Travelodge review finds staff gave unauthorised guests room access 60 times
Travelodge hotel staff have been allowing strangers into guests' rooms at least 60 times, according to an independent review released in September 2026. This comes four years after Kyran Smith sexually assaulted a woman in her room at a Maidenhead hotel after staff gave him her key when he falsely claimed to be her boyfriend. The incident went unaddressed by the hotel until it was revealed in the media in March 2026. The security failures are deeply concerning because they show the hotel chain failed to properly protect its guests despite the previous assault conviction.
The independent review by Paul Greaney KC, commissioned after Smith's conviction, found systemic security failures across Travelodge hotels. A mystery shopper investigation tested five hotels and found that undercover investigators could access other guests' rooms through housekeepers without verification in all five locations. Further concerns emerged when investigators discovered room numbers were announced publicly at check-in in two hotels, and receptionists failed 80 per cent of the time to add a second guest's name to the system. The review also documented a recent incident where a woman in east London woke to find a man performing sexual acts outside her door after he had obtained her room number by deceiving reception staff.
- Staff let strangers into rooms 60 times across Travelodge hotels nationwide.
- Mystery shopper testing found all five hotels tested had serious security gaps.
- A recent guest endured harassment after reception revealed her room number.
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Travelodge is a chain of budget hotels across the UK. An independent review released in September 2026 found that staff have allowed unauthorised people into guest rooms at least 60 times, exposing guests to serious security risks.
The investigation was commissioned after a 2022 sexual assault in which Kyran Smith attacked a woman in her Maidenhead Travelodge room after staff mistakenly gave him her key when he falsely claimed to be her boyfriend. The hotel did not properly address this security breach until the case was revealed in media coverage in March 2026, nearly four years later.
The independent review by Paul Greaney KC tested five Travelodge hotels with undercover investigators and found systemic security problems at all of them. Staff gave key access without verifying guest identity, announced room numbers publicly during check-in, and frequently failed to register additional guests. A recent incident in east London involved a woman waking to find an unauthorised man outside her door after reception staff had disclosed her room number.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Travelodge hotel staff let strangers into people’s rooms SIXTY times, shock report finds after man was given key to female guest’s room and sexually assaulted her”.