Where would you find a set of company accounts, a suitcase of invoices, a Mercedes AMG car, a forensic wig and a 40 year old teddy bear belonging to a CEO – where else but Travelodge’s Lost & Found office.
Today, one of the UK’s largest independent hotel chain’s, Travelodge, has revealed some of the more interesting items left behind in its 525 UK hotels during the last 12 months.
With a three-fold increase in more business customers now staying with Travelodge than ever before, some of the booty that has been left behind by business customers includes:
- Keys to a haveli (which is a mansion) in Deli, India
- A Swarovski encrusted (lucky charm) waving cat
- A Barrister’s forensic wig and gown
- A forty year old teddy bear belonging to a Chief Executive
- A three piece Tom Ford suit
- Mercedes AMG car
- Annual set of company accounts
- A Littmann stethoscope
- Suitcase of invoices that need to be posted out to customers
- A Louis Vuitton brief case
- A Rolex watch
- A personalised set of Mont Blanc pens
The Swarovski encrusted waving cat, which is a lucky charm in the Chinese culture, was left behind by a businessman who was so distraught about leaving it he arranged for a special overnight courier to collect it and bring it back to him.
One business customer staying at Bank Travelodge left behind his annual company accounts and one CEO was in such a hurry to get to his meeting that he forgot his teddy bear, which has been his companion for forty years.
A forgetful company owner left a suitcase of invoices in his bedroom which needed to be posted out to his customers. As they had been franked, the hotel team were able to put them all in the post as a gesture of goodwill.
One fashion conscious business customer left his brand new Tom Ford suit in our Docklands Travelodge but swiftly returned to collect his new purchase.
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman said: “As more business travellers than ever before are staying in our 525 Travelodge hotels, we are seeing some new and interesting business related items make our annual lost and found audit. This year’s top finds include: a set of annual corporate accounts, a suitcase of invoices, a brand new Mercedes AMG car, a Swarovski encrusted waving lucky cat charm belonging to a successful businessman and a forty year old teddy bear whose owner is a CEO.”
“Our business customers tell us that the pace of modern life is fast and furious and time is off the essence especially when getting from A to B therefore valuable possessions are easily being forgotten.”
In addition to the examples listed above one leisure customer staying at Harrogate Travelodge forgot to pack their beloved Shitsu called Harold – and only realised after driving for 40 minutes down the M62.
The housekeeper at Dundee Strathmore Travelodge got a pleasant surprise when she opened the door to room 14 at the hotel and found a family of three generations of gnomes – chilling out in the room.
One fashion conscious customer left behind a trio of prosthetic legs at Manchester Piccadilly Travelodge. Each leg wore a different designer shoe – this included a Valentino, Gucci and Mui Mui shoe.
Listed below are the top ten most popular items left behind in Travelodge hotels during 2016:
- Chargers for mobile phones and electronic devices such as laptops
- Tablets
- Mobile phones
- Business papers / notepads / presentations
- Teddy Bears
- Toiletry bags with contents
- Sat nav
- Pyjamas
- Socks and ties
- Books
All items left behind in Travelodge hotels which have not been claimed within three months, are donated to local charity shops.