Where would you find the original Harry Potter’s wand, a micro pig, breast implants, a bucket of live crabs, a diamond encrusted iPhone, a script for a well known soap opera and a python - where else but Travelodge’s lost and found office!
Today, the UK’s very first budget hotel chain, Travelodge announced the mysterious objects left behind in its 527 hotels during 2012. With over 13 million people staying with Travelodge each year some of the booty left behind also includes:
· A winning EuroMillions ticket
· Keys to a Bugatti
· A stamp album worth a quarter of a million pounds
· A box of 200 Queen Elizabeth masks
· A valuable set of Olympic tickets
· A trunk of chocolate bars
· A diamond encrusted wedding ring
· A Persian Chinchilla kitten worth £600
· A suitcase of vinyl records
· A set of false teeth with diamonds
· A Rolex watch worth £50,000
· A tiffany engagement ring
· A pilot’s training manual
· A Kenwood Magimix worth £600
· Joseph’s Dream Coat
· Pantomime Horse
· 7,000 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey
· 76,500 teddy bears
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge spokeswoman said: “Each year our lost and found departments provide plenty of revelations. From keys to a Bugatti, Harry Potter’s original wand, a micro pig, breast implants to a script from a well know British soap programme, our customers’ left behinds demonstrate what a cross section of people stay in our 527 hotels.
“What is becoming evident after speaking to customers is that the pace of life has become so fast and we are so eager to get from A to B that priceless possessions are easily being forgotten.”
Travelodge has also reported that during the last 12 months, over 20,000 books have been left behind in 38,000 of its hotel rooms; 7,000 of which were Fifty Shades of Grey as fictitious trilogies became the most popular reads to be left behind in 2012.
E.L. James’ ‘Fifty Shades’, Suzanne Collins’ ‘Hunger Games’ and Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium’ trilogies were the most popular.
Shakila Ahmed commented: “It is interesting to see for the first time ever that the most popular books to be left behind in our hotels during the last 12 months have predominately been trilogies and not celebrity biographies and chick lit book like previous years. It looks like we are a nation addicted to trilogies, this is probably so that we can flee the reality of doom and gloom for a world of fantasy.”
Listed below are the top ten most discarded books left in Travelodge hotels during 2012:
1. Fifty Shades of Grey E.L. James
2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
3. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest Stieg Larsson
4. Fifty Shades Freed E.L. James
5. The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins
6. The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson
7. Fifty Shades Darker E.L. James
8. Catching Fire Suzanne Collins
9. Mockingjay Suzanne Collins
10. The Help Kathryn Stockett
Listed in the table below are the most bizarre items left behind at Travelodge hotels during 2012:
Basildon Wickford Travelodge
An 8ft pop up spray tanning booth
(A group of girls were so busy nursing their hangovers the next day they forgot the 8ft pop up tanning booth)
Birmingham Central Bullring Travelodge
Trunk of chocolate
(A Customer was a Chinese tourist and had stocked up on a recent trip to Cadbury’s World)
Birmingham Airport Travelodge
Persian chinchilla kitten called Porsha
(The kitten was participating in a cat show at the NEC and the owner was in such a dash to get to the show that she forgot the cat box containing Porsha. En-route to the venue she realised as the car journey was very quiet. Luckily Porsha was having a nap and did not realise that her owner had left her behind)
Brighton Seafront Travelodge
A bucket of live crabs.
(A guest was staying over the night before a fish festival in the area)
Bristol Severn View Travelodge
A pet python called Monty
Carlisle Central Travelodge
A wedding ring
(A couple had been staying at the hotel after marrying in Gretna Green, the bride was relived when she realised where the ring was. She had only worn it for a few hours!)
Droitwich Travelodge
Rolex watch worth £50,000
(A business customer had misplaced the watch after taking it off to shower, he’d had the watch for 10 years and never lost it before, he was very relieved as it was a gift from his wife)
Edinburgh Princes Street Travelodge
A suitcase of vinyl records
(A DJ was staying at the hotel before playing at a wedding at in St Andrew’s)
Glasgow Cumbernauld Travelodge
A micro pig called Percy
Leeds Central Travelodge
A pantomime horse
(One of the cast members from Cinderella left the horse behind after staying whilst the pantomime was playing at the City Varieties Music Hall)
Liverpool Central The Strand Travelodge
A box of old Liverpool FC match programmes
(A family were visiting the Liverpool FC museum and wanted to show the staff their very own collection)
Llanelli Cross Hands Wharf Travelodge
A stamp album worth a quarter of a million pounds
(An American visitor was attending an antique fair at the Royal Welsh Showground. The album contained very expensive stamps )
London Bank Travelodge
Keys to a Bugatti
(Customer was staying over but only realised he had left his car keys when he went to pick up his car that evening from the car-park)
London Covent Garden Travelodge
A diamond incrusted iPhone 5
(A customer had bought the iPhone on the day of its UK launch and had it personalised. When she found the phone it had 228 missed calls)
London Stratford Travelodge
Two tickets to the Olympics for what later became known as ‘Super Saturday’
(The owner soon realised and came back before the events had started – lucky for him otherwise he would have missed a piece of sporting history!)
Manchester Central Travelodge
Kenwood Titanium Major Chef worth £600
(A couple had visited the Manchester Food and Drink Festival all the way from Cornwall. They realised when they returned home and the hotel team couriered it down)
Manchester Central Arena Travelodge
A script for a very well know TV soap programme
Newcastle Central Travelodge
A pair of breast implants
(The guest was en-route to London for a cosmetic operation. She had purchased the implants from the USA )
Newquay Seafront Travelodge
A set of false teeth incrusted with diamonds
Oxford Peartree Travelodge
A Tiffany Engagement Ring worth £10,000
(A couple had got engaged the night before but the ring didn’t fit properly so the lucky lady had kept it in the box under her pillow for safe keeping. In the morning she forgot to pick up the box because she thought she had placed it in handbag. She realised on the journey home and made a fast u turn back to the hotel. The couple were very distraught upon arriving at the hotel and realising what they had done. Luckily the ring was still under the pillow
Scunthorpe Travelodge
The original Harry Potter wand which was used in the popular Harry Potter films
(The wand was worth in excess of £2,000 so it was locked away in a drawer until the owner could come back to collect it)
Shrewsbury Battlefield Travelodge
A spare wheel for a car and a Wonder Woman outfit (not in the same room!)
Valencia Aeropuerto Travelodge
Pilot training book
(A pilot was training for his final exam and had all his revision note inside so he couldn’t do any last minute cramming. He passed anyway with flying colours)
Watford Travelodge
A winning EuroMillions ticket
(The owner of the ticket had placed his winning ticket under his mattress for safe keeping. In the morning, he overslept and in a sheer of panic forgot to pick up his ticket)
Wolverhampton Central Travelodge
A set of four adult size Power Ranger costumes in red, black, blue and yellow
Windsor Travelodge
A box of 200 Queen Elizabeth masks in Windsor
(The box was found the morning after the Jubilee celebrations)
The top ten most popular items left behind in Travelodge’s 500 hotels in 2012 are:
Phone / laptop chargers
Pyjamas / clothes
Teddy bears
Toiletry bags with contents
Books
Laptops / iPads / kindles
Satnavs
Mobile phones
Electric toothbrushes
Bags / suitcases
In the last 12 months Travelodge staff has reunited 76,500 forgotten cuddly bears with their owners.
Since January 2012 all items left behind at Travelodge hotels that have not been claimed within three months have been donated to Cancer Research UK charity shops across the UK.