Oxfordshire: Travelodge hotel chain facing fresh safety questions

The BBC revealed in March how a woman staying at a Maidenhead hotel was sexually assaulted after a man lied to staff to get a key card to her room, triggering an independent review of security measures at the hotel giant.

The guest at the Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was attacked by Kyran Smith in December 2022 when he pretended to be her boyfriend.

He was jailed in March for seven-and-a-half-years.

Kyran Smith (Image: Thames Valley Police)

Travelodge initially offered the victim a £30 refund, which she described as “insulting”, before the company issued an apology.

The reporting of the Maidenhead case led to dozens of people coming forward to report security concerns at Travelodge hotels, including one womans report of being trapped in a Travelodge hotel room for an hour while a naked man banged on her door and performed sex acts in the corridor.

The MP for Henley and Thame, Freddie Van Mierlo, wrote a letter to Travelodge’s chief executive and the chair of a review into the hotel chain’s safety, questioning if cost-saving measures had been prioritised over customer safety.

Van Mierlo, who represents the Thame area where Travelodge’s headquarters are based, said customers and company employees told him guests felt “dismissed by boilerplate responses when raising a complaint and felt the company to be defensive and unaccepting of wrongdoing”.

Labour MP for Forest of Dean, Matt Bishop and MP for Thurrock Jen Craft MP said they would back a 10-minute rule bill to improve security standards in hotels.

The hotel is currently undertaking an independent review of its security policy following the Maidenhead case.

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Freddie Van Mierlo (Image: Contributed)

Following the BBC’s reporting on the Maidenhead case, more people have come forward to share allegations about their experiences at other Travelodge hotels.

The company has since updated its room access security policy and internal procedures around the escalation of complaints.

A spokesperson for Travelodge said: “We welcome Freddie van Mierlo’s engagement with the independent review we commissioned under Paul Greaney KC, a leading barrister specialising in public inquiries concerning security, serious violent crime, and health and safety, to examine our room access security policies and escalation procedures.

“Customer and colleague safety and security is – and remains – a priority for us.”

“We want everyone to be safe, and feel safe, in our hotels.”

The spokesperson affirmed that an independent review is ongoing, and the company have changed room access security police and partnered with leading violence against women and girls experts.