Jewish guest finds Free Palestine message on Travelodge TV, police investigate

A Jewish tourist visiting London for a wedding said he found “Free Palestine” on the TV in his hotel room, prompting an antisemitism complaint, a police report and an urgent internal probe at Travelodge Manor House opposite Finsbury Park. Two visibly Jewish guests reportedly found the same message on televisions in separate rooms at the north London hotel.

One of the guests was identified as Sruly Fogel, a 24-year-old from New York who said he had come to the UK for a wedding. He said he felt “frightened and vulnerable” after the discovery and later said, “I’ve had a terrible experience. I doubt I will come again.” Fogel said the group he was travelling with numbered five people and had booked two rooms, and that both rooms showed the message. The guests stayed overnight despite feeling uneasy, with one person remaining awake to watch over the others.

Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch group, reported the matter to police and said it bore “all the hallmarks of targeted antisemitism.” The incident was logged with the Metropolitan Police under reference CAD 7921/03 June 2026. Travelodge said it had launched an immediate internal investigation and reported the matter to police, while chief executive Jo Boydell said the company was treating the report with “utmost seriousness.” She apologised unreservedly to the customer and also apologised to the wider Jewish community.

Later checks at Travelodge Manor House indicated the message had appeared on only a single television, not on all hotel TVs, while the investigation continued. Even so, the episode has sharpened concerns about how quickly a guest room can become a site of harassment when digital systems are not properly secured or monitored.

The case lands at a sensitive moment for north London Jewish communities, where concern about antisemitism has remained high. It also comes after fresh scrutiny of Travelodge’s guest safety practices earlier in 2026, when Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote to Boydell over a separate hotel sexual assault case and urged the company to engage seriously with MPs. The latest complaint now places the chain back under pressure to show that its safety checks, reporting procedures and accountability mechanisms are strong enough to protect vulnerable guests before hate can travel from a screen to a room full of fear.