A shocking independent review has found that Travelodge's hotel staff let strangers into people's rooms 60 times - four years after a man sexually assaulted a woman in her bed after he was given a key to her room.
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he → find → room
In December 2022, 29-year-old Kyran Smith was given a key to a colleague's Travelodge room in Maidenhead after lying to a receptionist that he was her boyfriend.
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he → give → receptionist
He went on to sexually assault her and was jailed for seven and a half years this February.
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He → go → years
Nothing was done by staff at the time, other than handing over appropriate CCTV to police - until after March 6, 2026, when the scandal broke in the national media and the then-CEO, Jo Boydell, became aware of it.
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CEO → do → it
Now, an independent review by Paul Greaney KC has revealed that 'room intrusions' by strangers were still happening this summer - months after Smith's conviction and during Travelodge's period of supposed improved security training.
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intrusions → reveal → training
Mr Greaney called the findings 'disturbing' and claimed the shocking findings of inadequacy in customer safety are likely a problem 'across the hotel sector'.
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findings → call → sector
The review commissioned earlier this year after Smith's conviction conducted a mystery shopper investigation, in which undercover investigators tested the security of five Travelodges across the country.
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investigators → commission → country
Incredibly, the investigators were able to gain access to a room that wasn't theirs in all five hotels tested through a housekeeper - without having to prove their right to access or being sent to reception.
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that → gain → reception
Indeed, in two of the hotels, the room number of a guest was announced publicly on check-in - for anyone nearby to hear - and 80 per cent of the time, the receptionist did not ask to add a second person's name to the system when the investigator checked in with another person.
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investigator → announce → person
The former CEO of Travelodge, Jo Boydell, stepped down this year after the scandal, which saw her not made aware of a serious sexual assault and breach of security until four years after the incident
Wendy Griffith (pictured) told the Mail how she found a man performing a sex act outside her door at 1am while staying in a Travelodge in London last year
The findings from the mystery shopper test in April were so concerning that Mr Greaney issued an urgent alert to Travelodge, requiring them to issue further guidance to all staff to adhere to the new policies.
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Greaney → step → policies
But since then, further breaches were found to have occurred.
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breaches → find → ?
She called reception at the time, but had no answer.
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She → call → answer
She was then forced to call 999 and wait for the police to arrive and arrest the man, 40-year-old Trevor Reece.
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police → force → man
It was later discovered that he had been told her room number by reception by pretending he had lost his key card.
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he → discover → card
A separate focus group exercise conducted by Mr Greaney in the Maidenhead hotel where the terrible December 16, 2022 attack by Smith happened found that no supervisor had checked that staff had understood the key security training.
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staff → conduct → training
They observed a member of staff incorrectly check in a couple and not follow the routine procedure that had been outlined, and junior female employees even expressed concern for their own safety at work.
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employees → observe → work
Mr Greaney concluded in the 70-page review published on September 21: 'To say the least, all of the above reflects extremely poorly on Travelodge as a business.
'
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all → conclude → business
I consider that Lily* was fundamentally failed by Travelodge as an organisation at every stage.
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Lily → consider → stage
So too was the general public, because what Lily's case reveals about the inadequacy of the room security processes created a risk for all guests, as subsequent reports to the media and to me confirm.
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reports → reveal → me
'As I go on to explain, I received evidence that the problem with room security exposed by Lily's case is not one restricted to Travelodge, but instead exists across the hotel sector.
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problem → go → sector
Change needed to occur, and still needs to occur, across the sector, not just within Travelodge.'
The budget-friendly chain accommodation, which has 600 hotels, 13,000 staff and annually welcomes over 22million guests, said in response to the findings today: 'Travelodge is committed to addressing the issues raised by this report in a thorough and accountable way and will undertake independent progress assessments after 6 and 12 months.
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Travelodge → need → months
Travelodge's hotel staff were found to have let strangers into guest's rooms sixty times, a damning new report has found
'
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report → find → rooms
When this assault came to the attention of the Travelodge Board in March this year, it instigated a large-scale programme of change to drive improvements across both hotel operations and customer services.
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it → come → operations
The review also revealed Travelodge's egregious failures in handling Lily's* sexual assault in December 2022.
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review → reveal → December
It detailed how, when Lily reported that a man had entered her room while she was asleep in bed that night to staff, their response was to offer 'no support or assistance of any meaningful nature'.
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response → detail → nature
Mr Greaney wrote: 'Their conduct was lacking in any understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and was not remotely trauma informed.
'
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conduct → write → responsibilities
As I have ultimately found, this was principally the result of a lack of adequate training of them in the topic of Violence against Women and Girls ('VAWG') and the existence of an unacceptable culture within Travelodge in which room intrusions were tolerated.
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intrusions → find → which
Indeed, despite Lily and her manager informing staff again what happened the next day, no internal investigation to find out what happened was triggered.
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what → inform → staff
Two days after the incident, when police arrived at the Maidenhead Travelodge on December 18, all staff did was hand over the appropriate CCTV.
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did → arrive → CCTV
Lily made a formal complaint early in the New Year in 2023 addressed to, among others, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jo Boydell, detailing her ordeal and stating 'I want to ensure this is dealt with appropriately and does not happen to someone else'.
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this → make → someone
The independent review revealed that 'room intrusions' by strangers were still happening this summer - months after Smith's conviction and during Travelodge's period of supposed improved security training
But due to a flawed internal process, the email did not come to the CEO Boydell's attention at that stage - or at any stage during Smith's subsequent trial and conviction - until March 6, 2026, following media reporting on the scandal.
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email → reveal → scandal
From the formal complaint email, Travelodge appointed the same member of staff who Lily had initially reported the incident to, at Travelodge Maidenhead.
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Lily → appoint → Maidenhead
The subsequent 'investigation' was 'inadequate' and 'downplayed to a substantial extent the seriousness of what had happened', the report found.
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report → downplay → seriousness
Nothing further was done with the complaint email, and there was no review of room security policies.
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Nothing → do → policies
Insultingly, Lily* was offered a refund of the night's stay after her sexual assault - equivalent to £30.
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Lily → offer → 30
The report called the response 'simply appalling' and said the response was 'driven not by a genuine desire to resolve Lily's concerns and learn from her experience' but by 'a desire to get rid of the complaint as quickly and cheaply as possible'.
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response → call → complaint
It added: 'Lily's treatment by members of Travelodge staff in December 2022 was nothing short of disgraceful, but that was largely down to systemic failures by Travelodge as an organisation, as opposed to failings by the individuals concerned
'
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that → add → individuals
They were not fit for the purpose of keeping guests safe.'
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They → keep → guests
A victim personal impact statement written by Lily and read to the court at Smith's trial said: 'From the perspective of Travelodge and because the assault happened there, I feel that there is no way I would want to stay in a hotel again on my own.
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I → write → own
It comes from being in a position of trust.
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It → come → trust
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
