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‘Emily’ was initially offered an “insulting” £30 refund from Travelodge in compensation, which they later admitted was inappropriate, as Good Morning Britain’s Ashna Hurynag reports
“It’s literally easier to get into a hotel room where someone is asleep and vulnerable, than it is to get into a nightclub.”
‘Emily’ is speaking from experience.
She was sexually assaulted by a man who gained access to her hotel room whilst she slept.
We have changed her name to protect her identity.
Kyran Smith falsely told staff at the Travelodge in Maidenhead that they were in a relationship and showed them his ID. He was given a key card, entered Emily’s room, and attacked her.
“I woke up and I had this person literally in my bed against me. And I was just really confused and I just got out of the bed and sort of like, how did you get into my room?”
She didn’t know how long he had been inside her room before the attack.
It was the first time Emily was staying in a hotel room alone after an event in December 2022.
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Now, four years later, Smith has been jailed for the sexual assault.
The impact on Emily’s life has been huge.
She was initially offered an “insulting” £30 refund from Travelodge in compensation, which they later admitted was inappropriate.
But Emily’s anger has been exacerbated by the response of the hotel chain since.
Good Morning Britain and ITV News have now learnt Emily met with Chief Executive Jo Boydell last week.
But Emily has told me she left the meeting feeling “deflated” and says her actions that night were questioned.
“There was a suggestion from the CEO that the rooms had a deadbolt or something and I was like, no, even if it does, the key obviously overrides that, because I locked my door. I know I locked my door.
“That’s deflection in my opinion, because that’s also then saying, ‘oh well, hang on a second, you could have done this’. But no, I did everything that I would say is correct and there wasn’t a chain on the door, there wasn’t any of that. So her saying that kind of just made it worse, in my opinion.”
In an interview with me, the hotel boss has admitted she was horrified to learn about what happened to the survivor and has apologised for the way they have handled the case.
In an extraordinary revelation, the hotel boss only became aware of the incident this month, weeks after Smith was jailed.
Jo Boydell told me: “I am absolutely horrified that it had happened in one of our hotels, desperately sorry for what happened to the survivor and really sorry for the way that it took us so long to actually escalate that and handle that properly in the way that we are now.”
We’re meeting in the CEO’s office, which I understand she has barely left over the past few weeks.
Jo Boydell said she was horrified to learn about what happened to the survivor and has apologised for the way they have handled the case. Credit: ITV News
“I would say I’m really sorry if she [the survivor] did feel dismissed,” says Ms Boydell.
“And we are definitely listening to what she [the survivor] has to say, which is hugely helpful for us in terms of making sure that we do the right thing going forward. The hotels with key cards have deadbolts, but clearly something went wrong here and that needs to be investigated and that will absolutely form part of this independent review.”
But Emily felt those in the meeting “lacked empathy”.
“They’re still sort of not really taking full accountability for the situation.” she says. “They’re not doing enough. If you are the CEO of a company, in my opinion, if people, MPs are asking to meet with you about security for women, men, everyone, then why are you not going and why are you not taking that on board?”
Ms Boydell met with a handful of ministers and MPs including Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips on March 16.
But she has been criticised by the prime minister for not “seriously engaging” with a wider group of members of parliament.
When I asked Ms Boydell how she felt receiving the letter from Sir Keir Starmer, she said “it’s obviously not something that you want to receive”.
I asked Emily about the hotel chain changing its room access security policy which now says “any additional or replacement room keys are only issued with explicit permission from the person or people staying in the room”.
‘Emily’ spoke to Good Morning Britain on the condition of anonymity. Credit: ITV News
“I was more shocked that that wasn’t their policy anyway,” says Emily. “The fact that that isn’t common sense to actually have had to get the person’s consent before is worse, in my opinion, because it’s just not enough.”
She says this incident ought to be a wake-up call to all hotels to review their security policies.
“I think that when you book a hotel, if your name isn’t on the booking, you don’t get a key. If there are instances where someone would need a key and they’re not on the booking, then you get the consent of that person. That’s the only way that it works.”
Emily says she has not stayed in a hotel room alone since, and does not wish to, describing it as a “mental battle that I need to try and handle”.
She believes until practical changes are made and security policies are clear cut, an incident like this could happen again.
“Part of my gut reaction would be to take something to block the door. But then I’m like, in my head thinking, well, that’s terrible that I even have to think like that. And I don’t think that’s the answer. I don’t think that is the answer to this. I don’t think it’s a case that I should have to barricade my door. I don’t think it’s right. I think that hotels have to do better and it’s their responsibility to make sure they do better.”
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