OYO Hotel Memphis TN I-40 — Hotel in Memphis

So I normally don't write reviews, but I just stayed the night in the most luxurious $55 a night hotel in the ghetto of Memphis Tennessee. Just wondered if any of my friends might like to hear my review? Well buckle up, here we go! At first the poorly lit parking area really set the ambiance of the place. This hidden gem has all the appeal of a abandoned psychiatric ward. Upon checking in, the lobby looked nice enough so hey 'how bad could it be?" I thought. After waking the attendant I was greeted with distain for my existence, but hey I'm no morning person either. The fact that it was 9pm well thats not important. As I walked the marble foyer to the main hallway, I thought "wow, they have really put some money into this old place. Beautiful tall glass doors to a place called called "conversation" were to my left. I could only assume that it was a bustling little hotel bar in maybe 1970 or something. As I made my way to the main hall to my room, the unmistakable sound of a smoke alarm mourning the death of its battery filled the air. Reminded me of my childhood. I turned down the hall to what I can only describe as the hall of horrors. I found my room, and dreaded what awaited me on the other side of the door. Upon entering I noticed a distict smell, more on that later. But hey it was home for the night, as I'm sure many traveler had to talk themselves into settling in. First I inspected the bathroom, to find it was occupied. There was a cockraoch standing one hand on the wall pissing in the toilet, smoking a cigar. He was obviously not raised well, he didn't bother lifting the seat. He finished his business and left without incident, threw me the duces and ran down the tub drain. I put the stopper in it hoping for some privacy. Well bathroom checks out, on to the reason I am here, the bed! I got the king size bed cause I'm no peasant and I like plenty of room to feel lonely. After a search for any other critters that might call this mattress home, I gave it a try. I don't have the words to describe this experience, but hey you know me, I'm gonna try. The base was made of what I can only assume is an old metal storage building that had swayed in the wind until falling over and giving up. Solid sheet metal with a few loose screws. O the sounds this thing made, it had a lot of "miles" on it. The only thing better than the pleasant song it sang everytime u breath, was its rock solid firm support that reminded me that sleeping on the ground isn't so bad. Back to the smell, imagine if you rolled a joint in one of those Christmas tree air freshners and smoked it in a swamp sitting on a tree stump filled with rotted mushrooms, then put it out with a handful of wet skunk hair. I know that's a lot to process, but it's pretty spot on. I settled into bed hearing the toilet drain plug rattle, I guess he had to piss again. What can you do. I have slept in the woods with nothing more than a blanket under a tree and have never feared a wildlife encounter as much as I did this night. The constant reminder of the smoke alarms questionable function would be comforted by the fact that the windows were bolted shut. To sum up my stay, I'm leaving with a sinus infection, bags under my eyes, and after sleeping in that bed, I might be pregnant. Can't wait to get home, I will sleep like a...

Do NOT book here if you consider your health important! ||||The basic: ||Booked based on pictures and a 4.8 rating that some kind of associated booking with Trivago. Non refundable and didn’t pay attention. That was definitely super stupid of me to not check all other reviews. This doesn’t even deserve one star. ||OYO, I see all your responses to reviews like this. You’re being lied to by whatever owner or franchise owner runs this place, or you’re liars, one of the two. You’ve responded that this doesn’t represent your standards. Every day this place is open it’s ruining whatever standards or reputation you DO have. Based on this experience I will never set foot in another OYO again.||||The details:||Booked today, 9/18/23, for check in tonight. Received room 210. ||Let me tell you how this went.||Upon arriving realized it was nothing CLOSE to photos. Lobby is slightly upkept to give a better impression. But if you look close you can actually see the coffee table isn’t clean at all when the light hits it. ||You turn the hallway to go find your room and you are met with dark, dank, disgustingly filthy hallway and the reeking smell of Marijuana despite all the signs around the front saying you’ll lose your stay if you smoke there. Trying to keep hope perhaps the rooms are in better shape, get on the elevator and suddenly wonder if it’s ever been inspected and KNOW it’s not been mopped in a month of Sundays. ||||Get to the room and it’s disgusting. Plus no fridge. Switch rooms for room 408. The smell gets worse on that floor. Also disgusting hallway. Get to this second room to discover the same exact filth except worse if possible, because there’s recognizable body fluids on the spread. Pull back the sheets to see the slept in kind of wrinkles and different color pieces of fiber from clothes etc. ||||Like the first room, the walls are not just stained. No, that would represent something HAD been there and been cleaned. Instead, the walls are covered in unknown substances you can see have dropped down or been smeared. You can even make out some handprints.|| The drywall/plaster is chipped all over. The floor is dull and uncleaned like everywhere else. You can’t even touch a light switch without feeling like you need sanitizer. There’s pubic hair on the toilet. Bugs in the cracks of the top of the wall. The curtains are dry rotted on the back. The lamp has something spilled all over it. I can’t even describe the putrid smoke/marijuana smell. ||||Immediately leave and just eat the cost of a 3 night stay. ||||Oh yeah, and the fire extinguisher case on floor 4 is busted with open glass. That’s super safe and I’m sure up to fire marshall code. And the exit is padlocked and busted off the hinges. Top notch care about the safety of the guests. ||||You may see some numbers and think it’s alright OYO, but I guarantee you have some long term stayers here who are most of your actual income. What’s pathetic is because of the general location and

Last weekend I was visiting Memphis on business and selected OYO through the Expedia app. Seemed fine enough and at a convenient location. But, it all changed when I entered the premises. I pulled in to immediately see a police car with its lights on. Immediately I was concerned. So I pulled into a parking space and waited in my car to see what, if anything, was happening. Within a couple of minutes, people started billowing out of the building. Was there a fire? No, there would have been more of a panic (maybe) with flames and fire alarms and the fire department. Then, I noticed what seemed to be similarities of the people exiting. While they didn’t seem to be in a panic from flames, they were urgently getting in cars to leave. Not only that, they were dressed as what can only be described as obscenely and scantily clad. Folks, this was a prostitution ring being broken up. I see a guy casually strolling up to the building, cop car still in place, so now I’m thinking I’ve got to talk to the front desk to at least see what’s going on.

So I walk in and immediately notice the box fan on the floor in the lobby with the noticeable heat indoors. Yep, they didn’t/don’t have AC. This would have been nice to know. Thanks Expedia. So I wait my turn to talk to the front desk attendant.

The clerk was nice enough. When I asked what was going on, he assured me it was “safe” even though I hadn’t told him my safety concern yet. Suspicious. He proceeded to tell me that there was a call made from the hotel and that they are “still looking for someone.” What?! So an active safety concern? Was there abuse, violence, threats of violence, or worse—murder? I noped right on out of there, but before I did, I requested to cancel and receive a refund due to my concerns. He was very understanding…almost like…yeah I get it. After asking me where I was from, almost like he was trying to ascertain if I was unfamiliar with these kinds of happening, he told me the booking was canceled now and that he lifted the refund inability and that all I would have to do is contact Expedia customer service to receive my refund.

No problem, “thank you!” We parted ways and I thought that would be the end of it.

But, it wasn’t. This is a review about the hotel OYO, so I won’t go into details. But, I never received a refund from Expedia or the hotel and I’ve renounced Expedia from here forth. People should hold to their word and companies like Expedia should put people over profits and policies, especially when the very customer they claim to serve feels they are in imminent danger.

Stay safe out...