Where would you find a Montblanc fountain pen worth £8k, over £500,000 worth of share certificates and a 50 year old teddy bear called Rupert- where else but Travelodge’s Lost & Found office.
Today, the UK’s first budget hotel brand, Travelodge, has revealed some of the more interesting items that business travellers have left behind in some of its 542 UK hotels during the last 12 months.
With nearly 19 million people annually staying in a Travelodge hotel, some of the other unusual treasures that have been left behind by business travellers include:
- Montblanc, Meisterstück Solitaire Skeleton Fountain Pen worth £8,000
- Over £500,000 worth of share certificates
- A 50 year old teddy bear called Rupert
- A 24ct gold, lucky laughing Buddha necklace
- A business agreement between two CEO’s
With more business customers staying at Travelodge than ever before, the hotel chain has also seen a number of precious items being left behind such as one executive who left behind his 50 year old teddy bear called Rupert at Aberdeen Travelodge. The destressed gentleman sent his PA to personally collect the vintage bear from London as he could not sleep without him.
One superstitious business man had to take a day’s holiday to come back from the Netherlands to collect his rare Montblanc, Meisterstück Solitaire Skeleton Fountain Pen worth £8,000 as he said he could not sign any paper work without his lucky pen.
An American stockbroker left London Liverpool Street Travelodge without his briefcase which contained over £500,000 worth of share certificates for a client.
One female businesswoman sent a car to pick up her 24ct gold, lucky laughing Buddha necklace which she forgot at Bicester Travelodge after an extensive shopping spree.
Interesting the hotel chain has seen a growing trend in forgetful brides. One new bride staying at York Central Travelodge left behind her Mother-in- law, she only realised when she got home that she forgot her most important new family member. Whilst another bride staying at Birmingham Bullring left the hotel without her diamond Mangala Sutra which is an Indian wedding necklace with the same significance as a wedding ring.
The hotel manager at Manchester Trafford Park Travelodge got quite a shock when they found a 27 ft ‘Starchaser’ space rocket at their hotel.
A pilot, from a well-known airline, was in quite a rush to get to the airport that he left his pilot’s licence at Gatwick Airport Travelodge. Luckily the hotel manager flew to his rescue and personally took the licence to the airport.
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman said: “With nearly 19 million customers annually staying at our 542 UK Travelodge hotels, for a wide variety of reasons, we do get some interesting items being left behind. This year’s inventory list includes a Starchaser space rocket, a WW2 bravery medal, deeds to land in the Scottish Highlands, a pilot’s licence, a mother-in-law and a Lionhead rabbit called Bugs Bunny.”
“Also as more business customers are staying with us than ever before, we have had some precious items being left behind such as a 50 year old teddy bear called Rupert belonging to a high flying executive, a movie script, a rare Mont Blanc pen, share certificates worth £500k and a 24-ct lucky laughing Buddha necklace.
The running theme our customers do tell us, is that the pace of modern life is so fast & furious that time is off the essence especially when getting from A to B and therefore valuable possessions are easily being forgotten.”
Listed below are some of the bizarre items left behind at some of the 542 UK Travelodge hotels throughout 2017.
| Hotel | Lost and Found Item |
| Aberdeen
| A fifty year old Teddy Bear called Rupert
|
| Bicester | 24ct Gold Buddha necklace |
| Birmingham Broadway Plaza
| Twenty Bob the Builder Costumes including work belts and hard hats |
| Birmingham Bull ring | A diamond Mangala sutra (A wedding necklace worn by Indian brides) |
| Birmingham Streetly | Eighty four pairs of builders boots – which meant that many builders left our hotel barefoot |
| Blackpool South Promenade | Mobility Scooter |
| Bradford Central | Swarovski encrusted wedding coat worth £5K |
| Brighton Seafront | A canoe |
| Cambridge | A degree in Engineering |
| Carlisle | A personal diary spanning over forty years |
| Coventry | A 100 year old alarm clock |
| Eastleigh Central | A bath full of jersey potatoes |
| Edinburgh Central Princes Street | Land Deed & Title to land in the Scottish Highlands |
| Gatwick Airport | Pilot’s Licence |
| Harrogate | Tickets for the Orient Express |
| Harrogate West Park | Life size cut outs of Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt |
| Heathrow T5 | Script for a movie |
| Leamington Spa
| A drone |
| Leatherhead | Pet Lionhead rabbit called Bugs Bunny |
| Liverpool Exchange Street | Set of Hermes Tarot Cards |
| London Bank | Montblanc – Meisterstück UNICEF Solitaire Skeleton 149 Fountain Pen worth £8K |
| London Farringdon | A Hublot Watch |
| London Finchley | Eight baskets of wooden spoons |
| London Kings Cross | Moncler ski suit |
| London Liverpool Street | £500,000 Share Certificates |
| Manchester Central
| A vintage Louis Vuitton trunk with ball gowns |
|
Manchester Piccadilly |
A large space rocket |
| Milton Keynes at the Hub
| A Mixologist priceless book of cocktail recipes |
| Newcastle Central | A winning Euro Lottery ticket |
| Reading Central | A statue made from screws |
| Redhill Town Centre
| A black Red Range Rover Sport and keys |
| Ryde IOW | A gold WW2 Bravery Medal
|
| Sunderland Central | Eight suitcases of designer clothing and shoes from Bond Street
(A customer living overseas left behind eight suitcases of clothes after a shopping spree on Bond Street) |
| Torquay | Six 6ft Christmas trees fully decorated |
| Towcester | A Belgian Malinois dog called Betsy |
| Weston Super Mare | A Silver Tabby cat called Baskin and a Yorkshire Terrier dog called Robbins |
| Wolverhampton
| Antique urn containing ashes of a beloved husband |
| York | A pair of Oranda fish called Gin & Tonic |
| York Central | A Mother-in-Law |
Listed below are the top ten most popular items left behind in Travelodge hotels during 2017:
- Chargers for mobile phones and electronic devices such as laptops
- Tablets
- Mobile phones
- Business papers / notepads / presentations
- Teddy Bears
- Toiletry bags with contents
- Drones
- Pyjamas
- Socks and ties
- Books
All items left behind in Travelodge hotels which have not been claimed within three months, are donated to local British Heart Foundation Charity Shops, Travelodge’s Charity Partner.
