A woman has told of the ‘most traumatic night’ of her life after Travelodge reception staff gave her domestic abuser the key to her room.
The victim, who has not been named, said she was attacked by her abuser at the London hotel in October last year.
She contacted the BBC after hearing about Kyran Smith, who was jailed for seven and a half years for attacking a woman at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
The woman booked a stay in the capital city for a ‘night away from the fear’ following a period of abuse, but her attacker was reportedly given her room key by staff.
Recalling the terrifying ordeal, the woman said: ‘He walked into the hotel and told the receptionist that his girlfriend was upstairs having a seizure.
‘He asked what room I was in and what floor I was staying on.’
She added that once her attacker received the key, Travelodge staff directed him to her room.
After forcing his way inside, the man physically attacked her and tried to grab her phone, she said.
Travelodge changed its key policy after a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given access to her room at a Travelodge in Maidenhead in 2022
Travelodge chief executive Jo Boydell, pictured, during a Bloomberg Television interview in London
The victim then managed to calm her abuser down and convinced him to leave before he returned even more aggressive.
‘Not long afterwards, I heard him knocking at the door. He was banging, shouting. He was just getting more and more aggressive,’ she said.
‘I was terrified. I was hoping that he was going to stop, but instead, he kicked the hotel room door completely off the hinges.’
The woman said she fled downstairs ‘shaking’ and ‘begging for help’ from staff.
‘I think the receptionist just panicked. She didn’t call the police. She didn’t check if I needed any medical attention,’ she said.
‘She didn’t ask if there were any family members I could call, anyone that I needed. She just offered me a room, another room in the hotel.’
A Travelodge spokesperson said: ‘We are deeply sorry for the significant distress experienced by the customer and we apologise for the way the incident has been handled.
‘Customer safety and security is – and remains – a priority for us.
In a separate incident Wendy Griffith witnessed a ‘vile’ spectacle through the door’s peephole while staying at the chain’s London Stratford branch in July 2025
Kyran Smith (pictured) was jailed for seven and a half years in February over an attack at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in 2022
‘Any case of an unauthorised person entering a guest’s room is a significant cause for concern and we want to be clear that this should not have happened.
‘Our room access security policies at the time were not correctly followed, which is not acceptable.
‘Earlier this year, we made changes to strengthen our room access security policy and incident escalation procedures, supported by training for all of our customer-facing colleagues.
A spokesperson added: ‘Our investigation indicates that the individual provided the guest’s full name and room number at reception.’
Following Kyran Smith’s sentencing for the attack in 2022, Travelodge chief executive Jo Boydell said immediate changes were made to its room access security policy.
In an apology issued to the victim, Ms Boydell confirmed that explicit permission is required from guests before additional or replacement keys are issued for their room.
While a crackdown on issuing spare keys has taken place, women have still been victims of vile acts at Travelodge hotels.
Wendy Griffith was ‘trapped’ in her Travelodge hotel room for an hour while a naked man knocked on the door and performed sex acts outside.
She was staying at the chain’s London Stratford branch in July 2025 when she witnessed the ‘vile’ spectacle through the door’s peephole.
The marketing consultant, from Norfolk, recalled her ‘rising panic’ over the hour in the middle of the night as she tried and failed ‘multiple times’ to contact hotel staff.
Sharing her story, Ms Griffith told the BBC that the incident involving her, last summer, had caused a lasting ‘psychological impact’.
She described feeling ‘incredibly traumatised and not able to summon help’ before dialling 999 in desperation.
Ms Griffith praised the police response adding that ‘three cars pulled up within five minutes’ to arrest the man.
The culprit, Trevor Reece, 40, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency in September 2025.
He was sentenced to four months of alcohol dependency treatment and ordered to pay £185 court costs and £50 compensation to his victim
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