A woman who claims she was assaulted in her Travelodge hotel room after reception staff gave her attacker a key has described it as one of the most "traumatic nights" of her life.
Attack after key handed over
The domestic violence survivor, who cannot be identified, told the BBC she was staying at a London Travelodge in October last year when she was attacked in her room. She had booked the room for a "night away from the fear" following a period of abuse.
Her attacker allegedly gained access after telling reception his girlfriend was upstairs having a seizure. He asked which room she was in and on what floor, and staff gave him a key and showed him to her room.
Violent assault and broken door
Once inside, he physically assaulted her and tried to snatch her phone. She persuaded him to leave, but he returned and became more violent. She heard him banging and shouting, and he eventually "kicked the hotel room door completely off the hinges."
The woman went downstairs "shaking" and "begging for help," but the receptionist did not call police or check if she needed medical attention. Instead, she was offered another room.
Travelodge response and policy changes
A Travelodge spokesperson said: "We are deeply sorry for the significant distress experienced by the customer and we apologise for the way the incident has been handled. Customer safety and security is – and remains – a priority for us. Any case of an unauthorised person entering a guest's room is a significant cause for concern and we want to be clear that this should not have happened. Our room access security policies at the time were not correctly followed, which is not acceptable."
Earlier this year, Travelodge strengthened its room access security policy and incident escalation procedures, with training for all customer-facing colleagues. The changes came after Kyran Smith was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in February for assaulting a woman at a Travelodge in Maidenhead in December 2022 after being given a key to her room. Travelodge chief executive Jo Boydell previously said immediate changes were made to the policy. Now, explicit permission is required from guests before additional or replacement keys are issued, and the hotel will never confirm to a third party that a guest is staying there.
