Virus-hit Shropshire hotel up and running again
A landmark hotel has reopened after it was closed for a week when guests contracted the norovirus.
The Longmynd Hotel, perched on the slopes above Church Stretton, was forced to close to new guests after about 20 visitors went down with the sickness bug in 24 hours.
Guests and staff confined themselves to the site, and The hotel underwent a specialist "deep clean" this weekend before reopening yesterday.
Julia Karpova, house manager at the hotel, which is run by HF Holidays, said it was now business as usual.
She said the hotel was not alone as the virus had been making its way around Church Stretton, and had struck guests fast a week ago on Sunday.
She said: "A couple of guests came down with upset stomachs and they stayed in while the others went out on a walk.
"When I came on shift at about 3pm the number of guests went up to 13."
She said by the evening there were about 20 guests affected, and some staff had also begun to come down with the illness.
"We didn't take in any new guests on Monday, we closed down the house to stop it spreading," she said.
"We started a deep anti-bacterial clean, working very closely with our laundry company and cleaners.
"We cleaned all the door handles, and from ceiling to floor, it all needed to be done."
She said they used specialist cleaners who work with both hospitals and hotels in such cases.
She said there were no new cases of the norovirus from Monday, June 8, onwards but many guests had to stay put until Friday - as they were part of group from the USA that had nowhere else to go.
"A couple of the guests were affected quite badly so we called the doctors and went to Sainsbury's pharmacy in Shrewsbury, but the treatment went fine," she said.
She said during the week the hotel was cleaned every day, but three private functions and meetings booked to be held there had to be cancelled, and staff stayed indoors as much as possible also.
She said all new guests found alternative accommodation in the area or were offered rooms at other HF Holidays hotels and guest houses elsewhere.
She said she had only known a similar outbreak once before in her career, when working for a different company in Devon.
However, she added every now and again such outbreaks had to be expected, and the hotel had systems in place to contain it as best as possible.
