OYO founders admit, without reservations, there’s room for improvement

It was 1 am by the time Ashwini S, a Bengaluru-based marketing professional, checked into the hotel in Mumbai. Business travel was routine for her and she wasn’t worried as, over the past few months, her OYO Rooms booking had gone through without a hitch. But this time around, she didn’t feel the same comfort. The room wasn’t clean, the hotel looked seedy and there was no hot water. It wasn’t the OYO experience she was used to. What had gone wrong, she wondered.

The past few months have been rickety for OYO. There have been negative reviews on room standards, Wi-Fi connectivity, quality of service and also about the bookings. The tipping point was a Facebook rant by Manoj Thelakkat, which went viral on social media, detailing his ordeal, right from the wrong hotel room booking to multiple shifts to rooms that didn’t meet basic cleanliness standards to the lousy breakfast he was served. The post ignited speculation of whether OYO had lost its focus somewhere along the way.