Travelodge Updates Key Issuance Policy Following Assault
The Travelodge hotel chain has announced "immediate changes" to its door key policy after a guest was sexually assaulted by a man who was provided with a key card to her room.
Kyran Smith was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison in February for the attack that occurred at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in December 2022.
The company’s chief executive, Jo Boydell, issued an apology to the victim in a statement on Sunday and confirmed that the new policy requires additional or replacement keys to be issued only with the explicit consent of the occupant.
"We got things wrong and we should have acted sooner and I am truly sorry for that,"Boydell said.
Victim’s Perspective on Travelodge’s Response
Before Boydell’s statement, the victim, who remains anonymous, told the BBC that Travelodge had "ample opportunity to deal with the case better" but "took a very long time to reply to me and didn't really take it very seriously."
"It was escalated in their company a little bit... but they still didn't take the right precautions to deal with the situation,"she added.
Initially, Travelodge offered the victim a £30 refund, which she described as "insulting" before the company issued a formal apology.
"You need to then think, OK, that's not what should have happened, what can we do better to make sure that doesn't happen again?"
CEO’s Apology and Policy Changes
Boydell reiterated her apology on Sunday, stating:
"I would like to express again how deeply sorry I am for what happened to the victim and for the mistakes we made in handling this.
We got things wrong and we should have acted sooner, and I am truly sorry for that.
I would welcome the opportunity to meet the victim to discuss what happened and to learn from our mistakes.
We have done an internal review of our room access security policies and have made some immediate changes to ensure that an additional or replacement room key is only issued with explicit permission from the person, or people, staying in the room.
This has been rolled out to all of our hotels, supported by training for our 12,000 customer-facing colleagues."
She emphasized that guest and colleague safety is the "most important thing" and confirmed that the company has commissioned an independent review of its room security measures.
Details of the Incident
Kyran Smith, from Staines, Surrey, had been at the same party as the woman during a night out in December 2022, after which they and others returned to their rooms.
In the early hours, Smith went to reception and was given the key card after falsely claiming to staff that he was the victim’s boyfriend.
The woman stated that staff informed her Smith, who was known to her, had passed security checks by providing her name.
"I think it doesn't overly matter what someone knows about someone else, like personal details.
It wouldn't be OK for you to issue a key to my room without my consent.
If hotels aren't doing that, they need to contact the person before they give a key away."
She also noted that her room did not have a chain across the door.
"Maybe that should be mandatory in all hotels, so that you remove a little bit more of the risk,"she said.
"One of my biggest concerns, and from looking at everything online, is how many people do get access to people's rooms."
Political Engagement and Future Actions
Labour MPs Matt Bishop and Jen Craft are scheduled to meet with Boydell to discuss security measures at the hotel chain.
The victim commented on the upcoming meeting, saying it was positive that the issue was being addressed and added:
"There needs to be better procedures for the issuing of keys, for giving out anything to do with rooms, really.
It's frustrating that it takes something like this to then push those kind of things forward but I'm glad that they're actually looking at it."
The company, headquartered in Thame, Oxfordshire, also stated that Boydell has requested a meeting with the safeguarding minister.
