Man walked in on woman naked at Travelodge 'after he asked staff for key to her room'
The incident follows a similar case at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, where a woman was sexually assaulted after a man was given access to her room.
A woman has described a "serious security failure" at Travelodge after a man who was harassing her was given a key to her room and walked in on her naked.
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The woman in her late thirties, who we are calling Lucy to protect her identity, said she was staying alone at a hotel in York in June 2025 for work when she encountered a group of men she believed were on a stag do.
She spoke to LBC after learning of a similar case at a Travelodge in Maidenhead in 2022, where a woman was sexually assaulted after a man was given access to her room.
Travelodge says it is “deeply sorry” for the distress caused and accepts its handling of both cases was “inappropriate”.
Lucy said she had returned to her room after a work event when she encountered the group of men.
“One particular man pointed and said, ‘you’re gorgeous’,” she said. “I just carried on walking.”
She said she then heard him say “She’s in room 260,” which made her feel uncomfortable.
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Shortly after locking herself inside her room, she said the man entered as she was preparing to take a bath.
“I was completely naked and I was screaming, ‘get out, get out’,” she said. “He was by the door saying, ‘calm down, calm down’.”
Lucy said she was later told reception staff had given the man a key.
“There were no checks. They recognised his face as a guest and that was enough.”
She described the incident as “terrifying” and said she suffered a panic attack afterwards.
“I felt like I could have been sexually assaulted - a man was telling me he was attracted to me and went to reception to get that key with intent.”
Lucy said she reported the incident to police and complained to the company, but was left frustrated by the response.
“I wanted a genuine apology and reassurance,” she said. “Instead it was just, ‘you’ve had your refund’ - a generic email. It wasn’t heartfelt.”
In an email response, she said the company described the incident as another guest having “disturbed” her - a description she strongly rejects.
“He didn’t disturb me,” she said. “He came into my room without consent.”
LBC has also spoken to the woman at the centre of the Maidenhead case, who is now calling for wider reform across the hotel industry.
Emily, also using a pseudonym, said she woke in the early hours of the morning to find a stranger in her bed.
“I woke up when I heard a voice, and he was in my bed, against me,” she said.
She later learned the man had told staff he was her boyfriend and was subsequently given a key to her room.
“How are you verifying that? People lie and he lied,” she said.
Emily said the experience left her feeling “seriously let down”, citing multiple failings in how the situation was handled.
“When something like this happens, you expect it to be taken seriously immediately,” she said. “But I felt dismissed from the start.”
She said she was left without key information for months, including how long the man had been in her room.
“The lack of answers was really damaging,” she said. “When you’re asleep, you’re most vulnerable - and you don’t know what’s happened around you.”
She also criticised the company’s response, saying it lacked empathy and accountability.
“It felt like they just wanted to move on from it,” she said. “There was a real lack of care about what I had been through.”
“At a time when there’s so much focus on protecting women and girls, hotels need to do better. There are serious failings here that need addressing.”
Henley and Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo said he has raised concerns with Travelodge after becoming aware of multiple allegations.
He said he felt a “special responsibility” to act because the company is headquartered in his constituency and that he had raised concerns directly with senior leadership.
But he said he remains unconvinced that enough is being done.
“I wanted to be satisfied they are taking this seriously enough - and I don’t think procedural changes alone are enough,” he said.
“I’m keeping updated and continuing to ask questions around their KC-led investigation, making sure change comes from that and it doesn’t drag on.”
He warned that the issue may extend beyond a single company.
“This cuts across the entire sector,” he said. “The whole hospitality industry needs to respond in a way that gives customers confidence.”
He added that if companies fail to act, he would support further action, saying proposals for reform “have my backing”.
Travelodge says it has now changed its room key procedures so keys can only be issued with explicit guest permission, alongside new staff training and an independent review into its security processes.
In a statement, the company told LBC: “We have made changes to our room access security policy and incident escalation procedures. This includes ensuring that any additional or replacement room keys are only issued with explicit permission from the person (or people) staying in the room. This has been rolled out across all of our hotels, supported by training for our 12,000 customer-facing colleagues.
“As well as these changes, we have commissioned an independent review led by Paul Greaney KC, a leading barrister specialising in public inquiries concerning security, serious violent crime, and health and safety, to examine our room security and escalation procedures.
“In parallel, we are working at pace on a further internal review of our room access processes to ensure guests are safe — and feel safe - in our hotels.
“The safety and security of guests is extremely important to us, and we take this situation with the utmost seriousness.”