Think twice before staying alone in a Travelodge

[MeridianB]

Just seen this on BBC:
How Travelodge in Maidenhead gave sex attacker key to woman's room - BBC News

I did search to see if anyone had already posted - apologies for any duplication.

Such an awful thing to happen and such a stunningly bad response from Travelodge - no accountability, no transparency of their security procedures, no apology.

fucking hell - I have just cancelled 2 nights next week and rebooked with Marriott who assured me no keys ever given without the named person on the room present. This is insanity

Absolutely appalling. I read the article this morning and was shocked. Unfortunately though, I have read about similar incidents before and that’s why when I have to travel alone for business (luckily only once a year) I always try to take extra precautions like wedging a chair under the door handle. I’ve seen proper locks you can use on the inside on Amazon before, so might look again at these!

Have you tweeted them to tell them? I think it is only if we make a public fuss that we will not longer give them our business that they will sit up and take notice.

What "security protocol" are they using that thinks it's ok to give a key for a single woman's room to a random man? Doesn't matter if he knew her or not, or even if he could have proved he was her husband, child or father. The booking was for one person only.

Would you be happy to share the email address? I'll do the same. If enough of us kick off about it it will hopefully make a difference.

I read this this morning and I am completely disgusted by what happened to this poor women and Travelodges response.

I regularly stay at Travelodges on my own as they are convenient for me when I visit family. Other hotels are too far to drive. I have sent an email the the CEO to ask just how safe I will be going forward. I will see how long it takes for a response.

It’s here, from a PP:

Her email address is [email protected]

Thank you, I've done the same.
Some of these posts about people's experiences are so chilling. I don't usually have to stay in hotel rooms alone, but if I ever do I'll invest in a wedge or something. Whilst also utterly resenting the need to do so.
It really is a bloody man's world.

I travel solo all the time, the depressing fact is that you need to take extra steps to secure you room in any hotel.

I would never stay at a Travelodge after a relative was 'bumped' off.
He arrived to find his allocated room given to someone else.
As he had arrived by public transport, it was not an option to go to the next nearest one.
That said, I would certainly think twice about staying in ANY hotel on my own, without putting in place some extra security measures.
It's probably not possible to avoid someone (maybe a staff member, etc) having an extra key, but at least you want to make it difficult, so you wake up, if someone enters your room

Done.

They are rubber wedges. Like doorstops. You jam them in at the base of the door and they prevent the door from being easily opened. They don't totally block the door (which would be dangerous in the case of fire), but they mean that someone can't use the 'oh, I thought this was my room' excuse. I like them because they stop the door opening without making me feel as though I couldn't get out in an emergency.

Not a fucking chance I will be staying with them again. Premier inn all the way! I regularly go away with the kids for a night or two and don't want to risk any of us being assaulted because dp's working hours mean he can't always come with.

Good to see this post, I emailed my thoughts about Travelodge security measures and response to the victim as a soon as I read about it this morning on BBC news. Glad others are doing the same, I really hope it has an impact.

A few years ago there was a thread on here where a woman had checked in alone, but her Mum had joined her. Late at night a man got into their room with a key card, she felt he was assuming she would be alone. There were other women on the thread with similar experiences. I’m not sure which chain it was, whether it was Travelodge or not. Possibly, or another well known chain. Dd and a friend stayed in a hotel recently, both 18, going to a London show. I gave her a door jammer to use. You can buy them on Amazon, there are also ways of jamming a door with a suitcase in some rooms, and you can get door jammer that have alarms.
That is an unbelievably poor response from Travelodge, really shocking. It’s pretty obvious that they should have called her to establish whether she was expecting another person. Any random friend of a friend or colleague could have your name, even someone watching you check in, or a stalker. They should be taking every care with women booking alone to make sure they are safe on their premises. £30 !!! It’s absolutely horrifying.

Thanks, email sent.

I'm going to raise it with our corporate travel manager when I'm back in the office next week too as Travelodge are regularly offered for business travel.

We stayed in a Travelodge last year there were only two junior staff on duty overnight with a drunk in the bar to deal with. Very uncomfortable! We go Ibis if we can, they are very environmentally friendly.

I do exactly the same.

Oh this is a great idea. I will do the same.

those worried about fire safety, that's another reason why a doorstop alarm is a really good idea. You don't have to wedge it under the door - you actually can't because then the alarm will go off. But as soon as the opening door knocks the doorstop, the alarm will go off. It's very loud by the way.

worst case scenario is that you'll forget to switch it off when you wake up and set it off yourself. I have managed not to do that yet.!

There are many reasons I don't like going away these days (i'm usually on my own)

But lack of training for hotel staff is also one of them. I suspect this could happen anywhere.

this is another area where we are seeing that there's just no practicality or common sense in workplaces. I think there's evidence of that across the board.

I am really shocked by this. When I go to the Premier Inn, they don't even say my room number out loud in case anyone is listening. The protocol should be only issue a keycard to a registered guest.

If someone asks for your room number, even if they know the floor you're on, or can prove they are married to you, if they are not on the booking, then the hotel should call the room and speak to you before giving out a number.

Travelodge should have said this was against their policy, the staff member has been spoken to and sent for retraining, their policy of not giving out keys or room numbers has been reiterated across their estate and they are in negotiations with the woman about proper compensation. And mean it.

Thank you for sharing. Always had my doubts about key cards and hotels that do not have proper door jammers as a normal addition to the door, after all what would it cost them. Am absolutely appalled and outraged by the fact they don’t seem to be making any noise about making rooms for anyone safer.

Hotels are not allowed to give out the name of a guest or who is staying there apart from to Police or Fire Brigade. Supposing someone is fleeing Domestic Abuse.

What we really need is a key to Jo Boyalls house and directions - maybe the helpline will provide them so we can pop in at 3am...

That’s absolutely terrible.
Also. Why is it been advertised on this thread?