Travelodge working hard on room security, says CEO

The interim chief executive of Travelodge has told the BBC "nobody is working harder on security of rooms in this industry than we are today".

It comes after a damning review found guests were still not as safe as they should be, with room intrusions reported at nearly one-in-10 Travelodge hotels this summer, and no policy in place on violence against women and girls.

Interim CEO Ray Reidy said the chain has made a "number of changes" since an attack at its Maidenhead hotel in December 2022 became national news earlier this year.

He said the woman was a victim of a "heinous crime", adding: "We are desperately sorry that she didn't get the protection that she deserved."

Kyran Smith, who obtained the key by falsely claiming to be the woman's boyfriend, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in January.

The review found Smith was handed the key less than three minutes after approaching the reception desk, by a receptionist who had received no training in key security.

Barrister Paul Greaney KC, who carried out the review, said blame rested with Travelodge, that has its HQ in Thame, Oxfordshire, as an organisation rather than with individual staff, and a culture had developed in which room intrusions were regarded as "one of those things".

The woman emailed a complaint to Travelodge in January 2023, addressed to chief executive Jo Boydell and others.

The review concluded the email was handled by her office without her knowledge, and did not come to Boydell's attention until March 2026.

The woman's complaint was instead investigated by a manager who was himself criticised in it, and the customer services team offered her a refund for her night's stay, which she understood to be £30.

Reidy refused to say whether the victim has been offered any compensation.

The review said changes made this year had been done quickly "albeit years too late" and its new key security policy would prevent a repeat of the Maidenhead attack if applied correctly.

But it found the policy was "not being applied with anything like sufficient consistency on the ground".

It also found that mystery shoppers were able to get into rooms through housekeeping staff at all five hotels tested, including Maidenhead, without being sent to reception or asked for proof they were entitled to enter.

The review said the "results across the board were disturbing".

At three of the hotels, staff confirmed a guest was staying there, and at two, room numbers were said out loud at check-in. The Maidenhead hotel scored worst of the five.

Reidy, who was appointed intermin CEO in August after former boss Jo Boydell resigned - said training that has been implemented is "not an overnight fix".

"Training needs to be followed up with validation, it needs to be pressure tested in situ, and that's one of the reasons we are pushing out, extending the audit process, and also using the Mystery Shopper campaigns."

Joshua Reynolds, MP for Maidenhead, said: "It's a shame that three years has been lost between the incident and now, when things are actually starting to change to make sure that there are policies are in place and findings to make sure this has happened.

"What I want to now make sure of is that the report is implemented and that every recommendation in the report is taken on by Travelodge and fully implemented."

Reidy said: "We embrace all of the findings in the review, we accept the recommendations and we will address all of those."

Reidy said the company does not have a policy for violence against women and girls, but said it is working with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust - a personal safety charity - to develop one.

Greaney said room intrusions were a problem across the hotel sector.

Speaking on the safety of guests, Reidy said: "In rooms today you are safe, so we are confident in that.

"What we can't guarantee is that there aren't the room intrusions, so the review itself calls out the fact that when you've got an interaction between the customer and a colleague there is inevitably going to be an opportunity for human error in that process.

"Our job now is to try and minimise the opportunity for that human error and to make sure that we are making the rooms as safe as possible."

Reidy said while all hotels operate in the same way, the review found that additional training was required at Maidenhead.

"We have absolutely done that, and we've got our arms around that team specifically today because obviously the language in the report is quite damning," he added.