Hotels are magnets for criminals’ – so what needs to be done to make them more secure?
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You will probably have heard of the shocking case of a woman who was sexually assaulted in a Travelodge by an attacker who was handed a key to her room by a member of staff on the reception desk. Bob Quick spent 32 years with the Police, then moved on to GSA – Global Secure Accreditation Ltd – where he is Managing Director.
He has strong views on the weaknesses in hotel security, and what needs to be done.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Calder. It's Monday the 6th of April. |
| 0:10.8 | Easter Monday. You will, I am sure, be aware of the terrible case of a woman who was checked in to a travelage hotel in Berkshire and found that |
| 0:24.1 | somebody pretending to be her boyfriend was actually given a key to her room. Extremely |
| 0:31.9 | distressing. He assaulted her sexually. He's now been imprisoned for seven and a half years as a result, but it did |
| 0:40.2 | bring lots of attention to the whole notion of how secure our hotels are. And there is nobody |
| 0:49.2 | better to talk about this than Bob Quick. You may know his name. He was an extremely senior police officer. |
| 0:58.7 | Bob, welcome. Just give us a snapshot of your illustrious career in the Metropolitan Police. |
| 1:05.3 | Yes, Simon, I served 32 years in policing, mostly in the Metropolitan Police in London, |
| 1:10.5 | dealing with organised crime, |
| 1:12.7 | terrorism and corruption issues. And latterly was the policing lead for the country for counter-terrorism. |
| 1:21.2 | Well, you've also taken interest in ensuring people's safety in spaces such as hotels. Can you tell me how you regard this |
| 1:32.7 | extraordinary case of a woman who found that she was attacked because somebody simply handed over |
| 1:38.7 | a key card to somebody who said, oh yeah, I'm her boyfriend, this is her name, and they said, |
| 1:43.5 | well, fine, here you are. It strikes a lot of people as not just appalling, but unbelievable as well. |
| 1:49.4 | Indeed, Simon, and sadly, these types of incidents are not that uncommon, not just in the UK, |
| 1:56.1 | but actually around the world, it's a bit of a global problem. Why is that? Because hotels are actually |
| 2:01.9 | magnets for criminals. In my policing career, I became very aware of how attractive hotels are |
| 2:08.6 | for all types of criminals, sexual predators, thieves, robbers and others. Why? Because they're |
| 2:15.9 | high profile. They're target rich, they're full of guests who |
| 2:19.7 | may have their mobile phones, their laptops, jewellery and other finery, or other valuables. |
| 2:25.7 | They may be quite relaxed because they're on holiday or perhaps having a drink in the bar. |
| 2:32.1 | So very target rich and researchers revealed that hotels |
... |
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