A leading hotel chain has hit back following a string of negative reviews on Tripadvisor.
Since its establishment in 2012 by Ritesh Agarwal, OYO Hotels and Homes has run a slew of hotels internationally across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and has been regarded as ‘the world's third-largest and fastest-growing’ hospitality chain. Particularly within the UK, OYO has even added 1,200 rooms across the nation from April 2020, due to the severity of the pandemic on the hotel industry, with its stance remaining to serve small to mid-sized hotel rooms and homes on a budget.
Centrally located in the affluent suburbs of Bristol, OYO Flagship The Regency on St Pauls Road seemingly appeared to be no different than what has long been on offer across the franchise.
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With an average rating of three stars on TripAdvisor, the city’s local OYO has been comfortably sat amongst the top 60 highest performing inns on the site.
Reviews posted by previous customers have varied from OYO Bristol described as a ‘fine stay’ to consisting of ‘excellent staff’.
One former visitor gave OYO in Bristol a four star rating and wrote of the hotel: “Carpets & shower a bit dirty but the bed was comfy, good facilities in the room (tea & coffee, TV, wardrobe etc) and nice reception staff. Parking was safe outside but an extra £15. Worth it with the cheap stay. Good food & drink around the hotel, would stay again for one or two nights.”
Another user also provided a high score, by writing: “I went on a short trip to Bristol and stayed in their hotel. The location of the hotel was very near to the city centre and the staff was very helpful and friendly. The rooms were clean with big windows for fresh air to pass through.”
However, since its last recorded review that was published in September 2021, where an average rating or higher was given, other reviews as recent as February of last month have reported on numerous allegations regarding the Bristol branch’s hygiene and overall value. Many of the claims have been denied by the hotel chain.
Previous customers have accused the establishment for a range of matters, from customers allegedly receiving bed bug bites and a lack of heating to overpriced stays.
One user described their stay at the hotel, by writing: “A very ghastly place. Vile on all levels. Carpet from 50 years ago. Steep staircase. Cranky floorboard, no policing at night, no cleaning during the day, so the toilets was full of vomit from wild revellers. Going to bed is a fall in the deep abyss. A no go on some many levels!!!”
Another user expressed their ‘really poor’ experience at OYO due to allegedly facing ‘freezing’ temperatures where they stated they received inadequate heating, after paying £106 for a room alongside their partner.
They wrote: “Went to my room, window open and no heating, it was freezing. I popped down to see them and was told the heating is not working in some rooms. It's not great, sorry about the window. The room probably smelled when it was cleaned. Got given a plug in heater.
“Room was small, which I could handle even though the pictures on booking were definitely different. Overall a disappointment for £106.”
While another reviewer wrote: "In the room, the radiator was cranked up to max and the window would not open, so I spent the night sweating it out (even once we’d realised and turned the radiator down). The guest in the room next door snored loud enough to wake the whole hotel, so very thin walls. Safe to say it was a restless night.
"I also woke to find several red and itchy bite marks on my legs - bed bug bites."
A user additionally described their visit as ‘a lot of money for an underwhelming stay’ after witnessing mould and stains visible across their room.
Meanwhile, a former visiting family chimed in to argue that their stay was too ‘expensive for the experience’ after being charged £141.50 per night for a double room where the ‘shower doesn't work properly’ and ‘no towels were left in the room’.
OYO Flagship The Regency’s response
OYO UK has since responded to the criticism garnered due to its services and they have emphasised that while they take ‘this type of complaint extremely seriously’ they also stated that standards are being met.
A spokesperson for OYO UK said: “We take this type of complaint extremely seriously, however, we are confident that this property meets our high standards of cleanliness and guest experience.
“We launched a full programme of repair and refurbishment works on the property in late 2021, including a new high-efficiency boiler.
“Following two negative Tripadvisor reviews in February 2022 a specialist contractor was engaged by OYO and found no evidence of bed bugs at this property.
“We remain concerned that the guests in question did not have a good experience at this property and we would welcome the chance to engage with them on their specific complaint so that we can investigate further.”
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