Travelodge staff gave attacker key to woman's room

A woman who woke up to a man sexually assaulting her in her hotel bed has said she was "failed" by Travelodge after staff gave him a key card and her room number.

Kyran Smith had been at the same party as the woman during a night out in December 2022 when they and others retired to their rooms at the Maidenhead branch of the hotel chain.

Smith, who was later jailed for seven-and-a-half years, went to reception in the early hours and was given the key card after lying to staff that he was her boyfriend.

Travelodge, which offered the victim an "insulting" £30 refund, has apologised how the refund offer was handled but insisted staff followed security procedures correctly.

The woman, who is now in her 30s and cannot be named for legal reasons, said it had been the first time she had ever stayed in a hotel by herself.

She claimed staff told her Smith, who was known to her, had passed their security checks by providing her name.

"I feel like they failed me, it makes me more frustrated that they haven't said 'OK yes we did this wrong'. Instead they've put the blame aside." she said.

"If I checked-in on my own and the room booking is just for me why would you think it's OK to let someone in in the middle of the night while I'm asleep?

"At least wake me up or phone the room or come up to the room. Anything is better than just giving someone a key card.

"The hotel said that he passed their security questions.

"The only thing he would know about me was my name.

"They said he was able to show them text messages, but I didn't have his phone number and he didn't have mine."

She added: "I double-checked I locked the door. I couldn't work out how he was in my room because I did everything that I would deem to be correct when you stay in a hotel."

The woman, who is calling for Travelodge to change its procedures, said: "The anger was probably after - a couple of weeks later - when they were telling me that they didn't do anything wrong.

"It's not protecting people staying in hotels if you can just access by saying things to reception - that's not OK."

After reporting the incident to staff, she was later offered a £30 refund.

"I saw it as very insulting. It would have been better if they hadn't offered it," she said.

Travelodge has admitted the offer was inappropriate under the circumstances.

Smith was found guilty of sexual assault and trespass with intent to commit a relevant sexual offence following a four-day trial at Reading Crown Court last November.

Travelodge declined to tell the BBC what its security measures included but said staff at the time had followed them correctly.

In a statement, the company added: "The safety and security of our guests is our priority and we were deeply concerned to hear of this distressing incident and our sympathies are with the victim.

"At the time of the incident our hotel team followed the correct security procedures. We continue to ensure our hotel and customer services teams are trained to follow our approved policies."