OYO Hotel Waco University Area/ I-35 — Hotel in Waco

I am leaving a three month review. I usually wait till the end of any service before I leave a review due to the fact that I like to see the entire picture. It's been all most three months and not much has changed. I would like to say that the front desk lady has been very kind and full of smiles. Very helpful. She and other house keeping members have kept my room clean on a daily basis. This place has been quiet and peaceful. I am here working a near by job till end of the year. At first I didn't know how safe I would be here but I haven't had a single issue with safety. I have thousands of dollars worth of tools in my truck. Not one thing has come up missing. I do not see suspicious characters in the parking lot or around the rooms. All I have seen are working class men and women of all nationalities. Simple people making their way in life. There is a night time parking lot attendant who deserves credit for keeping this place safe at night. I leave my truck unlocked and never had any problems. He makes rounds several times a night and is on the hunt for anyone who don't belong here. That is the truth. Waco is a college town with very low crime stats. The rooms are not luxury but for the price compared to other places is very acceptable. I am a road warrior who works in many different states. I always have my own policies when it comes to motels. I always bring my own cleaning supplies for a long stay. That way I can scrub the room down the way I want it when I first check in. After doing the floors and bathroom in my room housekeeping has maintained it spotlessly every day. I have my own coffee maker and personal items that make me more comfortable. I have never had anything taken from my room. Very trust worthy people that work here. Simple as that. The parking lot is clean. The walk ways are clean. The Oyo is probably the oldest motel in Waco. It's not modern by any means. But it's comfortable, safe & peaceful. I have not seen drug activity or any thing illegal. Just working class folks. Some may sit out on the beds of their trucks after work and talk. It's mostly Latino here. And everyone has been friendly. The T.Vs are not fancy but they work and have a decent picture on them. There is nothing fancy or flashy about this place. It's been home after work to me for several weeks now and has kept me comfortable in 100 plus digit temps. The ac is great!! TV has many good channels and awesome internet. For those booking rooms for overnight the best practice is choose the pay at front desk option so your money don't get tied up. You have to remember this is the least expensive place other than some of the bnb's you share with an owner except there you don't have real privacy with those. This being the least expensive some people book then decide to not stay so I understand that problem with booking. You can't expect a five star room with a one star price. and some expect that. For the work travelers trying to save money this is the right place. For those on vacation with high expectations....you may want to go some place else. Most people here are probably long term workers going home on the weekends. I will say again...this place has been great for the price and quiet,safe and comfortable. I have only seen two bugs since I've checked in and that was about two weeks apart. They spray here if needed. I keep all open food in the fridge or microwave. The location is really good. Very close to great places to eat and local super markets. It's a college town and every thing is within a few square miles. I've seen front desk get verbally abused a couple times while being here. It wasn't their fault. People come here expecting a five star room for 30 bucks and get disappointed when it isn't loaded with everything they have at home. Be real with your expectations is all I can say. It's a good place to stay in my opinion. They are working hard to make their customers happy. Front desk deserves lots of credit for being polite and professional. I'd give this place a chance. Some of the negative reviews...

I wanted to share my experience with Expedia and OYO to help prevent anyone else from being in a situation like mine. I had to sleep in mycar... 🤦‍♀️

I booked and paid for a hotel room through Expedia in June at OYO motel which was walking distance to the stadium where a concert was being held.

I was given the option to pay when I booked or when I arrived. Knowing this was a huge event I didn't take any chances and paid right then.

I got to OYO right at 3 and there was a guy trying to check in right in front of me who was upset because they were turning him away. He turned to me on his way out and said 'if you're hoping to get a room, you're out of luck" my response was 'oh, I already paid'. To which he says 'yeah, I did too". 😳

I go up next and the rude lady behind the counter says "No rooms." I let her know I booked mine already and paid for it in advance months ago. She stated they over booked and she sent out all cancelations already. I asked her to please check because she didn't even ask my name yet and she begrudgingly said what's your name. I started saying my name and after saying "Rachel" she said "yeah, _? I just sent that one back". 😳

So there I was at 3 pm scrambling to try to find something else. I got on with Expedia who stated they couldn't help me and that it wasn't their fault. Excuse me? You contract with the hotel and facilitated the booking. On top of that they told me it will be 7 to 10 days before I get a refund. So not only am I scrambling to find a room at the literal last minute, I also did not have access to the funds to assist with covering another place.

