Crisis communications training for hotels – the lessons from the Travelodge incident
As the leading provider of crisis communications courses for hotels, we’ve taken a keen interest in the current story of the woman attacked in a Travelodge hotel.
During this shocking incident, a man sexually assaulted the victim while she slept at the chain’s Maidenhead branch. Kyran Smith, who has since been jailed for seven-and-a-half years, falsely told reception staff that he was in a relationship with the woman and obtained a key card for her room.
According to the victim, “It’s literally easier to get into a hotel room where someone is asleep and vulnerable, than it is to get into a nightclub.”
ITV News and other outlets have picked up this shocking analogy. It expresses the woman’s understandable anger and shows how, in media terms, a punchy soundbite can get across an important message.
Hotels – crisis communications courses
Four years after the crime took place, Jo Boydell, the CEO of Travelodge, gave the BBC an interview on the subject. We provide crisis communications courses for a wide range of hotels from budget brands to super luxury collections, and we always recommend that they act quickly in the case of any incident.
“But how can we say anything if we still don’t know what exactly has happened?” people often ask. It’s a good point but the fact is that there are things that you can say when the details of the incident are still vague and the allegations unproven. You also need to start communicating immediately because otherwise the news agenda will overtake you and you’ll find yourself running to catch up.
Already, in this case, because Travelodge have been so slow in responding they’re on the back foot. Journalists and the public will ask why Jo Boydell has taken four years to do this interview, just as the victim has. Before the interview, presenter John Kay says: “After weeks of pressure, Jo Boydell has given her first interview to the BBC, during which she admitted serious mistakes have been made.”
It’s not a great start.
Media training courses
But how did she perform during the interview? Let’s start with the visuals. It might sound trivial, but human beings digest visual information around 30,000 times faster than we do with words. That’s why, during our media training courses, we recommend people think carefully about what they wear when they’re doing a TV or YouTube interview and we provide advice and recommendations.
Perhaps Ms Boydell’s advisors thought that black would look serious and solemn, as befits this kind of interview. That might be true, but the fact is that black never looks good on TV as it drains the life out of the wearer.
Crisis communications training
We recently delivered crisis communications training for an NHS Trust, where the CEO wore entirely black. Our media trainer pointed out (in that safe environment) that it’s difficult to persuade people they’re safe at your hospital when you’re dressed like an undertaker.
What should Ms Boydell have worn? Obviously, the Travelodge uniform or a brightly coloured suit would be inappropriate. We would recommend something simple and understated but preferably in navy blue. Many airlines use this colour for their pilots and other crew because it often represents trust.
The first comment was generally good: “I’m genuinely sorry to the survivor for the way that was handled. We have made changes to our policy to reflect that absolutely,” she told interviewer Graham Satchell. As we explain in our crisis communications training for hotels, apologising unreservedly in simple language and doing so early and repeatedly is essential.
Adding “for any offence I’ve caused,” or “for any inconvenience,” would simply annoy the audience and detract from the apology. After all, why are you apologising if you don’t believe you’ve offended or inconvenienced people?
Difficult questions
Immediately Satchell comes in with a personal question: “How would you feel if that happened to you?” he asks her. “Personally, I would be horrified in the same way that I’m horrified now that this has happened in one of our hotels,” she says. She does well to repeat her point about making changes in their operations, but it would be good to hear some examples here. What changes are they making? She could give some examples to prove and illustrate her point. This would also take up interview time, giving the journalist less time to press her with other difficult questions.
Satchell points that, incredibly, Travelodge offered the victim £30 in compensation, which she naturally found insulting and offensive. “I can completely understand why she would feel like that, and I completely, genuinely apologise for that and for making matters worse,” says Boydell. It’s good that she doesn’t try to minimise this error or explain it away. Again, she repeats the point about making changes.
Crisis communications workshop
The next question is about compensation. In the realistic role play media interviews that we carry out during our crisis communications workshops for hotel groups this is a common question. Boydell looks slightly thrown by it, but she should have prepared for it. In fact, her answer is OK.
“We haven’t had that conversation with her, but as I say, I’m very open to understanding what would make it right from her perspective,” she says.
Again, we come to the question of why the company has been so slow responding to this case. “This incident happened in 2022 when you were in charge. Why is it taken until now, 2026, to make the change?” asks Graham Satchell.
There’s a pause and Boydell looks awkward. “The first time I became aware of this was after the court had reported the incident which is completely unacceptable and shows that there are issues with the way we handled the case,” she says. “We’re very clear about that. We made changes very quickly about how we deal with incidents.”
Again, her answer is, at least, a dead bat that doesn’t get her into more trouble. However, during our crisis communications training for hotel groups, we look at “information in” before we discuss “information out”. In other words, how would the senior management and the Communications team or public relations company know that something had happened somewhere in one of the hotels at some time of day which might possibly blow up into a crisis?
Role-play media interviews
Before we start putting the spokespeople through their paces with realistic, role-play media interviews, we spend some time looking at how they would know about an incident. How would everyone from reception staff to concierge and maintenance people, through to chambermaids and kitchen staff identify an issue? If they did would they know how and who to report it to?
Finally, Graham Satchell’s pay-off sums up what every hotel would want to avoid. “There’s no doubting that this incident and the way it’s been handled has caused significant representational damage to Travelodge,” he tells his audience.
By their very nature hotels are at risk of a variety of crises and difficult situations. This awful Travelodge case is, we’re very relieved to say, unusual, but it shows how hotel senior management need to be prepared for almost any eventuality. You can’t stop them from happening. You can, though, prepare for them.
Crisis communications training
That’s where our crisis communications training for hotel groups comes in. We can create a bespoke course to meet your exact needs and budget. Let’s talk! You can follow us on LinkedIn here.
