Travelodge has changed its chief executive while simultaneously rolling out a security overhaul across more than 600 hotels, turning a series of room-access failures into a leadership issue at a business that otherwise reported rising revenue and stable earnings.
The UK budget hotel chain announced Thursday that Joanna Boydell had stepped down as CEO on August 17 after four years in the role, as the board begins searching for a permanent chief executive. CFO Ray Reidy became interim CEO effective August 20 and will retain his finance responsibilities until an interim CFO is appointed.
The change follows months of scrutiny over cases in which hotel staff gave men access to rooms occupied by women who had not authorized them to enter. The Guardian reported that the backlash over those failures preceded Boydell’s departure.
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Travelodge itself did not give a reason for her exit.
In one case, Kyran Smith obtained a key card to a woman’s room at a Maidenhead Travelodge in December 2022 after falsely claiming to be her boyfriend. He sexually assaulted her while she was in bed and was later sentenced to seven years and six months in prison. Travelodge subsequently apologized for its handling of the case.
A second woman told the BBC that she stayed at a London Travelodge in October 2025 to escape domestic abuse. Her abuser allegedly told reception she was having a seizure, obtained a key, and was directed to her room, where she said he assaulted her. Travelodge acknowledged that its room-access procedures had not been correctly followed.
Travelodge now requires explicit guest permission before issuing any additional or replacement room key. The company said 12,000 customer-facing employees are being trained under the new policy, while an audit confirmed that UK rooms with key-card doors have secondary deadbolts. An independent review led by barrister Paul Greaney KC is examining room-access and incident-escalation procedures.
The leadership change came alongside Travelodge’s first-half results. Revenue rose 4.2% year over year to £491.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased to £47.9 million from £47.3 million. The group operated 632 hotels and roughly 49,000 rooms as of June 30.
