From US to China, how OYO is taking a homegrown business model worldwide

Still, some analysts wonder how well Oyo's model will travel to Western countries

Founded just six years ago by a 19-year-old entrepreneur from one of India’s poorest states, Oyo Hotels and Homes has grown so fast that it already ranks among the largest hotel chains in the world.

In fact, going by the number of properties it claims in its network, Oyo is by far the biggest, twice the size of No. 2 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

But oh, those properties. Here in this fast-growing diamond and textiles hub, around $20 buys you a night in the Hotel Ostria—misspelled by an owner who was shooting for “Austria”—atop a faded office building that also