OYO Las Vegas – Standard King Review – The Bad & The Worse

Key Points:

• OYO is a budget resort near the Strip that’s known for cheap blackjack, rooms, and drinks.

• My standard king room was egregiously dirty, especially the bathroom.

• OYO’s room wasn’t worth the $79.98 I paid (room + fees + tax), and I can’t in good conscience recommend others stay here.

OYO, formerly Hooters Hotel & Casino, is located within walking distance of the Las Vegas Strip and is known for being budget-friendly.

Rooms are cheap, they deal a $1 blackjack game around the clock, and serve $2 bottles of beer.

Ever since the resort transitioned to the OYO brand, I’ve been itching to check out their hotel product to gauge if it was a good value.

I finally pulled the trigger on a room, which cost $20 + $39.95 resort fee, with the intent of sharing my experience with you.

OYO Check-In Experience

I parked in their surface lot, steps away from the front door, which was convenient, and made my way to the check-in counter.

There wasn’t a line, and I was able to step right up.

The process of clicking, typing, and verifying my ID seemed to take an eternity, but we eventually got the the point where I needed to hand over the card I wanted on file for incidental charges.

It was at this point that I was asked if I had a car, and because I did, would be charged $15/night parking fee.

I was shocked.

OYO of all places is charging for parking.

After paying $15 for a piece of paper to place on my dashboard to verify I paid for parking, I looked up OYO’s policy on their website, which reads, “Overnight guest parking is $15/night. Short-term parking is free.”

Staying at the hotel? Pay $15.

Gambling in the casino? Free parking.

How on Earth is this enforceable?

There’s no way that a parking lot attendant could go through the lot, look at a car, and determine whether or not that car’s owner was sleeping in the hotel tower or pecking the slots.

All this amounts to is a cash grab, taking advantage of folks staying in the hotel to drive a small amount of incremental revenue while leaving an atrocious first taste in the mouth of the guest.

My parking spot cost 3/4 the sticker price of my hotel room. Laughable.

Anyway, enough blabbering about parking – Just know, that you’re going to be asked at check-in if you have a car, and be prepared to answer accordingly.

Inside My Standard King Room at OYO

On the way up to the room, I like to scope out the common areas like elevator lobbies and hotel hallways, as they often hint at what’s to come.

OYO’s were uninspiring.

The room was about as underwhelming as they come from a first impression standpoint and only got worse as I dug in – Especially in the bathroom.

Very basic, as to be expected at a $20 price point, the room had a king bed, a couple of nightstands, a TV, and a table with two chairs.

I ripped that bed up and examined the sheets/mattress and found it to be surprisingly clean, contrasting the rest of the room.

From a distance, the room looked fine but was both unclean and beat up.

While the room had left me unimpressed, the bathroom only exacerbated those feelings.

Holy moley.

There Has To Be SOME Good, Right?

I’m going to do my best here. At this point, you can surmise that I’m unimpressed. Here’s what I got:

The Chandelier: There was this fancy little light fixture in the room. They even used an energy efficienet bulb.

If you’re sensing sarcasm, you’d be right.

Free Water: I recieved 2 complimentary bottles of water in the room, which were refreshing.

Cheap gambling: OYO deals a $1 blackjack game, 24-hours per day. Low rollers rejoice.

Is OYO Las Vegas Worth Booking?

Let’s level set before diving in – I review a lot of Las Vegas hotel rooms that span the price spectrum.

I knew coming into this experience that OYO wasn’t going to be luxurious. It’s a budget hotel, and I didn’t expect it to stack up to upscale resorts like Encore or Aria. My intent, rather, is to gauge whether OYO is a good value for cost.

It isn’t.

I paid a total of $79.98 for this room ($20 rate, $39.95 resort fees, $15 parking, + taxes), and can confidently say that the product isn’t worth that. To be frank, I wouldn’t even consider staying here on a comp.

Making it feel like an even worse value is the “scammy” parking fee and resort fee that is on par with actually luxurious resorts on the Strip.

Oyo’s was the dirtiest room that I have ever had in Las Vegas, and it isn’t particularly close.

If you need a budget-friendly alternative to OYO, Check out Luxor, Excalibur, Park MGM, LINQ, or Flamingo.

They’re not going to blow you away, but they will be priced similarly, offer an elevated expeirence, and boast a better location.

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