Travelodge reveals bizarre list of items left behind in hotel rooms in Highland capital and across Scotland
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GOLD false teeth, a framed century-old map of the Highlands, and camera equipment worth £5000 were among the "bizarre left behinds" at Travelodge's Inverness hotels in 2020.
The budget hotel chain revealed the unusual list of items after publishing its annual list of 'bizarre' goods left behind by forgetful guests when they checked out.
And the surreal sight of a set of gold gnashers barely scratches the surface of some of the weird and wonderful items left in the hotel's sites elsewhere in Scotland
Everything from a 6ft polar bear, to a magician's top hat and white rabbit called Thumper greeted room service staff when they went to make up the rooms.
And, in a fitting piece of James Bond style symmetry, other items left behind included a life size cardboard cut-out of Sean Connery in Glasgow and keys to an Aston Martin in Ayr.
In Travelodge's three Inverness hotels, the more unusual items were:
- £5000 worth of camera equipment
- A set of gold false teeth
- A framed 100-year-old map of the Scottish Highlands
- A treasure map
- A Hermes Birkin handbag still in its original box
- A Christmas village made out of shortbread
And the bizarre finds at Travelodge's 44 other Scotland hotels included:
- A 3ft long wedding bouquet made of Scottish wildflowers, heathers and thistles – Aberdeen Bucksburn
- A doctor's bag full of diagnostic equipment – Aberdeen Central
- A 60 year old lucky penny – Aberdeen Central Justice Mill Lane
- A box of bespoke face masks with the Scottish flag on – Aberdeen Central Justice Mill Lane
- Keys to an Aston Martin – Ayr
- A sleeping groom – Dundee Central
- Deeds to land and a title in the Scottish Highlands – Dundee Strathmore Avenue
- A Scottish Terrier called Braveheart – Dundee Strathmore Avenue
- A barrister’s cloak and wig – Edinburgh Central PLUS
- A 6ft Polar Bear (stuffed toy) – Edinburgh Central PLUS
- A business plan for a new online business – Edinburgh Central Rose Street
- A degree in History from Edinburgh University – Edinburgh Central Waterloo Place
- A bespoke tartan saree encrusted with Swarovski crystals – Edinburgh Park
- A Swarovski encrusted 4ft red deer statue – Elgin
- A red wallet containing £5000 worth of Yen – Glasgow Airport
- A pair of nurses scrubs and crocs – Glasgow Govan
- A life size cardboard cut-out of Sean Connery – Glasgow Queen Street
- An Irn Bru wedding cake – Livingston
- A magician's top hat and a white bunny rabbit called Thumper – Perth A9
- Tapestry wall art detailing wedding vows made 40 years ago – Perth Broxden Junction
- A bottle of Single Malt Whisky worth £2000 – Stirling City Centre
Wedding-related items featured heavily on the list.
The housekeeping team at the Dundee Central Travelodge got quite a shock to find a groom fast asleep in room 11 in full wedding attire.
The bridegroom decided to have a catnap prior to the wedding and overslept – his wedding party thought he had left early to get to the wedding venue and it was when the bride arrived that everyone panicked and thought the groom had got cold feet and decided not to get married.
The team slowly woke him and then it was a mad dash for the hotel team to get him to the wedding venue – luckily time was on his side and the wedding went ahead.
An elderly couple staying at Perth Broxden Junction Travelodge who were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary forgot their tapestry wall art detailing their wedding vows which was a wedding present. They had brought the tapestry with them as they got married in Perth and wanted to relive their big day. Luckily they realised that they had forgotten their tapestry en-route to Edinburgh and came back and stayed for another day in Perth.
And a groom staying at the Edinburgh Central Travelodge had to send a courier to pick up his wife’s surprise wedding present that he had forgot to pack – a 6ft tall cuddly polar bear.
Whilst the team at the Aberdeen Bucksburn Travelodge worked around the clock to deliver a 3ft long wedding bouquet made of Scottish wildflowers, heathers and thistles to a wedding ceremony which had been left behind by a wedding coordinator in the cold store room overnight.
Forgetful business travellers have also left behind an array of expensive and interesting items. This includes keys to a brand new Aston Martin car being left behind at Ayr Travelodge. A CEO staying at Stirling City Centre Travelodge left behind a rare bottle of single malt whisky worth £2000 and had to send his PA up from London to come and pick this up the following day.
More recently, a businessman from Japan forgot his lucky red wallet which contained £5000 worth of yen at Glasgow Airport Travelodge. The hotel manager literally had to jump queues at the airport to reunite the customer with this prized possession.
Shakila Ahmed, a spokeswoman for Travelodge, said: “With millions of customers annually staying at our 47 hotels across the length and breadth of Scotland, three of which are in Inverness, for thousands of different reasons, we do get a range of interesting items left behind.
“This year, as we kept some of our hotels open in Scotland 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 doctor’s bag filled with diagnostic equipment, scrubs and crocs 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.”
