Travelodge guests still not safe enough, review finds after hotel assault

An independent review has concluded that Travelodge guests are still not as safe as they should be, after a woman was sexually assaulted in one of its hotels by a man who had been given a key to her room.

The review was carried out by the barrister Paul Greaney KC. It examined security policies at Travelodge's Maidenhead hotel at the time of the attack in December 2022. The changed policies introduced there were not fit for purpose for keeping guests safe, the review found. Nearly four years on, it said guests remain less safe than they should be.

The woman has described how the attack happened. She said someone she knew was able to get into her room while she was asleep after he pretended to be her boyfriend to reception staff. She said staff gave him her room key, which led to the assault. Her attacker, Kyron Smith, was jailed for seven and a half years for trespass and sexual assault.

The review found that she was fundamentally failed by Travelodge at every stage. Its team went into five Travelodge hotels, essentially undercover, to test whether safety policies were being followed. In all five, people were allowed to access hotel rooms they should not have reached through housekeeping. In three of the five, receptionists confirmed that guests were staying at the hotel to people who should not have had that information, raising safeguarding concerns. In two of the five, receptionists publicly announced room numbers, which is against company policy.

The review also found that between 6 July and 7 August, 10% of Travelodge hotels had recorded room intrusions, meaning people gained unauthorised access to guest rooms. The team was so concerned that it issued an urgent alert to Travelodge management that staff were failing to implement new keycard security policies.

The report's author said Travelodge had shown a genuine desire to improve, though he said this was years too late. He noted that a new chief executive joined in August. But he concluded that significant issues remain and that he was not satisfied enough had been done to make guests as safe as they should be.

Travelodge said it apologised unreservedly to the woman who was assaulted and to all guests where it had fallen short because of failures in its policy. The company said it was desperately sorry that she did not get the protection she deserved, and that it had made things worse by not looking after her properly in the aftermath. It said it embraced all the findings, accepted the recommendations and would address them in a thorough and accountable way. An independent assessment of its progress will take place after six and 12 months.