WOMAN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN HOTEL ROOM BY MAN GIVEN KEY AFTER CLAIMING TO BE HER BOYFRIEND

PEOPLE

 

Woman Sexually Assaulted by Man Given Hotel Room Key by Staff After He Claimed to Be Her Boyfriend

By Becca Longmire  Published on March 31, 2026 08:26AM EDT

 

A woman in England was sexually assaulted after hotel staff gave a key card to a man claiming to be her boyfriend.

 

The victim was assaulted by Kyran Smith, 29, in December 2022 after he lied to staff at a Travelodge hotel in the U.K. town of Maidenhead, telling them the pair were in a relationship, per the BBC and U.K. news program Good Morning Britain.

 

Smith went to the hotel’s reception in the early hours of the morning and was handed a key card, according to the outlet. He and the victim had been at the same party during a night out on the evening of the assault, so he was known to her, the BBC reported.

 

Thames Valley Police confirmed in a previous release obtained by PEOPLE that Smith had been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison at a hearing at Reading Crown Court on Jan. 23 of this year.

 

“Smith was found guilty, following a four-day trial at the same court on 11 November 2025, of one count each of trespass with intent to commit a relevant sexual offense and sexual assault,” police said.

 

Speaking out in an interview with Good Morning Britain, the survivor, who has not been named, told the show that she was worried an assault like that would happen again.

 

“I woke up, and I had this person, literally, in my bed against me,” she shared.

 

The victim added, “I was just really confused. I just got out of the bed and was sort of like, ‘How did you get into my room?’ " insisting that she knows she locked her door on the night of the assault.

 

Travelodge CEO, Jo Boydell, told Good Morning Britain that she was only made aware of the sexual assault this month, more than three years after it happened. However, she was aware of other instances involving strangers entering rooms.

 

Boydell told the BBC, “I [apologize] to all of those people that have had a frightening circumstance."

 

Travelodge initially offered the victim a roughly $40 refund following the assault, which she said was “insulting,” per the outlet. The company then issued an apology.

 

Boydell told the BBC of how the company handled the case, "I'm so sorry this happened to her, I'm so sorry it happened in our hotel, and I am so sorry for the way we handled it afterwards.”

 

"I clearly [apologize] to the victim for what happened to her and the way that we handled her case subsequently - it clearly wasn't good enough,” she added to the outlet.

 

"I'm genuinely sorry that the victim feels dismissed and I really genuinely do [apologize] for that,” Boydell continued to the BBC. She confirmed that reports of other instances regarding strangers entering rooms were being investigated.

 

The victim mentioned in her interview with Good Morning Britain that there’d been “suggestion from the CEO … that the rooms had a deadbolt, or something.”

 

“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," she added.

 

Boydell told the news program, “I’m really sorry if she did feel dismissed, and we are definitely listening to what she has to say.”

 

The hotel’s CEO added to Good Morning Britain, “The hotels with key cards have deadbolts, but clearly something went wrong here, and that needs to be investigated.”

 

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also urged Boydell to "seriously engage" with the government amid issues of guest security at hotels, after she failed to attend a meeting with a group of representatives, according to the BBC.

 

Boydell said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that she’d met with multiple representatives on March 16.

 

Earlier this month, Travelodge said it had made “immediate changes” to its door key policy, per an update on the sexual assault case shared on the hotel chain's website.

 

“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,” Boydell said in the release.

 

“I am deeply sorry for the significant distress experienced by the victim and for our handling of her case. We got things wrong and we should have acted sooner, and I am truly sorry for that,” she added.

 

Boydell confirmed of the hotel chain's door key policy changes, “We have made some immediate changes to our room access security policy to ensure that any additional or replacement room keys are only issued with explicit permission from the person (or people) staying in the room, and this has been rolled out to all of our hotels, supported by training for our 12,000 customer-facing colleagues.”

 

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.