nina Hospitality Group have a comprehensive safety management system following the government’s guidelines to minimise the risk of potential COVID-19 positive patients staying at our hotels. This includes a health declaration form to be filled out by guests when they check in. To ensure all hotel guests are properly protected, the hotel will not accept guests who report symptoms or have been in contact with a confirmed or related person."

Meanwhile, data provided by Meltwater showed that the latest move from Nina Hospitality sparked heated debate among netizens. The hotel group had no mentions until 14 February — the day that the letter was rolled out. From 14 February to 16 February morning, there were 379 mentions across social platforms in total including forums, Facebook, Twitter, as well as news. Aound 30% of these mentions had negative sentiment and only 3% of them were positive.

Negative sentiment was mainly from Facebook, forums and news. For example, a post on forum Lihkg contained many negative comments as netizens derided the content of the letter. On Facebook, a post published by travel platform Flyday.hk received more than 3,000 reactions, 230 comments and 210 shares at the time of writing. A Facebook user leaving a comment on this post said, "Easy. The hotel will have no guests soon and nobody will be infected."

Another netizen wrote, "It means that when you are staying at the hotel, please do not get tested if you feel unwell. You won't be a confirmed patient if you don't get tested. When you are not a patient, we can go everywhere."

Although all mentions on Twitter were negative, this platform had very few mentions in total.

Lastly, trending keywords of this incident include "消毒費" (disinfection fee), "小時內" (with hours), "新冠確診" (confirmed COVID-19 case), in addition to the name of the group. Negative keywords include "檢疫酒店" (quarantine hotel), "現病徵" (with symptoms), and "額外消毒費用" (an extra disinfection fee).

According to Nina hospitality's website, the group has five hotels in Hong Kong, with three of them serving as quarantine hotels at the same time, including Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West, Nina Hotel Island South and Nina Hotel Causeway Bay. In October 2021, Nina Hospitality's Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West reportedly cancelled bookings for wedding banquets, affecting at least 50 couples. According to multiple media reports including Ming Pao, the hotel's ballroom had only secured an entertainment license. However, the license does not allow them to offer food and beverages. The affected couples were told that all reservations have to be canceled until the second quarter of next year, adding that the hotel explained that the ballroom had suspended operations due to "technical issues" and customers could either choose to receive a full refund or to hold the banquet at the hotel's Sky Lounge instead.

(Photo Courtesy: 123rf)

Related articles
Chinachem Group elevates brand experience with the launch of Nina Hospitality
Nina Hotel cancels wedding banquets as ballroom cannot provide F&B