Today, Travelodge, one of the UK’s largest hotel chains has revealed the top 25 most interesting and bizarre requests that the company’s 581 UK hotel teams have received during the last 12 months – including the top 10 requests from the company’s seventy nine Travelodge hotels in London.
With a network of hotels stretching the length and breadth of Great Britain, Travelodge welcomes millions of customers each year staying for a variety of reasons.
The hotel teams across London’s seventy nine Travelodge hotels have received hundreds of customer requests throughout the year – listed below are the top ten most interesting and bizarre requests.
|
Bizarre Request
|
Travelodge Hotel |
| Can you ask that the London Eye rotates in an anti-clockwise formation? |
London City Travelodge |
| Can you arrange a surprise garden afternoon tea for my grandfather with Paddington Bear? |
London Central Waterloo Travelodge |
| Can you take Boujee my Chow Chow, shopping in Knightsbridge, whilst I make a sales pitch? |
London Central Marylebone Travelodge |
| Is it true we have to pour whiskey on our pie and mash? |
London Bethnal Green Travelodge |
| Can you arrange for us to have a day with the Cockney Pearly Kings & Queens? |
London Central Southwark Travelodge |
| What time is the ferry to the Isle of Dogs? |
London Docklands Travelodge |
| Where can we see Jimi Hendrix’s birds? |
London Central Tower Bridge Travelodge |
| What is the best time to see the Vampire at Highgate Cemetery? |
London Cricklewood Travelodge |
| Can you put a framed photograph of Queen Elizabeth II in the room? |
London Central Euston Travelodge |
| How many gangsters do we meet on the Gangster London Walking Tour? |
London Central Farringdon Travelodge |
This year, Travelodge has experienced a stampede of customers checking into its hotels across all corners of the UK – including its seventy nine hotels in London, following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. This customer flurry has also resulted in Travelodge hotel teams receiving an influx of interesting requests and questions from their customers during their stay. Topics have ranged from place names, local dishes, customs and traditions across the diverse regions that make up the United Kingdom to random requests.
This year’s audit has revealed a bigger interest in the Royal Family than ever before. One customer staying at Bath Waterside Travelodge asked the Receptionist if she could contact The Fashion Museum and borrow Bath’s 2021 Dress of The Year – which was the black silk Giorgio Armani dress that Meghan Markle wore for the famous Oprah interview. The customer wanted to wear this dress to her 40th birthday party. Another customer staying at Canterbury Chaucer Central Travelodge was disappointed to hear that King Charles III would not be teaching any lessons at The Kings School Canterbury during their stay in the historic city. Whilst a young boy wanted the hotel team at London Waterloo Travelodge to arrange a surprise garden afternoon tea for his grandfather with Paddington Bear
Whilst a confused guest staying at Edinburgh Central Travelodge asked the hotel manager to clarify to whether he had to bow to Edinburgh Zoo’s famous resident Brigadier Sir Nils Olav – a king penguin who is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King’s Guard.
Travelodge hotel teams have also been inundated with food, cooking and celebrity chef requests. One couple staying at Newquay Seafront Travelodge called ahead of their stay and asked if the assistant hotel manager could arrange a private beachfront barbeque with celebrity chef Rick Steins. Another family staying at Birmingham Central Bull Ring Travelodge asked for details for the best local delicatessen, where they could purchase jars of Colonel Mustard to take back home to America as gifts for their family. The Fidgetiness of Derbyshire’s Fidgety Pie was also called into question by one customer recently staying at Derby Park Pride Travelodge.
Another customer staying at Aberdeen Airport Travelodge was shocked to hear that you could not catch a Cullen Skink and that this was the name of a soup as opposed to a fish. A couple staying at Swansea Central Travelodge were relieved to hear that the country’s famous cuisine Laverbread was not actually made from volcanic lava.
This year’s audit also revealed a growing trend of customers asking hotel teams especially in the northern regions such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool and Cardiff to record voice messages on their phones because they love their regional accents. A receptionist at Edinburgh Haymarket Travelodge was asked to send a voice note pretending to be Sean Connery to a customer’s Grannie as a birthday surprise and a hotel Bar Cafe Supervisor at Liverpool Central Exchange Street Travelodge was asked to record a customer’s voicemail in the voice of the late Cilla Black as this was their favourite celebrity. The customer specifically asked the team member to say ‘Surprise, Surprise’.
