A family has spoken out about their harrowing experience after being forced to sleep in a Travelodge laundry room when their keycard failed to grant them access to the room they had booked.
Danielle Barclay and her husband, Jamie, both 39, stayed at the Travelodge in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, on the night of December 28th to 29th after attending a wedding. When they returned to the hotel and tried to enter their room, their keycard didn’t work, leaving them stranded in the corridor with their two children – 12-year-old Jensen and 8-year-old Marlie – both of whom were in tears.
With no spare rooms available, the hotel offered them a place at another Travelodge 20 miles away. However, when this offer was turned down due to the late hour, the family was instead told to sleep in the laundry room on a broken mattress. Danielle said that the experience left Marlie feeling “upset and scared,” and they were not able to return to their room until hours later, when the maintenance staff managed to fix the issue.
Danielle shared her story on TikTok, posting pictures of the family bedding down in the laundry room during what she described as a “horrendous night’s stay.” Her video divided viewers, with some criticizing the hotel for its poor treatment of the family, while others pointed out that the staff had few options available since they couldn’t access the room, there were no other rooms, and the family had refused the alternative accommodation.
Danielle recalled, “We got back at nearly midnight, the kids were exhausted, and we just wanted to get them to bed. But when we tried the keycard, it wouldn’t work. My husband tried it several times, but nothing changed. We went straight to reception, and the staff member was really nice and tried to help, but she couldn’t get it to work either. She called the manager, but he was in Belgium and couldn’t assist. There was no one else who could help either.”
She continued, “We ended up sitting in the corridor for about an hour. My daughter was upset, panicking that we wouldn’t get our things back. My son was so tired, he just laid down on the floor trying to sleep.”
The family decided not to accept the offer of moving to another Travelodge 20 miles away, citing the late hour and how exhausted the children were.
Danielle described her disbelief when they were told to sleep in the laundry room, saying, “We were just in shock. What are we supposed to do? There’s nowhere else to go. They gave us a broken mattress, threw a quilt over it, and gave us two pillows for the kids. For us, we just had a quilt on the floor with a pillow. It was just ridiculous.”
By 4:15 a.m., they were able to return to their original room, but the door couldn’t be locked. Danielle added, “By that point, the night was already ruined.”
A spokesperson for Travelodge apologized to the family for their experience, acknowledging that the hotel had fallen short of its usual standards. “Unfortunately, the hotel experienced an isolated technical issue. Once the issue was raised, the team promptly offered alternative accommodation at the nearest Travelodge. We have offered the customer a full refund and a complimentary stay as a goodwill gesture.”
