Planning any kind of trip, even just 3 hours away in the car, has become tough.
Scotland’s Covid 19 restrictions were about to be increased as I was thinking what could be possible for my break last month. Most of central Scotland was under greater restrictions than my part (Fife). All it would have taken would have been a spike of cases in my area and we would have been “centralised”.
In my area and the north of the country, movement was not restricted. However, hospitality was. Restaurants had to stop serving at 6pm. They could serve food outside after that, but outside in Scotland in October.. well gas heaters have become popular.
Hotels could serve food to residents inside after 6pm, but without alcohol.
Weather and the short daylight hours were other factors to consider.
A hotel for my stay would have been positive because I would get a dinner there. On the downside, a hotel room is claustrophobic if you have to spend too much time there because it’s dark and/or wet. Then I thought about other guests. On both my recent hotel stays the other guests have been well behaved, both as regards anti-virus behaviour and more generally.
Could I be pushing my luck to do it again?
We are being discouraged from mixing with other people, so perhaps that advice should apply to staying in hotels as well as any other situation.
In the end, I thought a self catering cottage would give me more control, and the downside of having to organise my own breakfasts and dinners would be acceptable.
It turned out very well. The place was clean and modern. It was quiet, but the owners were next door if anything came up.
ⓒ iain taylor, 2020
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