For any unmarried Indian couple, the process of booking a hotel room comes with a lot of stress. Thankfully, the folks at Oyo have realised that it’s 2016, and are trying to tackle this stigma with the launch of the ‘Oyo for Couples’ feature.
According to The Times of India, Oyo started this feature as a pilot two months ago. The hotels that allow unmarried couples are listed under the ‘relationship mode’ on their app and website. Once these bookings are made, couples can get rooms simply by showing their local identity proofs. The good news: these couple-friendly rooms are now present across 100 cities, including all metros and top leisure destinations.
It is important to note that there is no law in India that prohibits hotels from hosting unmarried guests, or those who belong to the same city as the hotel’s location. However, because of social stigmas around premarital sex, many hotels across the country do not allow such bookings. In April this year, Delhi-based startup Stay Uncle was praised for daring to tackle this exact same problem.
While this is a great move, the question of safety still haunts couples, especially in tier two cities, which one can understand from the queries on the Oyo Facebook page. Here’s hoping this news results in positive changes across the Indian hospitality industry.