Naked Man Incident at Travelodge Haunts Woman as More Claims Emerge

In July 2025, Wendy Griffith, a marketing consultant from Norfolk, recounted a harrowing encounter at the Travelodge London Stratford hotel. She described being left alone in her room for over an hour while a man in a state of undress pounded on her door and carried out “vile” sexual activities in the corridor. This incident added to a mounting list of complaints against the hotel chain, with guests alleging that Travelodge has long dismissed their concerns as trivial.

Following the BBC’s exposure of a 2022 attack at the Maidenhead branch, where a woman was sexually assaulted in her bed after staff provided the perpetrator with her room number, dozens of accounts surfaced. These stories highlighted repeated failures in security protocols, including instances where guests were left vulnerable due to inadequate emergency contact options.

“The police were incredible, given I was a female staying in a hotel room on my own. Three cars pulled up within five minutes to arrest the man,” Wendy Griffith recalled. “It was a very dramatic scene, he attempted to run back in his room, barricade the door, and the police had to force their way in, using pepper spray.”

Wendy’s ordeal included a critical moment when she discovered her attacker, also a hotel guest, had requested a replacement key at reception. He provided her room number instead of his own, leading to a sense of betrayal. “That moment when the desk clerk said ‘he asked for a key to your room’ the blood drained from my body,” she said.

Despite her distress, Wendy insisted Travelodge’s handling of her case was insufficient. She noted that no proactive refund was offered and her complaint was deferred to insurers, who denied liability. “I had to chase them, and my case was pushed out to the firm’s insurers,” she explained.

Travelodge’s Response and Policy Adjustments

A Travelodge spokesperson expressed regret over the distressing experience, stating the company had “strengthened” its room access policy. They emphasized that training was now provided to all hotels, ensuring the hotel phone number is included on every key card wallet. “We have since rolled out training to ensure the hotel phone number is on every key card wallet given to a customer so they can reach our team at any time,” the statement read.

“To take so long to respond, and now only under media scrutiny and pressure, that should be an automatic escalation to the CEO for a formal investigation,” Wendy Griffith said. “If there is ever a situation in your hotel where the police have become involved, that should be an automatic escalation to the CEO for a formal investigation.”

The company’s CEO, Jo Boydell, apologized for “frightening” experiences, but Wendy criticized her delayed awareness of the 2022 Maidenhead attack. “She admitted not being aware of it until the attacker’s trial at the end of 2025,” the woman said.

MPs Call for Enhanced Safety Measures

A growing number of MPs have demanded improved hotel safety procedures, citing the ongoing crisis at Travelodge. The privately-owned chain, based in Thame, Oxfordshire, continues to face scrutiny as more incidents come to light. Wendy Griffith’s experience, she said, was not as severe as the Maidenhead case but still left her “incredibly traumatised” and struggling with “flashbacks” and “damage to my livelihood.”

Wendy also noted that the man, Trevor Reece, 40, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency in September 2025. He received four months of alcohol dependency treatment, along with £185 in court costs and £50 compensation, which she claims has yet to be paid.