A family claim they were forced to sleep in a Travelodge laundry room after their door lock broke – leaving their kids ‘traumatised’. Danielle Barclay, 39, and her husband, Jamie Barclay, 39, stayed at Travelodge Ashbourne, Derbyshire, from 28 to 29 December with their two children after attending a nearby wedding.
After the dad discovered the keycard to their room had stopped working, they sat in the corridor for an hour with their crying daughter, Marlie, eight, and son, Jensen, 12. With no spare rooms available the family claims they were ‘shocked’ to be offered a make-shift bed in the laundry room after declining the offer of moving to a different hotel 20 miles away.
The two kids were forced to sleep on a ‘broken mattress’ in the cold room, leaving Marlie feeling ‘upset and scared’ before maintenance eventually helped them back into their hotel room hours later. Taking to TikTok, the beauty therapist posted photos of her family in bed in the laundry room during the ‘horrendous night’s stay’, which has now gone viral with more than 255,900 views.
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Marlie Barclay, 8, crying while sitting locked outside of the hotel room -Credit:Kennedy News/@dani
One photo shows Marlie looking distraught while sitting outside the hotel room waiting to get in. Another photo shows Jensen and eight-year-old Marlie lying on a make-shift bed in the laundry room trying to sleep. Many users took to the comments to similarly slam the family’s ‘disgusting’ treatment.
However, other users pointed out there was ‘very little’ else the hotel could’ve done. Travelodge apologised and admitted they had ‘fallen short of their usual high standards of customer care’ but would be offering a complimentary stay and full refund.
While the family have now received a full refund the mum-of-two revealed she feels like ‘she’d never stay in a Travelodge again’. Danielle, who lives in Derby, Derbyshire, said: “It was pretty traumatising for (the kids). The treatment was horrendous really.
“We went to the wedding and got back at 10 to 12. The kids were getting tired and everything so we thought we’d come back and the wedding was finishing. The key card wouldn’t work, my husband had tried it. We went straight to reception and the lady was lovely and was like ‘oh yeah, I’ll come have a look at it’. She couldn’t get it to work. She kept trying and trying and trying.
The family pictured sitting locked outside their hotel room -Credit:Kennedy News/@dani
“She rang the manager and the manager was apparently in Belgium and couldn’t really do much to help and there was nobody else to help her. We’d been sat on the corridor floor for like an hour.
“My daughter was crying and upset because she was worrying and panicking that we weren’t going to get our things out the room. My son was exhausted, he was laid on the corridor floor trying to get some sleep.”
Danielle claims that with the hotel being fully booked and maintenance not due to arrive until 4am, the family were offered the chance to stay at a Travelodge 20 miles away.
Danielle said: “I know people in the comments were like ‘you were offered a hotel’ but that option wasn’t viable to us. It was 2 o’clock in the morning, the kids were exhausted and more taxi rides out to places.
“If we’d have gone it’s getting back to this hotel in the morning. I would’ve had to pack up the room and go back to Derby to catch our train which we likely would’ve missed because we’d got an early train home the next day.
“Maintenance would have opened the door at four o’clock and our door would have been unlocked and our belongings were still in that room. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my purse and everything in there. Anyone could have gotten into the room.”
Marlie, 8, and 12-year-old Jensen lying on a mattress in the laundry room -Credit:Kennedy News/@dani
The beauty therapist revealed she was ‘shocked’ to be told the only other option available was for them to sleep in the laundry room. Danielle said: “We were just in shock. We were like ‘seriously, the laundry room? What are we going to do? They’ve got nowhere to put us’.
“She put the broken mattress on the floor, put a quilt over it and two pillows for the kids. For us there was obviously nothing else. We had a quilt on the floor with a pillow. A broken mattress on the laundry room floor. Just ridiculous.
“When we got in there there was a laundry basket blocking the fire exit. Our beds were made up in front of the fire exit. God knows there could’ve been a fire in there and we wouldn’t have been accounted for and we wouldn’t have been able to get out.
“It was freezing in there. I had to sleep in my fur coat. It went pitch black in there. We weren’t given any toilet facilities, we weren’t offered a drink. It was the most uncomfortable night’s sleep. Having to sleep on an uncomfortable concrete floor with just a quilt on the floor is just not acceptable.
“My son was just exhausted by that point and laid down and tried to go to sleep. My little girl was scared in the dark. It’s cold, it’s not our room so she’s obviously going to be quite upset and scared by the situation. A few of us needed the toilet. There was no toilet access. We didn’t notice one in reception. We just had to wait with no toilet all night. Not even offered any refreshments. There were loads of towels, bedding but there probably could’ve been chemicals. Pretty unhygienic.”
The laundry room where the family had to sleep -Credit:Kennedy News/@dani
The mum-of-two revealed they were able to get back into their room at 4.15am but had no way of locking the door. Danielle said: “We went back to our room but there was obviously no lock on the door then. She said ‘you’re on security cameras but all I can say to shut your door is to shove this little rubber wedge under your door’.
“Me and my husband and the kids all got into bed and had to try and get to sleep. By that point the night had already been ruined. The kids were tired and exhausted. My little girl was upset.
“They were just exhausted the next day. They were nearly falling asleep on the train journey home. I just thought that they would’ve been some rooms kept spare – maybe one even kept spare just so that if something like this happens they have a room to put someone. A room where somebody could’ve gone that’s better than the laundry room.”
The beautician revealed that although they’ve been offered a full refund she has been put off staying at Travelodge ‘ever again’. Danielle said: “They’d offered us £25 which was just not acceptable. We had an email saying we’ll give you another £25, which will be the full refund. And that’s it. they’re not willing to give us any compensation for us to – I wouldn’t stay in that hotel – but another Travelodge to redeem themselves and try to see if it was any better. At the moment it’s made me feel like I’d never want to stay in a Travelodge ever again.”
Comments left under Danielle’s Tik Tok video -Credit:Kennedy News and Media
Many users took to the comments to support Danielle. One user said: “I’m so sorry you and your children had to go through this.”
Another user said: “How disgusting. Hope everything gets resolved soon.” A third user said: “You would have thought they’d have a backup manual key lock.”
Other users criticised the mum as they felt there was nothing more the hotel could have done. One user said: “Did they not offer you a different hotel as they were fully booked but you refused. I’m unsure what you expected them to do.” Another user said: “It was an accident, right? They didn’t do anything to you on purpose and were sold out so very little they could do.”
A Travelodge spokesperson said: “We apologise to Ms. Barclay and her family for their recent experience at Ashbourne Travelodge. On this occasion, we fell short of our usual high standards of customer care.
“Unfortunately, the hotel experienced an isolated technical issue. As soon as this was brought to the hotel team’s attention, they promptly offered alternative accommodation at the closest Travelodge hotel. The customer has been offered a full refund and we will be offering them a complimentary stay as a gesture of goodwill.”