A handful of local leaders were notified of the decision to take over two hotels - the Ibis and Sudima - on a Friday and the buses started arriving on Saturday night, "under the cover of darkness" as a furious Rotorua MP Todd McClay put it.
Even some of the passengers were surprised when told of their destination by the bus driver. "Disbelief" was the reaction of one who had expected to hole up in Auckland.
The initial reaction from the city's public was not particularly welcoming.
"We have no choice in this." "We don't want Covid-19 quarantine in Rotorua, thank you." "Outrageous."
It set the scene for a tense relationship between the city known for manaakitanga (hospitality) and the system foisted on it.
A third MIQ hotel, Rydges, came the following month, but when news got out last year the Government was in discussions about a fourth, the city recoiled and served back a resounding no.
Some viewed it as a cold reaction given the many Kiwis stuck overseas and unable to land a space in MIQ that would allow them to come home. And the Government contracts were no doubt a lifeline for the guest-strapped accommodation facilities.
But fears of increased risk of an outbreak threatening Rotorua's most vulnerable, as well as the impact on medical services already stretched by servicing three MIQs, were genuinely held.
Journalist Lloyd Burr made a model of the Skytower from meal packaging and care packet cardboard he collected while isolating in the same hotel. The impressive 2.3m structure became TradeMe's most popular auction in the Bay of Plenty over lockdown.