Hidden camera found in hotel room

London – A young woman went for a shower in her Travelodge hotel room in Britain… and found a hidden camera beside the unit.

Harmony Hachey, 23, spotted a small electronic device concealed in a ventilator pointing directly at her.

“I was absolutely disgusted,” she said. “I got a fork and stuck it in the vent. You could see so clearly it was a camera. I broke down at one point. I just felt so violated.”

After seeing the camera lens glinting, the business development executive informed staff at the Oxford Wheatley Travelodge of her disturbing discovery.

Bizarrely, it appeared that at one point the hotel’s management claimed the camera had been put there for maintenance purposes.

The webcam was attached to a USB cable which was found to be dangling inside what police described as “a maintenance unit” behind the shower. This cupboard also contained pipes and other electrical wires.

Thames Valley Police dismissed reports that the cable was linked to a caretaker’s room and said it was simply dangling inside the maintenance unit.

The device has been recovered for examination by police. No one has been arrested or interviewed.

Miss Hachey had travelled from her home in Edinburgh with colleagues to the hotel in the village of Wheatley near Oxford on Friday because she was working at an event in the area over the weekend.

“One of the girls had a shower and then I went in,” she said. “It was the first thing I noticed.

“I was trying to convince myself I was crazy and it wasn’t really there. I had my shower and I just carried on as usual. I was going through scenarios in my head.”

After realising it was a camera, she took a number of photographs as evidence and alerted hotel staff.

Miss Hachey said: “The boss was called and as soon as he saw the camera he took a plastic bag and took it out.

“After that the police came, they had a look at my pictures and looked at the camera itself and the vent.”

She said she then received a call from a member of management, who told her the camera appeared to be switched off.

Miss Hachey added: “I got a call from upper management. She was like, ‘You can be assured sometimes we install cameras for maintenance’.

“She told me to calm down and there was no footage on there, but no one had looked.”

After giving a statement to Thames Valley Police, she tried to find another place to stay for the weekend, but ended up having to settle for switching rooms instead. She said: “I didn’t want to stay in that room. They moved the bed into another room. Later I got a call from customer services saying I was going to get a full refund and that was it.”

After the incident, Miss Hachey went on TripAdvisor to warn other potential guests. She wrote: “Who was in that shower before me? Families? Children? What would have happened if I didn’t find it!?

“It’s obvious that the camera was put there for one reason and one reason only… Nobody knows what sick people are out there and even when you’re in a total moment of privacy you could be being violated.

“Travelodge are supposed to provide a safe and secure environment which they evidently don’t!!! They can’t get away with this, please share and be careful!!!” Miss Hachey said that after the incident she rang her mother. “She was furious that they had removed the camera because it was about to become a crime scene,” she added.

A spokesperson for Travelodge said: “We can confirm that on Friday 28th August 2015 a customer at our Oxford Wheatley hotel made us aware of the presence of what appeared to be a camera in their room.

“The privacy of our customers is a matter of the highest importance to us and the hotel team investigated immediately. While the camera appeared to be inoperative, we have reported this matter to the police and we are now supporting them fully with their investigations. We would like to offer our sincere apologies to the customer affected and will remain in contact to ensure the matter is resolved.”

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: “A camera has been recovered for examination. Reports of this nature are very rare, but we always treat them very seriously. We are working very closely with Travelodge to secure as much evidence as we can.”

By INDERDEEP BAINS www.iol.co.za