To top it off, since I had a hotel booked and paid for within walking distance I did not buy a parking pass. Why would I need one when I booked a hotel in walking distance? Parking passes at this time was sold out in all lots. Im sure you can only imagine the cost of Uber for a show like this not to mention how hard it is to get one.

Long story short, there were no rooms available within an hour due the the show. After trying to figure it out for a couple hours, not having a place to stay or park my car, the only option was a tent site 15 minutes away. There was not even a room at an ungodly rate as sites showed. In calling the few that supposedly had rooms, all were booked. Probably by people who also fell victim to Expedia and OYO because the group for them has many posts with people going through the same thing I was.

This ordeal left me exhausted after a night of trying to sleep in a hot car after being at an outdoors concert until nearly 1 am in the 95⁰ heat.

Even with rushing to the tent site and get to the show, I still missed the first 2 acts. I am exhausted and still furious with Expedia and OYO. But I can only thank God that this time I didn't have my daughter with me like she usually is. Because that would have been really bad.

At no time did Expedia state they would ensure this would not happen again. They just told me it was the hotels fault. I'm sure they will continue to offer OYO on their site putting other families at risk. So here's your warning to not risk booking with Expedia or OYO because this could be you.

OYO commented on my Facebook post claiming they were looking into it but never got back to me. Clearly theyre just trying to act like they cared. Be warned. In reading other reviews on there from even months ago this is a common...

Basically I cannot give one star or five stars on the rooms or the service or the location? Well actually I could probably give you a star for the location but I won't give any stars because if you choose to stay here you're probably going to get screwed. It's called legal theft and between them and super.com they take your money and leave you on the streets because we were denied our stay after we pre paid ANDDD turned away after a 7-hour. Drive to get here, THEY SAID" IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME"!!!!!Because apparently Super.com doesn't check she said and the motel doesn't report being full and so they JUST overbook!! ANDDDDD THEN ....the motel Cancel you after Super.com sets up "FOR YOU" NON REFUNDABLE - NO CANCELLATION "BOTH" knowing they do this "ALLLL THE TIME"!!!!!Actually I guess I could give a star for the location cuz we did find it but I'm not going to do that. It's nothing but legal theft I guess. If you like staying on the street or sleeping in your car book it... It will be "GREAT" but otherwise I wouldn't recommend this motel or Super.com!!!This is NOT unKNOWINGLY doing this and making a mistake this is KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE DOING and legally stealing from good people, so it's zero all the way across the board!!! Would not even refund our money. Wanted to give us credits. We were going to pay $160 for two nights and they were going to give us a $91 in credits. Which what is a credit? Seriously!!!! Something to appease you for the moment, that really is NOTHING!! Something they can make you feel like you didn't just get "screwed" until "AGAIN " You got to use those credits and lo and behold they've overbooked so there again. You are "screwed " again!! Anyway they suck. That's all I got to say. Oh & down below.⏬ They want us to leave photos or videos. Don't have them, know why?!!! "WE WERE DENIED OUR STAY AND CANCELLED BECAUSE.....They overbooked!!! SOOO I guess THIS IS the only place that you can talk about this because down below they want you to give a description of your room where there's luxurious whatever. Don't know we were denied our stay. They overbooked then they want to know about you know the safety food and drink ETC. You know all that would normally be when you give goods ratings or do so ratings at I would because I have never given a rating like this Unless you know maybe didn't meet your standards but We can't do that because " GUESS" we were denied our stay,TURNED AWAY AND CANCELLED!!!WHY???They overbooked!!! Super.com and this motel again suck.!!! So..... just so y'all know the one star I did give them.. I HAD to give them in order for me to be able to post this. They would not let me post unless I gave them a star rating and I was going to go take it back but they won't let me. BUT when pushed on the 1 star says "HATED IT"!! They suck you know why.... because they denied our stay, TURNED US AWAY, AND CANCELLED OUR RESERVATION because they overbooked!! Super.com and OYO Hotel of Waco Interstate 35 Frontage Rd...