Travelodge’s Summer of ‘Stays’ Gone Wrong: One‑in‑Ten Rooms Still Host Intruders

When a hotel room’s door refuses to close, the guest can either imagine a ghost or a disgruntled employee; at Travelodge, the former may be the better choice.

A recent independent review of the chain’s security protocols revealed that roughly one in ten properties still experienced incidents of unauthorized entry during the summer months, a statistic that would make even the City’s most seasoned investors wary.

Travelodge has long championed its ‘comfort at a price’ slogan, but the report suggests that the cost has, in some locations, been paid in terms of guests’ personal space.

The study, covering 200 rooms across twenty cities, noted that most intrusions involved a single, unidentifiable figure, often accompanied by an inexplicable scent of stale coffee and the faint echo of a badly‑tuned piano.

The chain’s chief security officer, speaking from a hotel in Leeds, said the company had rolled out ‘enhanced lock systems and 24‑hour surveillance’ in response to earlier complaints.

Yet the review pointed out that the new locks were installed on a ‘roll‑up‑the‑door’ basis and that staff were still occasionally forgetting to lock the door after a guest checked out.

Some hotels have responded by offering complimentary night‑stand upgrades, while others simply added a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign in a font that harks back to a 1970s disco.

In a city where the phrase ‘the City’ is taken seriously, it would appear that the only thing that should be taken seriously at Travelodge is the price of a room.