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Comment by rezistik | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand this at all. AirBnB solves the quality control issue with ratings for both sides doesn't it? I've never used Uber, but Lyft doesn't let me pick which driver I get. Does Uber? If not then the last thing I'd want is an Uber for hotels. AirBnB offers filters and search so I can find exactly what I'm looking for, if OYO is the Uber for hotels is it just giving me a random hotel in a radius? Why would I want that?

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I had a hard time understanding this analogy too from the title. The analogy is used in terms of the core/most important value proposition. For Uber, it is Predictabilty and for AirBnB Discovery.

In hospitality industry, the problem is not that of discovering hotels but that of having a consistent experience(predictability).

The way Oyo addresses that by having designated Oyo Rooms in partnered hotels which adhere to certain quality criteria like bedsheets, interior decor, toiletries etc.

So, if you book a Oyo Room in a Hotel A or a Oyo Room in Hotel B, the experience should be similar ideally.

This sounds more like Best Western in the United States than Uber.

I had to look up Best Western on wiki. You are right. It is similar to Best Western Hotels.

Interesting...That's an oddly infectious way to build a brand. I don't mean this negatively, but it sounds parasitic in nature. If Hotel A has 10 rooms, and 2 of them are Oyo rooms, assumably with Oyo branding within, is it similar to some form of subleasing?

I don't think Oyo subleases the rooms, but instead has some kind of revenue share agreement with the Hotels. One thing you need to consider is that that they partner with Hotels that are small and independent players and do not have their own brand.

OYO ties up with partners for the entire inventory. Even the hotel name is rebranded as OYO. So from a customer's perspective, they would assume this is a hotel chain.

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