A domestic violence victim has said Breakfast how she was attacked in her hotel room after Travelodge reception staff provided a key to her abuser. The woman, identified as Lucy, said she was “failed” by the chain and described the experience as one of the “most traumatic nights of my life” after the man kicked her door off its hinges.
Lucy contacted the following the sentencing of Kyran Smith, who sexually assaulted a guest at a Maidenhead Travelodge in 2022. She had been staying at a London hotel in October 2025 for “a night away from the fear” after enduring a period of abuse that left her “frightened and exhausted.”
According to Lucy, her attacker entered the hotel and falsely told the receptionist his girlfriend was upstairs having a seizure. He requested her room number and floor, and the receptionist handed him a key before directing him to her location. “I couldn’t believe it. The one place I thought he could never get to, he had reached. My safe place disappeared in an instant,” she said.
The man entered the room, physically attacked her, and attempted to seize her phone. Although Lucy initially convinced him to leave, he returned shortly after, “banging, shouting and becoming more aggressive.” She recalled being “absolutely terrified,” noting that she froze before he kicked the hotel room door off its hinges to force his way back inside.
Travelodge rooms feature internal dead-bolt locks alongside electric key-card systems that can be opened from the outside. Following the incident, Lucy ran downstairs “shaking, crying and begging for help,” stating, “I thought someone would protect me.” Instead of receiving immediate intervention, she was offered another room in the hotel.
Travelodge confirmed it investigated the incident and discovered the attacker had provided Lucy’s full name and room number at the desk. A spokesperson admitted that an established policy—which prohibits confirming to third parties that a guest is staying at the hotel—was not followed, adding, “this should not have happened.”
Lucy is among several individuals who contacted the following the sentencing of Smith, who was jailed for seven and a half years in February. Regarding Lucy’s case, Travelodge stated that while such incidents are “very rare,” customer safety remains a priority, with staff undergoing recent training.
In response to these security failures, Travelodge announced “immediate changes to our room access security policy.” The company now mandates that any additional or replacement room keys are only issued with explicit permission from the person or people registered to the room.
The company maintains that it is committed to ensuring such a breach of protocol does not recur, emphasizing that the security of its guests is paramount to its ongoing operations and staff procedures.
