Travelodge staff gave domestic abuser key to his victim's room

A domestic violence victim has told BBC Breakfast how she was attacked in her hotel room after Travelodge reception staff gave a key to her abuser.

The woman, whom the BBC is calling Lucy, said she was "failed" by the chain and described it as one of the "most traumatic nights of my life" after the man kicked the door off its hinges.

She contacted the BBC after hearing about the sentencing of Kyran Smith, who sexually assaulted a woman in her bed at a Travelodge in Maidenhead in 2022.

Speaking about Lucy's case, Travelodge said that while incidents like this were "very rare", customer safety and security was, and remained, a priority with staff undergoing recent training.

Lucy said she was staying at the hotel in October 2025 for "a night away from the fear" following a period of abuse that left her "frightened and exhausted".

"He walked into the hotel and told the receptionist that his girlfriend was upstairs having a seizure. He asked what room I was in and what floor I was staying on," she said.

The receptionist handed him a key before directing him upstairs to Lucy's room, she said.

"I couldn't believe it. The one place I thought he could never get to, he had somehow reached. I felt sick with panic. My safe place disappeared in an instant," she added.

She said he physically attacked her and tried to grab her phone.

After Lucy convinced her attacker to leave, he returned, "banging, shouting and becoming more aggressive".

"I was absolutely terrified. I froze, hoping he would stop. Instead, he kicked the hotel room door off its hinges and forced his way back inside."

She said she ran downstairs "shaking, crying and begging for help", adding: "I thought someone would protect me."

Instead, Lucy was offered another room in the hotel.

Travelodge said it had investigated what happened and found the attacker had given Lucy's full name and room number at reception.

However, a spokesperson said an established policy – to never confirm to a third party that a guest was staying at one of its hotels – was not followed and "this should not have happened".

Lucy is one of a number of people who have contacted the BBC following the sentencing of Smith, who was jailed for seven and a half years in February.

After sentencing, Travelodge said there had been "immediate changes to our room access security policy to ensure that any additional or replacement room keys are only issued with explicit permission from the person (or people) staying in the room".

Another woman, Jo from Leeds, contacted BBC News following coverage of the Maidenhead attack.

In July, she woke in her room to an unknown man standing at the end of her bed, and screamed for help.

"It was just horrible, it was horrendous. Terrifying. I was shaking so badly," she said.

Her friend who was staying in the room heard him say, "I'm sorry, they gave me this key," she said.

Jo considered staying elsewhere following the reports of the attack in 2022, but was reassured by Travelodge's chief executive Jo Boydell, who previously said: "The safety and security of customers in our hotels is extremely important and we want everyone to be safe, and feel safe, in our hotels."

Jo said: "What happened to us shouldn't have happened. And the assurances [Travelodge] gave are not accurate. The systems are failing."

In response, Travelodge said an investigation found "our updated room access security policies, which were in place at the time, were not correctly followed, which is not acceptable.

"We have retrained the hotel team on our current room security and check-in procedures."

Andy Smith, who has travelled the country with his band and stays in dozens of Travelodge hotels a year, said he had been given keys to other people's rooms recently.

"On Friday, we went up to the room and there was a guy already asleep in there in a state of undress," he said.

It followed another incident about 18 months ago where another man had gained access to his room by telling reception staff he was checking in under a common name such as "Mr Smith", Smith said.

"I think he just chanced it. Because my name's Smith, I think it's just the pure luck of it. I mean, why wouldn't anyone be asking for ID or anything, like a booking reference or an email address. It's beggar's belief."

Travelodge responded by saying "any case of an unauthorised person entering a guest's room is a significant cause for concern and we want to be clear that these incidents should not have happened".

A spokesperson for industry group UKHospitality said recent incidents were "extremely serious" and it understood the concerns from guests.

It was working with its members to create guidance on customer security which would be published shortly, the spokesperson said.

"Developed with sector experts, we have continued to engage with ministers on this important work and received positive feedback from government on the work taking place to further bolster guest security," they said.

Travelodge said it had commissioned an independent review led by a barrister "to examine our room access security policies and escalation procedures".

"While the independent review is progressing, we have also conducted an internal review and have since made changes to our room access security policy and incident escalation procedures supported by training for all of our customer-facing colleagues."

Lucy said the night of her attack had "changed me forever", and she was now unable to stay in hotels because of the fear and anxiety she feels.

"Hotels need safeguarding procedures... because one mistake can have devastating consequences," she said.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.