Women’s charities have called for “industry-wide safety standards” in hotels following a review into the sexual assault of a woman at a Travelodge.
Last month, an independent review found a woman was “fundamentally failed” by Travelodge after she was sexually assaulted by a man who was given a key card to her Maidenhead room in 2022.
The review by criminal barrister Paul Greaney KC into room access security said that the case had triggered a rise in reports of “room intrusions” – someone entering a hotel room unauthorised – across the hotel sector.
An FOI request by Metro to UK police forces revealed that reports of at least 4,011 sexual offences were recorded at hotels in England between 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2026.
The Travelodge group is now working with partners including the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to elevate safety standards at its hotels and across the sector for women.
A spokesperson for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, a personal safety charity and leading stalking authority, told The Independent that findings from the Travelodge review “expose systematic failures” that “must serve as a wake-up call for all hotel and hospitality organisations”.
The charity said: “We remain deeply concerned about the volume of cases, which clearly demonstrates that these are not a series of isolated incidents.”
It added: “The sector is uniquely placed to make a meaningful contribution to tackling violence against women and girls. That is why we have been calling for industry-wide safety standards to urgently address the prevalence of these crimes and ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Replacement room keys now require explicit permission from the guest staying in the room, and lone female travellers will not be allocated ground floor or end-of-corridor rooms where possible at Travelodge hotels.
Several hotels have already introduced safety measures to protect solo travellers.
Oaklands Hall Hotel in Grimsby and St George’s Hotel in Conwy, Wales, each outline a “lone traveller policy” on their websites.
Generally, both policies advise staff not to allocate solo female travellers rooms at the end of corridors or near fire exits, to offer an escort service from the hotel to the car park at night, provide well-lit, on-site parking and never read out a woman’s room number at check-in.
Stephanie Boyle, head of campaigns and communications at Safer Tourism Foundation, said: “Solo female travel is on the rise, yet our own research shows that less than half of women feel confident about their safety travelling alone or with other women.
“The reality is that women face a different risk landscape when they travel. Women travellers already take more precautions, often at an added cost. They book flights or transport to arrive during daylight hours; they avoid exploring certain neighbourhoods and often opt for a taxi to get back to their accommodation at night.”
The Safer Tourism Foundation “She Travels Safe” campaign on the safety gap between genders found that less than half of women (49 per cent) feel confident managing their personal safety when travelling solo or with other women.
Ms Boyle added: “Travellers deserve clarity and transparency about a hospitality business's safety policies and procedures.
“This should go beyond generic guidance, providing specific information about safety provisions in place for women travelling on their own, the training that hospitality staff receive, and advice about staying safe in and around their accommodation."
In June, the UK government and hospitality members agreed to work together to improve guest safety.
An updated guest safety protocol, developed by UKHospitality, was put out for consultation covering room access procedures, protection of guest privacy and the responsibilities of staff.
Tourism minister Stephanie Peacock said: “It is vital that everyone, whether a visitor, a guest or a member of staff, feels safe and secure.”
Ray Reidy, interim chief executive of Travelodge, said he apologised “unreservedly on behalf of Travelodge to all guests where we have failed”, and particularly the woman in question in the report. He added: “We have made significant progress in preventing and addressing these issues over the past six months, and we recognise we still have further to go.”
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