Travelodge Security Breach: Stranger Given Key to Couple's Room

A woman says she was left shaken when a stranger came into her Travelodge room after being given a key card by staff. Chris Adamson, 63, from Leeds, was enjoying a mini-break with her husband at the hotel in Lincoln on 8 April, when she heard the door click and a man entered their room.

It happened just days after the hotel chain's boss promised to improve security measures after a man was jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in her room in Maidenhead. Travelodge said it was "extremely sorry" and would retrain the hotel team in room security and check-in procedures.

Adamson and her husband, Paul, checked in shortly after 14:30 BST and reported a fault with the television. She said two members of staff came up, fixed the TV and adjusted the air conditioning because it felt warm. According to Adamson, one of the staff members suggested they could change rooms if it did not improve. However, there were no further issues.

The couple were getting ready to go out for the evening at about 18:00 when the man walked in with his suitcase. "We'd both just come out the shower and were ready to go out, but half-an-hour earlier and we wouldn't have been," she said. "That would have been very unpleasant."

The man "looked as startled as I was" and quickly left. Adamson followed the man down to reception to make a complaint. She said: "The people on reception said, all we can say is we're really sorry, accidents happen, and they were quite dismissive of it." But she questioned how the mistake could have happened, given widespread reporting of security breaches in the press.

In March this year, Travelodge said it had made "immediate changes" to its door key policy after a hotel guest was sexually assaulted by a man who was given a key card to her room. Kyran Smith, 29, from Staines, Surrey, was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the attack at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in December 2022.

Since then, dozens of people have contacted the BBC to describe experiences that they believe expose "industry-wide failings" in UK hotel room security, including at Travelodge. On 30 March, Jo Boydell, CEO of Travelodge, said: "We're working really really hard to make sure that we get this right going forwards."

Adamson said: "I would have thought after all this time they would have done something to put it right. 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."

When asked whether she would stay at a Travelodge in future, Adamson said: "Obviously, the thing that attracts people is their very competitive pricing, but you have to consider security as well. I don't think I would stay in a Travelodge by myself now."

A spokesperson for Travelodge said they were "extremely sorry" about the couple's experience, which "should not have happened". They explained: "After Ms Adamson complained about a fault in her room, we offered to move her into another room and processed this room move on our systems. Subsequently we were able to fix the fault, and Ms Adamson made the decision to stay in her original room, but this was not reflected on our systems. This led to another guest being issued a key for Ms Adamson's original room in error."