Travelodge has revealed its list of bizarre items customers left behind in the year the budget hotel chain opened up to key workers amid coronavirus.
A Siberian husky, a small army of six-foot tall Nutcracker soldiers and £500,000 worth of share certificates were among the strangest items found in empty hotel rooms across Britain in the last 12 months.
Many key workers, including doctors and nurses, stayed at 563 Travelodge branches to keep their families safe from coronavirus.
And a range of interesting items were left behind by customers in the medical profession, including: a stethoscope in High Wycombe; a lab coat at Manchester Upper Brook Street and a scrub set at London Central Kings Cross.
A Siberian husky, a small army of six foot tall Nutcracker soldiers and £500,000 worth of share certificates were among the strangest items found in empty hotel rooms across Britain in the last 12 months (file image)
The hotel team at Chelmsford Travelodge reunited a nurse with a diary documenting her experience of the pandemic and a large box of Union Jack face masks were left behind at London Central Waterloo Travelodge Plus.
Weddings were cancelled by many bride and grooms when ceremonies and gatherings were first banned and then limited to 30 guests over the summer. But items associated with weddings still dominated the lost and found.
A money tree bearing £50 notes to the value of £10,000 was left behind by a forgettable bride’s mother at Birmingham Central Bullring Travelodge. It is their tradition to attach £50 notes as a gift onto a miniature tree which is then presented to the bride and groom at their wedding ceremony.
One forgetful bridesmaid staying at Burford Cotswolds Travelodge forgot to take a three-foot Italian diffuser bottle to the wedding reception venue. The item had been especially imported over from Florence, Italy, for its bespoke fragrance of lemon, orange flowers, rose, jasmine and wood.
Many key workers, including doctors and nurses, stayed at Travelodge branches to keep their families safe from coronavirus. A Siberian husky called Saskia (file image, not of Saskia) was found in one hotel room
Luckily the hotel manager arranged for the diffuser to be safely transported to the venue ahead of the bride’s arrival.
A groom staying at Edinburgh Central Travelodge had to send a courier to pick up a surprise wedding present he forgot to pack – a 6ft tall cuddly polar bear.
And the hotel manager from Gatwick Airport Central Travelodge PLUS had to literally jump queues to reunite newlyweds with their first class tickets to the Maldives after they were left in a hotel room.
An elderly couple staying at Cardiff Atlantic Wharf Travelodge forgot their framed marriage certificate while celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary with a tour of Wales – where the couple initially met.
A housekeeping team member at Leamington Spa Travelodge found six life-size nutcracker soldiers standing to attention when she entered a room to clean it (file image)
A stockbroker staying at London Central Bank Travelodge forgot a file which contained £500,000 share certificates while a construction boss was devastated when he left behind his lucky personalised Hilti drill at Solihull Travelodge (file image)
And a housekeeping team member at Leamington Spa Travelodge found six life-size nutcracker soldiers standing to attention when she entered a room to clean it.
An events coordinator who had been staying in the room had forgotten to take the soldiers for a Christmas-themed wedding she was organising.
A stockbroker staying at London Central Bank Travelodge forgot a file which contained £500,000 share certificates while a construction boss was devastated when he left behind his lucky personalised Hilti drill at Solihull Travelodge.
A CEO staying at Aberdeen Central Justice Mill Lane Travelodge missed his flight to return to the hotel after leaving behind a lucky penny he had carried around for 40 years.
Shakila Ahmed, a Travelodge Spokeswoman, said: ‘With millions of customers annually staying at our 563 hotels across the length and breadth of the UK for thousands of different reasons, we do get a range of interesting items left behind.
‘This year’s audit includes: A R2-D2 robot, A William Shakespeare’s outfit with skull, a money tree bearing £50 notes, a 60 year old marriage certificate, a 6ft cuddly polar bear and a message in a bottle wedding proposal.
‘This year, as we kept some of our hotels open during both lockdowns to support local communities and provide accommodation for key workers, local authorities and for businesses that could travel for work we have seen a rise in items being left behind by medical professionals.
‘This includes a stethoscope, scrubs, crocs and a nurse’s personal diary documenting their experience of working through the pandemic plus lots of personalised face masks.
‘When it comes to why so many of our customers forget their treasured items, it’s basically due to us all being time poor, juggling multiple tasks and being in a hurry to get from A to B. In the rush, valuable possessions are easily forgotten.’
