Travelodge has apologised to a Jewish guest after a “Free Palestine” message appeared on his hotel room TV.
The guest told the Jewish News he felt “frightened” after seeing the message in his room at London Manor House Travelodge in Finsbury Park, north London, last month. It is a mile away from Stamford Hill, the largest strictly Orthodox Jewish community in Europe.
An investigation into the incident has been launched, but the hotel chain has so far been unable to determine who was responsible for the message, which only appeared in that customer’s room.
A Travelodge spokesperson told The Independent: “We have treated this incident very seriously from the outset as there is no place for antisemitism in this country and we took action immediately to address this.”
It reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police and said it was close to concluding a “robust internal investigation”.
The spokesperson added: “Our internal focus on our policy of zero tolerance to discrimination including antisemitism will continue and we are currently in discussions with a leading organisation in the Jewish community to facilitate an appropriate training programme on cultural sensitivity and antisemitism.
“Our CEO has spoken with the guest to express our apologies for their experience. We have also been engaging closely with leaders and groups within the Jewish community to reiterate our absolute zero-tolerance stance on antisemitism and any form of discrimination and our commitment to ensuring that the Jewish community feels safe and welcome at all of our hotels.”
The guest also alleged hostile treatment from a team member, but Travelodge said its investigation found no evidence of colleague involvement or misconduct.
It said the investigation looked into all aspects of the guest’s stay, including staff accounts, CCTV and key card access.
Jo Boydell, the company’s chief executive, said she apologised “unreservedly” to the guest and “further apologises for any distress or concern caused to the wider Jewish community”.
“There is no place in society for antisemitism and we will not tolerate this in our hotels or in our wider business,” she added.
The 24-year-old guest told the Jewish News that the incident occurred while he was visiting the UK from New York for a friend’s wedding.
The newspaper reported the “visibly Orthodox Jewish tourist” felt vulnerable after he saw the message.
He said: “We just went to our room and all of a sudden someone put on the TV, and it came up, ‘Hi, welcome, Free Palestine’.
“It was really, really uncomfortable and I didn’t feel safe.”
Jewish community watch group Shomrim shared the photo of the message on Facebook, writing: “This behaviour bears all the hallmarks of targeted antisemitism.”
The Met Police and Shomrim have been contacted for comment.
