I have had Google map like experiences with Oyo, like landing in places where I did not want to go or booking rooms deemed premium but not worth a shack! Here are the challenges:
It does not tell you the hotel name until you have booked it, and clearly, OYO Premium Aerocity can be some Marian zombies abode as well.
And now that you don’t know where you are booking, you don’t get to know the reviews from trip advisor. So if you land in a hellhole that they call premium, you have only yourself to blame.
Their room inventory management is through some dud tablet they give to the hotel guys. Most cases, the hotel guys just ignore that contraption and leave it in the junkyard with yesterday’s newspapers. So when you reach there are 12.00 night after a booking confirmed by the OYO God, the hotel owner will show you their backside and of course, no room for you.
Standardisation nightmare is the last point you have to be wary of. You see, an OYO Premium I’d different in different hotels. I had to check out a confirmed booking and check into another OYO Premium nearby. It was a shocker. The room had about 3mm of superfine, low micron size dust all around. I made a holler at midnight and then was allotted a room where the dust was hidden neatly behind the tables, on the TV, inside the wardrobe etc.
I now have a simple funda. Go to TripAdvisor, check out the best deals and reviews and book through cleartrip or any other traditional sites. This app business I will revisit again in about two years.