The package will initially be introduced at the Arora Group’s luxury hotel directly connected to Heathrow Terminal 5 – Sofitel London Heathrow. Guests will be able to book a package comprising of an overnight stay together with a self-administered saliva-based PCR COVID-19 test kit provided by HALO. Arora Group’s other Heathrow hotels will also be rolling out the package shortly.
The COVID-19 screening system behind Arora’s ‘Test and Rest’ programme is HALO™, a UK-based biotech firm based at the Imperial College i-Hubin White City, London. Guests at the hotel simply download the Halo app, scan their test kit, spit in a tube and put it back in the Halo pack. The sample is then whisked off to HALO’s state of the art facility where it is tested using some of the most accurate PCR protocols in the world. As soon as the results are through, they pop up on the guest’s app along with a certificate and, providing the test is negative, they’re ready to travel on as soon as they wake. Test and Rest packages prices at Sofitel London Heathrow will start from £179.00 inclusive of VAT and includes accommodation and testing.
Surinder Arora, Founder and CEO of Arora Group, commented: “Our beloved hospitality, airline and the wider tourism industry has been devastated by the pandemic and we felt the need to do something to give both business and leisure travellers the confidence to travel. The ability to stay in a hotel the night before a flight and get a recognised PCR saliva-based COVID-19 test and subsequent result before the flight the following day – just made sense”.
Dr Nigel Kellow, Chief Medical Officer at HALO said, “We’re really excited to be able to work with Arora Group on this pioneering initiative to help get the world moving again. We believe that in HALO we have created a system that offers hotel guests and many others a safe, secure and simple way to travel and enjoy life again in confidence. We hope more organisations in the travel industry will follow Surinder Arora’s example.”
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Notes to Editors
Arora Group
The Arora Group is a successful UK-focused private group of companies, which leverages synergies across its specialist property, construction and hotel divisions to its strategic advantage. Since 1999, the Group has built its standing through meticulously managing projects from inception to delivery and beyond. Today, it owns and manages a diverse portfolio of flagship assets across the nation’s key business locations, partnering with some of the world’s most recognized brands to deliver consistently high service levels and sustainable growth.
For more information please visit www.thearoragroup.com.
About Arora Hotels, a division of Arora Group
AroraHotels is one of the UK's leading hotel owner-operators with expertise in airport and city centre hotel operations. Current hotels within the portfolio include Sofitel London Heathrow, Sofitel London Gatwick and Novotel London Stansted (under a franchise agreement with Accor), Renaissance London Heathrow(under a franchise agreement with Marriott), InterContinental® London ‒ The O2, Holiday Inn Heathrow Terminal 5, Crowne Plaza London Heathrow Terminal 4, Holiday Inn Express® London Heathrow Terminal 4 (under a franchise agreement with IHG), Hilton London Gatwick and Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 (under a franchise agreement with Hilton Hotel andResorts), and Arora Hotel Gatwick/Crawley. Under construction and due to open in early 2021 is the Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel. For more information please visit www.thearoragroup.com
Media Relations Contact at Arora Group:
Email: publicrelations@thearoragroup.com
About HALO™
Unlike many other COVID-19 tests Halo is a complete system designed to get the world moving again. For a single all-inclusive price (around a third of the cost of most swab-based tests) the system combines a secure encrypted verification app; a simple, self-administered saliva test kit; flexible, convenient logistics; and among the most sensitive and specific COVID-19 PCR testing protocols available anywhere in the world.
Halo is a UK-based biotech startup which includes world-class scientists and technologists, leading medical and laboratory advisers, and highly experienced logistics experts. The firm is already providing virus screening to leading airlines, universities, corporates and other organisations and plans to rapidly expand capacity in order to support the return to normality during the pandemic.
