Travelodge was contacted several times, but was not able to comment on the accusations, as ITV News’ Ashna Hurynag reports.
A former senior leader at Travelodge has revealed that she was sexually assaulted at one of their hotels.
‘Rebecca’ ran one of the chain’s branches up until 2024, but she says one night shift “nearly killed her mentally” and changed her life forever.
She had been working alongside a member of staff one evening in early 2023, washing the mugs in the back office after her shift, just before going home, when the coworker came in and placed his hands on her.
“He came up right behind me, asked me if I could feel his penis, touched my right breast and said, ‘let’s go and *bleep* in a room’, at that point I swore at him and told him to get off of me,” she told me.
“Luckily for me, a customer had come in. So I told him to go and check the customer in. He was just laughing. I just got all my stuff together and just left.”
After telling a colleague, Rebecca decided to report the incident to Travelodge’s HR department.
She claims they told her they would deal with the incident internally.
“I didn’t properly question it at the time. I just thought, well, I’m at work. Stupidly, in hindsight, I wish I had, but they just told me that they would deal with it, not to tell the police.”
The man was suspended, and after a disciplinary process, he was sacked.
But the harassment continued, with the former employee badgering Rebecca on the hotel reception phone line.
“They called the main reception and when I answered the phone, he said, ‘There she is’, and then gave me a barrel of abuse.”
It was after this that Rebecca reported the incident to the police.
“The first thing the police said to me was, why did you not report this when it happened? And I said, ‘my company told me not to’.”
We took this claim to Travelodge several times, but they weren’t able to comment on it.
Partly perhaps because so many people may have been involved in the process, and due to a significant time having passed.
Rebecca contacted Good Morning Britain after hearing the experiences of two Travelodge guests who were sexually assaulted and harassed at separate branches after strangers gained access to keys to their rooms.
Her incident happened only months after a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who had lied to staff to gain a key to her room at the Maidenhead branch.
The woman was initially offered a £30 refund in compensation, but Travelodge and its chief executive have since said they are desperately sorry for what happened to the survivor.
She argues that if one of the largest hotel chains in the country did not offer her any personal support after her incident, what hope do others have?
“It was horrific. I was offered no time off. I was offered no support,” she said.
“I wasn’t even told that we have an employee assistance line, I only know we have one as a manager. But I wasn’t offered any of that. I just stayed at work for all the time. I didn’t even tell my husband.”
Rebecca said no one at a senior level reached out to see if she was ok.
“Someone who I trusted at work one afternoon changed my life forever,” she said.
“I didn’t ask him to touch me, it’s disgusting. At least somebody high up in Travelodge should have said, ‘God, wow, this girl, she’s been through so much. Let’s give her a week off. Let’s just do something. Let’s write her a letter. Let’s do something for her’, because actually, I have to remember that for the rest of my life.”
Staff at many branches are required to work solo shifts armed with a personal safety alarm that connects them to an external company that can monitor audio when activated.
Rebecca is sceptical of the safety of members of staff and customers in their hotels.
“Our staff work long night shifts, eight-hour shifts or more, and they are completely on their own dealing with drunks, drug abusers, and violent guests. You name it, they deal with it.”
“If they can’t protect me as a manager who’s contracted 40 hours a week, how do they protect their customers and the rest of the staff?”
Her experiences led her to quit the hotel industry entirely after years of working in senior positions.
A spokesperson for Travelodge told us: “We are deeply sorry that a colleague went through this experience whilst at work.
“The safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and guests is our absolute priority, and we take any allegation of assault or harassment extremely seriously.
“An investigation was undertaken as soon as the complaint was received, and the alleged attacker was suspended immediately and subsequently dismissed.
“We are committed to ensuring that all our teams feel supported and we are sorry that the colleague affected by this incident felt this was not the case.
“A manager spoke with the colleague concerned to reassure her that we were taking the matter seriously and to offer support. The colleague was also offered access to our independent Employee Assistance Programme for additional support.
“Travelodge is committed to a positive workplace culture, and we offer a range of tools and services to support the physical and emotional wellbeing of colleagues at work.”
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