Travelodge boss quits amid fallout over lodge chain’s safety failings | Journey & leisure

The boss of Travelodge has resigned after widespread criticism of her dealing with of safety failings on the lodge chain, together with a stunning case the place a home abuser was given a key to a girl’s room earlier than assaulting her.

In a brief company statement on Thursday, Travelodge mentioned Joanna Boydell had stepped down and been briefly changed by its finance chief, Ray Reidy. The firm has launched a proper seek for a everlasting substitute.

Travelodge chair, Stephen Shurrock, mentioned the announcement “does not change anything about our focus on safety and security”.

Boydell’s resignation comes months after the former prime minister Keir Starmer wrote to her warning that she should “seriously engage with MPs” over issues about ladies’s security, after a spate of stunning breaches of safety that left company prone to assault.

The letter was despatched after a lodge visitor in Berkshire was sexually assaulted by a person who was wrongly given entry to her room in 2022. He falsely claimed he was her companion, earlier than sexually assaulting her in her lodge mattress. The sufferer was later supplied what she described as an “insulting” £30 refund after the incident.

Earlier this month, it emerged that one other girl who had been staying in considered one of Travelodge’s London lodges to flee her home abuser in October 2025, had been attacked after the person was given a key by reception employees.

He persuaded employees to offer him entry, saying his girlfriend was upstairs having a seizure. Staff didn’t examine with the girl earlier than giving him the cardboard, and pointed him to her room the place he kicked within the door, assaulted her and tried to seize her telephone.

The girl, who’s remaining nameless, mentioned that she ran “shaking, crying and begging for help”. “I thought someone would protect me,” she instructed the BBC. Staff then supplied her one other room within the lodge.

Travelodge has beforehand defended itself, saying such situations are “very rare” and buyer security was a precedence.

In its newest monetary outcomes, launched on Thursday, Travelodge mentioned a number one barrister had performed a evaluation of its room entry safety insurance policies and escalation procedures, and that its personal inner evaluation was ongoing.

The firm added that it had additionally performed an “audit” to make sure all of its UK rooms had a secondary deadbolt, and was making modifications to its room entry safety coverage.

“Any additional or replacement room key now requires explicit permission from the guest staying in the room. This builds on our existing policy to never confirm to any third party that a guest is staying at one of our hotels,” Travelodge mentioned.

Travelodge additionally mentioned 12,000 of its customer-facing employees throughout greater than 600 of its UK websites have been being educated within the new room entry safety coverage, and a violence towards ladies and women professional had been introduced in to coach Travelodge’s senior bosses. “They have reviewed our existing policies and procedures and will assist with how we respond to the independent review and its recommendation,” the lodge chain mentioned.

“The safety and security of customers in our hotels is extremely important and we want everyone to be safe, and feel safe, in our hotels. We have acted quickly to make changes to improve safety and security across our operations,” the corporate added.