A woman who was sexually assaulted after a Travelodge employee handed her room key to a stranger has described the hotel chain's chief executive as 'shocking' for cancelling a meeting with MPs. More than 20 MPs had requested the meeting to discuss the case, including the hotel's security procedures and the 'insulting' £30 refund offered to the victim.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote to CEO Jo Boydell expressing 'very concerned' about the cancellation and urging the company to 'seriously engage' with MPs over the 'utterly appalling' assault. The survivor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked by Kyran Smith in December 2022 after he obtained a key card to her room at a Travelodge in Maidenhead by lying to staff that he was her boyfriend. Smith was jailed for seven and a half years in February.
The survivor told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'If you are the CEO of a company, then you have a responsibility to answer these questions and engage in that situation, and say how you’re going to now improve. You’re not protecting people and I mean, I personally find it quite shocking.' In a separate interview with BBC News, she questioned why Boydell was not attending such meetings if she was genuinely concerned about safeguarding.
Boydell has apologised to the woman and said the company made immediate changes to its door key policy. She repeated her apologies in interviews on Monday, telling the BBC she was 'genuinely sorry' for the handling of the incident. However, the survivor dismissed Boydell's claims that deadbolts were available on doors as 'deflection', insisting she had locked her door on the night of the attack.
Boydell acknowledged being aware of 'other instances' of unwanted people entering customers' rooms, but said she only learned of Smith's assault this month after his conviction. She said the company had made changes to how it handles serious incidents, but admitted 'something went wrong' in this case. The woman is taking legal action against Travelodge, according to the BBC.
