A mother in managed isolation at a Christchurch hotel has rubbished two fellow guests' claims of "disgusting" and "cold" meals, describing the food as "delish" and staff as "amazing".
Angela Collins - who is staying in the Commodore Hotel with her two children, aged two and five - was surprised guests had gone to media to complain about the standard of food.
She said one of the meals they'd eaten - a BBQ pork bao a woman on Tuesday told Newshub was so disgusting, she "wouldn't feed it to a pig" - was her kids' favourite.
"I know people love a bit of drama, but happy to say the food at Commodore Hotel in Christchurch has been actually delish," she said.
"The staff have been amazing and we're really happy to be here rather than somewhere else... we could not be happier anywhere else given the circumstances."
Collins said as well as providing quality food, staff had also organised a colouring competition for the kids and brought them ice cream "as a special treat" one night.
Her comments back up the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE's) claims that the overall reaction from returnees to the quality of food at the Commodore had been "excellent".
A spokesperson said they had received feedback at the weekend "praising the quality of the food and beverages provided", but confirmed complaints were being passed on to hotel management.
The woman who complained on Tuesday said the meals were so bad, she hadn't been able to eat any part of them except the salads, leaving her constantly hungry.
"The Government is paying for us to be well fed and looked after… The food here is disgusting and I would not feed it to a pig," she said in an email to Newshub, accompanied by photos.
"We have to buy drinks [and] the only thing offered free is water… This is not good enough and should be exposed."
That followed a separate claim last week by fellow guest Ethan Wheeler, who has gone on hunger strike and is barricading himself in his room in part because meals were showing up at his door cold.
Wheeler's act of defiance is also in efforts to be allowed a throat swab rather than a nasal test, because he's recovering from a broken nose.
In April, returning Kiwis quarantining in Auckland also complained of "vomit-like" food at the Hilton Hotel and ignored dietary requests at the Crowne Plaza.
