Travelodge reveal guests’ most bizarre demands – including a bath filled with ice cream

One guest asked if they could borrow the Giorgio Armani dress Meghan Markle wore during her famous Oprah interview, while another Travelodge customer inquired about meeting Paddington Bear

Travelodge staff have revealed some of the weird and wonderful requests they’ve had from guests this year, ranging from private barbecues to bathtubs full of ice cream, and even a demand to borrow Meghan Markle ‘s clothes.

Over the past 12 months topics fired at staff have ranged from place names, local dishes, customs and traditions across the diverse regions that make up the United Kingdom to random requests.

One customer staying at Bath Waterside Travelodge asked the receptionist if she could contact The Fashion Museum and borrow the city’s official 2021 Dress of The Year for her 40th birthday party.

The ask was an optimistic one, given the gown was the black silk Giorgio Armani dress Meghan Markle wore during her famous Oprah interview.

Meanwhile it was revealed that one guest at the Canterbury Chaucer Central Travelodge was disappointed to hear that King Charles III would not be teaching any lessons at The Kings School Canterbury during their stay in the historic city.

On a separate occasion, a young boy wanted the hotel team at London Waterloo Travelodge to arrange a surprise garden afternoon tea for his grandfather with Paddington Bear.

Meanwhile a confused guest in Edinburgh asked the hotel manager to clarify to whether he had to bow to Edinburgh Zoo’s famous resident Brigadier Sir Nils Olav – a king penguin who is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King’s Guard.

A lot of bizarre requests were also put to staff around food – including a celebrity chef appearance.

One couple staying at Newquay Seafront Travelodge called ahead of their stay and asked if the assistant hotel manager could arrange a private beachfront barbecue with celebrity chef Rick Stein.

Meanwhile a couple staying at Swansea Central Travelodge were relieved to hear that the country’s famous cuisine Laverbread was not actually made from volcanic lava.

Some requests have also included staff being asked to look after a Chow Chow dog while the owner went shopping, and one guest requesting to have an extra bedroom they could use as a walk-in wardrobe.

A particularly inventive customer in Rhyl whose wife seemingly has a sweet tooth asked whether their bath could be filled with different flavoured scoops of ice cream as a birthday present.

This year’s audit also revealed a growing trend of customers asking hotel teams to record voice messages on their phones because they love their regional accents.

A receptionist at Edinburgh Haymarket Travelodge was asked to send a voice note pretending to be Sean Connery to a customer’s Grannie as a birthday surprise.

At Liverpool Central Exchange Street Travelodge a bar worker was asked to record a customer’s voicemail in the voice of the late Cilla Black, who was their favourite celebrity.

The customer specifically asked the bar tender to say ‘Surprise, Surprise’.

Shakila Ahmed, a spokesperson for Travelodge, said: “With more Britons holidaying on British shores than ever before our hotel teams have also received a high volume of interesting requests and questions especially around attractions, locations, local dishes, customs and traditions across our diverse British regions.

“Where possible, our hotel teams will go above and beyond to help customers as they relish a good challenge.

“However, there are some requests beyond their control such as getting ordained to officiate a wedding, getting the London Eye to rotate in an anti-clockwise formation, programming all the traffic lights in York to be green at midday for a bride to get to the church on time.”