A winning EuroMillions ticket, Harry Potter’s original wand, a diamond wedding ring, a micro pig and a bucket of live crabs are just a few of the things left in Travelodge hotels last year.
The budget hotel group’s lost and found office has been bulging with items that guests have forgotten to take with them when they checked out or decided to leave behind.
The winning lottery ticket was put under the mattress at the Watford Travelodge for safekeeping, but the owner overslept the next morning and rushed off without it – not for long though!
The original Harry Potter wand, used in the blockbuster movies and worth £2,000 was found by staff at Scunthorpe Travelodge and locked in a drawer until it was claimed.
The diamond wedding ring was temporarily forgotten by a bride staying at Carlisle Central, a £50,000 Rolex was left at Droitwich, a diamond encrusted iPhone5 at London Covent Garden and a £10,000 Tiffany engagement ring at Oxford Peartree.
The micro pig called Percy was found at Glasgow Cumbernauld Travelodge, a pet python at Bristol Severn View, a Persian chinchilla kitten called Porsha at Birmingham Airport Travelodge which was due to be in a nearby cat show and a pantomime horse at Leeds Central.
Perhaps the most bizarre lost property included a pair of breast implants in a room at Newcastle Central, false teeth at Newquay Seafront and an 8ft pop-up spray tanning booth left by girls suffering hangovers!
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, the items 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.”
More than 20,000 books have been left in Travelodge rooms in the past year and 7,000 of them were Fifty Shades of Grey!
The 10 most popular items left behind 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 year, Travelodge staff reunited 76,500 forgotten cuddly bears with their owners. Items not claimed after three months were donated to Cancer Research UK charity shops.
