Travelodge boss says firm working hard on room security after damning review

Travelodge's interim chief executive, Ray Reidy, has told the BBC that no company in the hotel industry is working harder on room security than Travelodge currently is. His comments follow an independent review that found serious shortcomings, including room intrusions reported at nearly one in 10 Travelodge hotels over the summer, and the absence of any policy addressing violence against women and girls.

The review was commissioned after an attack at the chain's Maidenhead hotel in December 2022 became national news earlier this year. Kyran Smith, who obtained a room key by falsely claiming to be the victim's boyfriend, was sentenced in January to seven and a half years in prison. The review found he was given the key less than three minutes after approaching reception, by a staff member who had received no training in key security.

Barrister Paul Greaney KC, who led the review, said responsibility lay with Travelodge as an organisation rather than individual employees, noting a workplace culture had developed where room intrusions were treated as routine occurrences.

The victim emailed a complaint in January 2023 to chief executive Jo Boydell, but the review found it was handled without Boydell's knowledge and did not reach her until March 2026. The complaint was instead investigated by a manager who was himself criticised within it, and customer services offered a refund the victim understood to be £30.

The review concluded that changes made this year, including a new key security policy, came years too late and were not being applied consistently. Mystery shopper tests at all five hotels examined, including Maidenhead, found staff granting room access without proper verification. Reidy acknowledged training alone was not an instant fix and said further validation and audits were needed. The company is working with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to develop a policy on violence against women and girls, while Greaney noted room intrusions remain a wider problem across the hotel sector.