'Immediate changes' made to Travelodge room key policy after sexual assault

Travelodge says it has made some ‘immediate changes’ to its room access policy following the ‘appalling’ assault of a guest who was staying alone in one of its rooms.

There was outcry last week when details emerged about a sexual assault that happened at the Maidenhead branch in King Street.

Kyran Smith, 29, of London Road in Staines, assaulted a woman in her bed while she was staying at the Travelodge in December 2022. He got more than seven years in prison.

After the court case ended last month, police reports and media coverage about how Smith had used deception to gain access to the victim’s room raised questions about hotel security.

MPs were up in arms over the way that Smith had been able to get a key card to the woman’s room without her knowledge, and they were also deeply troubled by the Travelodge’s decision to offer the woman an ‘insulting’ £30 refund.

Scores of MPs made their feelings known, including the Prime Minister himself, who said the Travelodge ‘failed [the victim] in the most appalling way.’

Maidenhead’s MP, Joshua Reynolds, added that this ‘catastrophic error’ raised ‘serious questions’ about the safety and security measures that were in place.

In a letter responding to Mr Reynolds on Thursday (March 12), Travelodge chief executive Jo Boydell said it is rolling out training to all hotel staff and customer service teams.

She also previously agreed to a meeting with MPs to discuss the matter, after a letter co-signed by multiple MPs called for this.

The Advertiser understands this meeting is set to take place today (Monday, March 16).

In the latest update from the hotel chain, Ms Boydell said that Travelodge has made ‘immediate changes’ to its room access security policy.

Now, any additional keys will only be issued ‘with explicit permission’ from the people registered as staying in the room.

“I am deeply sorry for the significant distress experienced by the victim,” she said in a statement.

“We have apologised to her for the way this has been handled and I would welcome the opportunity to meet with her to personally apologise and discuss what happened, and to hear her thoughts on how we can improve our processes, if she would like to.

“We have made some immediate changes to our room access security policy following an initial internal review.

“This ensures that any additional or replacement room keys are only issued with explicit permission from the person (or people) staying in the room.”

This has already been rolled out to all of Travelodge’s hotels, Ms Boydell added.

The new policy is supported by training for its 12,000 customer-facing colleagues.

“We have also commissioned an independent review of our room security measures to learn from this and further strengthen our procedures,” said Ms Boydell.

“The safety and security of our customers and colleagues is extremely important to us, and we want them to be safe, and feel safe, in our hotels.

“I am looking forward to meeting with MPs and ministers on Monday, including Matt Bishop MP, Jen Craft MP and Jess Phillips MP, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.

“[I will] listen to their concerns and lay out the steps we’re taking to further strengthen our room security measures for customers in our hotels.”