Travelodge reveals bizarre requests by visitors to Wales

Today, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain, has revealed the top 25 most interesting and bizarre requests that the company’s hotel teams in Wales have received over the last 12 months.  With a network of hotels stretching the length and breadth of Great Britain, including 26 in Wales, Travelodge welcomes millions of customers each year staying for a variety of reasons.        

Detailed below are more fascinating requests from Wales to make the 2021 audit

• Can you arrange a champagne picnic at Snowdon Summit?
• Can you take me to visit the house of Gavin and Stacey please?
• Do you have Welsh choirs singing at the hotel on Sundays?
• Does laverbread contain real lava?
• Can you record my voice message in a Tom Jones style?
• Can you fill my room with daffodils as a surprise for my wife? It’s our 30th wedding anniversary and we met in Bangor.
• Can you create Christmas in my room in July as a surprise for my husband who has been away and missed it last year?
• Can you place my bed on the beach as I would like to sleep under the stars? 

Following the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions earlier this year, Travelodge experienced a stampede of customers checking into its hotels across all corners of the UK this summer including Wales. This resulted in a high volume of hotel teams receiving interesting requests and questions – especially around place names, local dishes, customs and traditions across the regions.  

One customer staying in the Cardiff M4 Travelodge asked where they might be able to exchange their English pounds for Welsh currency. Cardiff Atlantic Wharf Travelodge welcomed a customer who wanted to know when it was feeding time at the Animal Wall, while another enjoying a stay at Llanelli Central Travelodge asked if the team could arrange for their family to ‘meet the Welsh Dragon’!

Travelodge hotel staff also received a host of interesting room requests. One customer staying at Wrexham Travelodge asked if the team could arrange for a framed picture of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to be put into their friend’s room ‘as it is her birthday and she is a massive fan’. Bangor Travelodge welcomed a hotel guest who wanted the team to fill his room with daffodils as a surprise for his wife on their 30th wedding anniversary.

Interestingly, this year’s audit revealed a growing trend of customers asking hotel teams in Wales and the wider UK to record voice messages on their phone because they love their regional accent, which is what happened in Caernarfon Travelodge when a team member was asked to record a voice message ‘in a Tom Jones style’!  Parents away from home also asked hotel teams if they could call home pretending they were Father Christmas to ensure their children did their homework.               

Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman said: “Following the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions earlier this year we have experienced a significant increase in bookings across our 582 UK Travelodge hotels including our 26 hotels in Wales. With more Britons holidaying on British shores than ever before, our hotel teams have also received a high volume of interesting requests and questions especially around place names, local dishes, customs and traditions across the British regions.  Where possible, our hotel teams will go above and beyond to help customers as they relish a good challenge.

“However, there are some requests beyond their control such as the customer in Cardiff Central Travelodge, who asked if the team could arrange for a Welsh Choir to come and sing at breakfast as a surprise for their Grandad’s 70^th Birthday.  We even did our best to help a customer staying at Holyhead Travelodge, who asked the team if they could ‘create Christmas in my room in July as a surprise for my husband who has been away and missed it last year’!

Listed below are the top 25 most bizarre customer requests Travelodge hotel teams in Wales have received during the last 12 months.