I stayed at a hotel for the first time since the end of coronavirus lockdown, and it was so eerily quiet I felt like I was in 'The Shining'

My hotel was eerily quiet and empty.Barnaby Lane

• I stayed at a hotel for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown in the UK, and it was so eerily quiet I felt like I was in "The Shining."
• Staying in at the Jury's Inn, Liverpool, I was almost totally alone in a huge 310 room building.
• There was almost no staff, breakfast magically delivered to my door in a bag, and there were signs everywhere telling me to "Stay Happy."

I stayed at a hotel for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown in the UK, and it was so eerily quiet I felt like I was in "The Shining."

Staying at the Jury's Inn, Liverpool, on July 5, I had originally booked the stay as a business trip to report on Liverpool FC's homecoming to Anfield after it clinched the English Premier League title for the first time in 30 years.

But just as Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer, had gone to finish is book at The Overlook in Stephen King's 1977 classic horror novel, I was more taken back by the creepy emptiness of the hotel rather than what I actually went for.

During my one night stay, I saw almost no staff, the bar was shut, and there were signs everywhere telling me to "Stay Happy."

Fortunately, no spine-chilling evil twins or ghostly bartenders were in sight, nor did I turn into an axe-wielding lunatic. Regardless, the experience was still extremely strange.