THE keys to a BMW X6, Jimmy Choo shoes, a grandfather clock and a prosthetic hand are among the unusual items left behind by forgetful hotel guests in Oxfordshire.
Travelodge UK has its headquarters in Thame and said customers at its Peartree and Wheatley hotels are leaving behind all sorts of possessions.
Last year at Oxford Peartree, guests left the BMW keys, a collection of oil paintings of Oxford colleges, Jimmy Choo shoes, a mortar board, a dissertation, and a pair of rowing oars.
Other bizarre items left behind in the Oxford hotels include a prosthetic hand, a love letter written 40 years ago and a pug called Dancer.
Our top stories
At Oxford Wheatley guests left a box of newspapers from 1990, a limited edition Mont Blanc pen, and a grandfather clock.
Beenish Usmani, the hotel manager for Oxford Peartree Travelodge, said: “Some of the things that guests leave behind are incredible and we’ve had everything from car keys through to a box of old newspapers and even a pair of oars.”
Receptionist at the Oxford Peartree hotel Mirek Vongya added: “It isn’t long before people usually realise what they have done, and I'm happy to say that we normally return items to owners very quickly.”
Travelodge spokeswoman Shakila Ahmed said that the items left behind in Oxfordshire had been handed back to their owners.
Referring to hotels across the country, she added: “This year’s lost and found inventory has revealed some new unique items left behind.
- A prosthetic hand like this one was one of the items left
“These include a Coutts cheque book, an antique dolls’ house, a child’s Porsche car, a Star Wars stormtrooper outfit and a feng shui aquarium.
“The pace of life has become so fast and we are so eager to get from A to B that valuable people’s possessions are easily being forgotten.”
Ms Ahmed said: “We have had 12,000 tablets and smartphones left behind in our hotels in the last 12 months.
“This is a significant increase from previous years.”
Travelodge corporate public relations manager James Pieslak said the chain made every effort to reunite guests with their possessions.
He added: “Sometimes we post them or people will come back to the hotel to get them. We often find people call up a couple of hours after they have left, if they have forgotten something.”
The most common items left behind were mobile phone chargers, mobile phones, books, laptops, tablets and Kindles, pyjamas, toiletry bags, teddy bears, electric toothbrushes, bags and suitcases and sat navs.
An estimated 17 million people stay every year at one of the chain’s hotels across the country.
- Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here