// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Travelodge staff gave domestic abuser key to his victim's room
Lucy said being attacked in her Travelodge room was one of the "most traumatic nights of my life" (file picture)
A domestic violence victim has told BBC Breakfast how she was attacked in her hotel room after Travelodge reception staff gave a key to her abuser.
The woman, whom the BBC is calling Lucy, said she was "failed" by the chain and described it as one of the "most traumatic nights of my life" after the man kicked the door off its hinges.
She contacted the BBC after hearing about the sentencing of Kyran Smith, who sexually assaulted a woman in her bed at a Travelodge in Maidenhead in 2022.
Speaking about Lucy's case, Travelodge said that while incidents like this were "very rare", customer safety and security was, and remained, a priority with staff undergoing recent training.
Lucy said she was staying at the hotel in London in October 2025 for "a night away from the fear" following a period of abuse that left her "frightened and exhausted".
"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 said.
The receptionist handed him a key before directing him upstairs to Lucy's room, she said.
"I couldn't believe it. The one place I thought he could never get to, he had somehow reached. I felt sick with panic. My safe place disappeared in an instant," she added.
She said he physically attacked her and tried to grab her phone.