‘Room intrusions’ a problem across the hotel industry, Travelodge review finds

“Room intrusions” are a problem across the UK’s hotel industry, a review into a sexual assault case at a Travelodge has found.

Barrister Paul Greaney KC said he had received evidence that security issues were widespread and not restricted to a single business.

He was leading a review commissioned earlier this year after a woman was sexually assaulted at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, by a man who had been given a key card to her room.

Mr Greaney said the woman assaulted, referred to in the report as “Lily”, was “fundamentally failed by Travelodge as an organisation at every stage”.

She was “treated by Travelodge in a way that was inappropriate and unfair; indeed, it was disgraceful”, he concluded.

Ray Reidy, the interim chief executive of Travelodge, said: “I apologise unreservedly on behalf of Travelodge to all guests where we have failed, and particularly to Lily.”

Mr Greaney said unauthorised room entries have become so well-known across the hotel industry that they have been named “room intrusions”.

He said while the focus of his review was on Travelodge, “the evidence I have received reveals that room intrusions are not a type of occurrence restricted to Travelodge hotels, but instead are a problem across the hotel sector”.

His report said: “Change needed to occur, and still needs to occur, across the sector, not just within Travelodge.”

The barrister said he could not name all of the companies he spoke to because many of the conversations were had in confidence.

It is understood he also spoke with trade bodies, charities, MPs and a police organisation.

Mr Greaney said he hoped the findings of the review would be taken on board by other hotel bosses when it comes to their own policies and procedures.

Within Travelodge, customer-reported cases of room intrusion have started to reduce significantly since the end of May, amid the hotel chain’s efforts to improve guest safety.

Despite this, there were reports by guests of room intrusion across nearly one in 10 Travelodge hotels, which represents about 60 hotels, it found.

UK Hospitality recently set out new guest security guidance for the hotel industry, including around how to respond to requests for replacement room keys or access by those not named on bookings, and managing group and corporate bookings.

Kyran Smith was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the Travelodge assault in December 2022.

The review found he had lied to a junior member of staff at the hotel desk that he was Lily’s boyfriend and given a key to her room less than three minutes later.

Lily sent an email of complaint to Travelodge in January 2023, asking bosses to review security processes, but this did not come to the attention of former chief executive Jo Boydell until more than three years later.

The complaint was handled by the customer services team and investigated by a senior manager of the hotel, which Mr Greaney described as “inadequate and downplayed to a substantial extent the seriousness of what had happened”.

Lily was subsequently made an “insulting offer of a reimbursement of her night’s stay”, which she “understandably interpreted as an offer of £30”.

The report read: “Travelodge’s treatment of Lily, following her complaint in writing, fell short of every standard the public would expect of an organisation such as Travelodge.“It was simply appalling.”

Ms Boydell stepped down as chief executive in August and was replaced on an interim basis by Mr Reidy.

She had been criticised for how she handled the incident and concerns over safety across the chain, prompting former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to step in earlier this year and urge her to “seriously engage” with the Government on the issue of security.

The review said Ms Boydell led an immediate drive for change and improvement once she became aware of the 2022 assault.

Mr Reidy on Thursday acknowledged the independent review “makes it clear that there were failures in Travelodge’s room access security policies and procedures and in the way customers have been treated”.

He added: “We have made significant progress in preventing and addressing these issues over the past six months, and we recognise we still have further to go.”

He said Travelodge is dedicating “significant resources” to the overhaul and making changes to its governance in order to make the improvements.

Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The guest safety principles and guidance we have developed provides a framework for accommodation businesses to continue to strengthen their standards in ways that work for their specific venue.

“We urge every single accommodation provider to use these principles to review their current arrangements.”

He added that the guidance would be kept under review and regularly updated.