In December 2022, a woman was sexually assaulted in her bed at Travelodge Maidenhead after staff gave her attacker, Kyran Smith, a key card and her room number. Smith, 29, was jailed for seven and a half years in February for the sexual assault at Travelodge Maidenhead. He had lied to reception staff, claiming to be the victim's boyfriend, to obtain her room key and number.
Travelodge initially offered the Maidenhead assault victim a £30 refund, which she described as 'insulting'. The victim has refused Travelodge's apology, criticizing it as too slow and dismissive. She is taking legal action against Travelodge.
Travelodge CEO Jo Boydell claims she only learned of the Maidenhead assault when Kyran Smith appeared in court, but the victim wrote to her in January 2023. Boydell would welcome the opportunity to meet the victim to discuss what happened and learn from mistakes. Almost 100 MPs have demanded a meeting with Jo Boydell to discuss Travelodge's security policies after the Maidenhead assault.
Travelodge had ample opportunity to deal with the case better but took a long time to reply and didn't take it seriously.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Jo Boydell to seriously engage with MPs over the Travelodge sex attack. Boydell cancelled a meeting with MPs about the Maidenhead assault, drawing criticism from the victim and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Travelodge has strengthened its room access policy, now requiring explicit guest consent before issuing extra key cards.
Travelodge has commissioned an independent review of its room security policies. Travelodge has done an internal review of room access security policies and made immediate changes rolled out to all hotels with training for 12,000 customer-facing colleagues. Wendy Griffith was trapped in her Travelodge London Stratford room for an hour in July 2025 while a naked man banged on her door and performed sex acts in the corridor.
Trevor Reece, 40, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency in September 2025 for the incident involving Wendy Griffith. Griffith's attacker went to reception and asked for a replacement key, giving her room number instead of his own. Two more women, Philippa and Jan Palmer, reported strangers accessing their Travelodge rooms in separate incidents.
Staff told me Smith had passed their security checks by providing my name.
Travelodge has launched a new investigation following these additional reports of room access incidents. Travelodge CEO Jo Boydell has apologized to victims of frightening experiences at Travelodge hotels. Boydell stated that Travelodge got things wrong and should have acted sooner.
Travelodge is hiring Change Delivery Coaches and a Senior Change Programme Manager to transform its culture and embed security changes. Dozens of people have contacted the BBC with reports of hotel security failures beyond Travelodge, indicating industry-wide issues. Sarah (pseudonym) was raped in a non-Travelodge hotel after a colleague tricked staff into giving him her room key by claiming to be her husband.
Travelodge is based in Thame, Oxfordshire. Smith, from Staines, Surrey, had been at the same party as the woman during a night out in December 2022. The findings and timeline of the independent review commissioned by Travelodge have not been disclosed.
The legal grounds the Maidenhead assault victim is using in her lawsuit against Travelodge have not been specified. How many total incidents of unauthorized room access have been reported at Travelodge hotels has not been confirmed. What specific training has been provided to Travelodge's 12,000 customer-facing colleagues regarding the new room access policy remains unspecified.