A woman and her baby have been moved to another room at their managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility in Auckland after complaining about urine on the toilet seat and hair in her bath.
Management at the Sudima Hotel Auckland Airport have also apologised to the woman and undertaken a cleaning audit - but they insist the normal sanitisation protocols were followed.
The woman's husband, Mike Quellin, told Newshub she had just returned to New Zealand after flying to Germany with her nine-month-old to say goodbye to her mother, who is terminally ill with lung and liver cancer.
He says his wife is not a whinger, but was disgusted when she got to her room and found what she alleges were specks of urine in the bathroom.
Videos supplied to Newshub by Quellin clearly show some yellow marks on the toilet seat and hair in the bathtub.
"I know that's not a huge thing, but it's a pandemic," Quellin told Newshub.
"So I just rung up… I said, 'My wife wants to use the toilet - she's in a dirty room.' And [the hotel staffer] goes, 'That is not possible, two of us check over those rooms - a cleaner and somebody else.'
"I said, 'Are you calling me a liar? You either put her in a new room or get a cleaner to clean her room. If that's the bathroom, how about the rest of the room?'"
Quellin said he followed this up by asking the facility to check in with his wife. He says all they did was ring her and assure her the room was clean when it clearly wasn't.
An MIQ spokesperson reiterated that Sudima Hotel management had assured them strict cleaning and sanitising protocols of this room was followed, as it always is.
However arrangements were made for the returnee to change rooms and a cleaning audit was undertaken.
"Hotel management apologised to this returnee for any inconvenience caused," the spokesperson said.
"The returnee has declined to engage further with facility staff except for regular health checks and COVID-19 tests."
Quellin says he worries how many rooms in MIQ facilities may not have been cleaned properly.
"It's only tiny little dots of urine, but it's still just not sitting right… maybe someone with COVID was pissing on that seat."
