Travelodge launches probe after Jewish hotel guest turned on TV to find 'Free Palestine' welcome message

By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:37, 4 June 2026 | Updated: 11:39, 4 June 2026 Travelodge has launched a probe after Jewish guests checked in to their rooms in London and found a welcome message from the hotel which read 'Free Palestine'. Two visibly Jewish guests arrived at the branch in Manor House, north London, on Wednesday afternoon, and went to their rooms where the words appeared on their TVs. The welcome message is understood to be set by the hotel and can be customised by members of staff. One of the guests described how they arrived at around 4.30pm yesterday to find an employee who appeared reluctant to even look at them. He said he was 'met with a negative attitude at the front desk as an employee did not wish to serve him or look his way'. After being given their room keys, the guests made their way to their respective rooms where the man turned on the TV to see the message. He then checked with his friend, who had the same welcome message on the TV in their room.  Travelodge said in a statement it is 'urgently investigating' the incident, which the firm also reported to the police, adding: 'Travelodge takes allegations of antisemitism extremely seriously.' Two visibly Jewish guests arrived at the branch in Manor House, north London, on Wednesday afternoon, to find 'Free Palestine' emblazoned on their TVs The incident occurred at the Travelodge in Manor House - the chain has said it is 'urgently' investigating The hotel is understood to be commonly used by members of the Jewish community of north London and their visiting relatives.  Sharing footage of the message, voluntary Jewish patrol group Shomrim said: 'This behaviour bears all the hallmarks of targeted antisemitism.' And a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism called for the employee responsible to be fired. They said: 'Are Jews no longer allowed to book a hotel room without being accosted by pro-Palestine fanaticism? Greeting Jews with a 'Free Palestine' message is not moral activism; it's targeted discrimination from those obsessed with the world's only Jewish state.  'When this is what happens to identifiably Jewish people in Britain, is it any wonder that 59 percent of British Jews try not to show visible signs of their Jewishness due to concerns relating to antisemitism, according to our polling?  'Travelodge must investigate this at once and ensure that whoever was responsible is fired.' A Travelodge spokesperson said that the incident was reported to the police.  Jo Boydell, CEO of Travelodge, said: 'We are taking the report of an antisemitic message that appeared on the TV screen in a room in one of our hotels yesterday afternoon with the utmost seriousness.  'We were made aware of this late yesterday and launched an immediate investigation to understand how something like this could have happened. We are urgently investigating to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible and have reported this matter to the Police. 'There is no place in society for antisemitism and we will not tolerate this in our hotels or in our wider business.  'In the meantime, we have now spoken with the customer in question and apologised unreservedly, and further apologise for any distress or concern caused to the wider Jewish Community.'  It comes as Britain's Jewish community has faced heightened security fears in recent months amidst anger at the Israeli government's actions in Palestine, Iran and Lebanon. Areas with large Jewish populations in London have seen a series of alleged arson attacks, including at several synagogues. In March, four ambulances belonging to community service Hatzola, were torched in Golders Green. A month later, two Jewish men were stabbed in a terror attack in Golders Green. The alleged attacker is also accused of attempting to kill his friend, who is not Jewish, earlier the same day.  The latest furore for Travelodge follows outrage earlier this year after it emerged a woman was sexually assaulted as she slept by a man who had been given unauthorised access to her room by staff. Kyran Smith, who had been at a party which the victim had also attended earlier that night, turned up at the hotel and claimed to be her boyfriend. Without any evidence his claims were true, staff handed over a keycard to the woman's room. Smith has since been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison over the attack. It emerged that when the woman first made Travelodge aware of the incident, she was offered a £30 refund. The hotel chain has since issued an apology and changed its keycard policy.  The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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