A series of bad experiences at the wrong StayInn
tellitlikeitis2018 Solo travel
Mar 28,2019
The hotel Stay Inn is nice and clean. The poha-jalebi breakfast is quite nice. So why the low rating? My issues are with the coordination from OYO, and the other services from the staff.
1. WRONG LOCATION: I looked up the pictures of the hotel branch at Maharana Pratap Nagar during booking. That is the branch whose pictures you readers are seeing on this site. Then I booked through OYO. Problem is, OYO links you to another branch of this hotel tucked away from the city in a residential colony of Saket Nagar, and if you are unfamiliar with Bhopal and miss the fine print where they mention the address on whatsapp, you will land up here as I did. This second branch has zero reviews on the internet, and if you search for StayInn, all the websites lead you to the MP Nagar branch. So if you want the courtyard pool branch with large windows, then it is not this branch. Here, all the windows open to brickwalls, and there is no courtyard pool. I urge the management to open a Tripadvisor and Google presence for their Saket Nagar branch to put to rest future confusion among other customers.
2. FALSE PROMISES: Again, this one is on OYO. I had made an initial booking for 3 nights, but when the CC Executive for OYO called for confirmation, I explained to her that I would only be staying for 46 hrs in Bhopal but paying for 72 hrs, thanks to my awkward train timings, and if the amount can be reduced. The CCE assured me that it is possible and reduced my booking to 2 nights from 3 assuring me that she had spoken to the hotel staff. As it turns out, she had either spoken to the hotel staff at MP Nagar branch, or else she was just fibbing, because the staff at Saket Nagar said they weren't informed at all. When I called OYO, the CCE this time said OYO will never make such offers to any customer because check-in/check-out times are fixed irrespective of total number of hours spent.
Points 3, 4, and 5 are on the staff:
3. MORE TRAINING REQUIRED: Only the daytime manager at Saket Nagar is well-trained and polite. The night time staff needs better training. One of the boys is actually very rude. Perhaps he doesn't know he sounds rude, but he needs to chill when speaking with people paying for the hotel's services.
4. FLUSH TANK LEAK: I had pointed out the problem with the flush tank of Room 104 as soon as I walked inside the bathroom that there's somebody's urine that hasn't been flushed, but the rude staff member had confidently told me then "woh sirf aisa dikh raha hai" (it just appears like piss!). Next morning, I had to use the bucket instead of the flush! The manager then got me to change the room in the evening when I returned from Sanchi. They need to check their equipments frequently to see if everything is in order. A customer needn't have to say it on the review.
5. LOUSY TEA: On the morning of checking out, I had asked for tea at 7 AM. While it was noted down, it never arrived. So I called again at 7:30, and then at 7:45 to learn that the kitchen staff had gone out to get milk. So I waited, and called at 8:15 to find the milk that arrived had burst. Finally, when the tea did arrive with breakfast at 8:30, it was loaded with raw pieces of ginger. It seems the staff didn't bother to use a sieve.
All in all, I spent my first night in room 104, next in another room, and third day in another cheaper hotel. Hope other travelers have a better experience and don't have to shift from place to place because of the combined carelessness of OYO and the staff.