Travelodge Incident Sparks Concern Over Room Security

Chris Adamson, a 63-year-old resident of Leeds, claims she was deeply unsettled when a stranger accessed her Travelodge room in Lincoln on 8 April. The couple, who were on a short getaway, reported a malfunction with the television shortly after 2:30 PM BST. During the repair, two staff members entered the room, fixed the issue, and adjusted the air conditioning due to the warmth. One employee even suggested the couple might want to switch rooms if the problem persisted. However, no further complications arose.

As the couple prepared for an evening outing around 6 PM, a man arrived with his luggage. “We had just come out of the shower and were ready to head out, but if it had been half an hour earlier, the situation would have been very unpleasant,” Adamson noted. The man appeared equally surprised and left swiftly. Adamson followed him to the reception desk to voice her complaint, where staff responded with a dismissive tone, stating, “We’re really sorry, accidents happen,” according to her account.

“I would have thought after all this time they would have done something to put it right,” Adamson said. “My worry is if it happens to someone else who is alone in a room, because there doesn’t seem to be the security checks in place.”

The incident follows a previous case in Maidenhead where a guest was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given a key to her room. Kyran Smith, 29, from Staines, Surrey, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in February 2023 for the attack in December 2022. Since then, numerous individuals have reached out to the BBC, highlighting concerns about security lapses across UK hotels, including Travelodge.

In March, Travelodge’s CEO, Jo Boydell, assured the public that “immediate changes” had been made to their key policy. The company now claims the Lincoln incident was due to a system error. “After Ms Adamson complained about a room fault, we offered to move her to another room and processed the switch on our systems,” the spokesperson stated. “The fault was resolved, and she decided to remain in her original room, but this was not updated on the system. As a result, another guest received the key to her room by mistake.”

The hotel has committed to retraining its staff on security protocols and check-in procedures. An independent review is also set to examine how procedures can be strengthened to prevent such occurrences in the future. Adamson, though appreciating the competitive pricing that draws customers, expressed hesitation about staying alone at Travelodge again.