In a move that screams 'customer service' in all the wrong ways, a Travelodge in London handed a room key to a woman's domestic abuser, who then kicked in her door and assaulted her. The woman, who understandably wishes to remain anonymous, told the BBC she was staying at the hotel in October 2025 to escape the man, only for him to stroll in, claim she was having a seizure, and be given a key by the reception staff.

'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 recounted. The staff not only gave him the key but also pointed him to her room, where he kicked in the door, assaulted her, and tried to snatch her phone. She described the moment her 'safe place disappeared in an instant' and ran out 'shaking, crying and begging for help.' Her reward? Another room in the same hotel.

This isn't a one-off blunder. Back in February, a man was sentenced to over seven years in prison for a similar trick in Maidenhead in 2022, where he lied to staff, got a key card to a woman's room, and sexually assaulted her. The victim was offered a £30 refund - an amount so insulting it could be considered a crime in itself.

Travelodge, which has faced criticism from MPs over its women's safety policies, insists such incidents are 'very rare' and that customer safety is a priority. They've commissioned an independent review led by Paul Greaney KC, a barrister who specializes in security and serious violent crime, and have made changes to their room access policies and staff training. 'Any case of an unauthorised person entering a guest's room is a significant cause for concern,' a spokesperson said, adding that the policies 'at the time were not correctly followed, which is not acceptable.'

So, if you're fleeing an abuser, you might want to bring your own doorstop. Or perhaps a better lock. Or maybe just avoid hotel chains that treat room keys like candy at a parade.