Quiz question - how many brands does Marriott have?
Answer: 30. Yes, the international hotel powerhouse that is Marriott now has 30 brands. It’s bewildering. But, Accor has 40-odd (that I know of), IHG has 19 brands and Hilton has 22 (ish). There really is a hotel brand out there for every occasion and wind direction.
Let me introduce Moxy, one of Marriott’s newest, and quirkiest brands. Here’s how Marriott officially markets its Moxy brand:
“At Moxy Hotels, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. But we’re seriously into showing you a good time with small but smart rooms, stylish communal spaces and bars you’ll love”
In reality, that’s code for getting down with the kids, or to put it simply, attracting a new generation of millennial travellers.
So, this week, I decided to try out the Moxy London Heathrow Airport hotel. It’s at the bottom end of Bath Road near the Hilton Doubletree. Not a particularly pleasant area but easily accessible by public transport from any of the airport terminals.
Let’s start with those communal spaces..
The communal areas are what some might call groovy
You check in, socialise and basically live in these communal areas when not in your room. This is a very informal environment. It’s not just about people watching, it’s about listening in to other people’s conversations, and, as was the case during my stay, people wanting to talk to me when all I wanted was some quiet down time from work. You need to go prepared for this hotel - it’s all about socialising, apparently.
It’s not that bad though. I found the seating actually quite comfortable - like the common room / social area itself, it’s varied and they do, to be fair, have some areas where you can work, with plug in points. The WiFi is so so and I never managed more than about 7mbps, which still beats the Premier Inn free plan.
The biggest downside for me was the endless loud music though. Even if you’re not working, you can’t really relax here. The Moxy environment is, it would seem, to be all about rampant socialising. Strange for an airport hotel.
Fancy a quiet drink? That’s not happening here. As I sat sipping my Jamesons, all I could hear were the ecstatic screams of delight as a couple playing ping pong achieved seemingly Olympic-level scores. I was pleased for them. Less so for me..
Food and Drink..
This was the most bizarre thing of an already bizarre experience.
The hotel has both a bar service for informal food, as well as a self serve place - you pick what you want and then pay for it at a scanning point.
The price for a double Jamesons at the bar was a reasonable £8.
I also had a chicken bun and chips for lunch, again costing a fair £15, including a Diet Pepsi.
The self service pricing though is both odd and eye watering..
Self Serve (look at the prices!)
Yes, do not adjust your set. This chicken Caesar wrap was indeed priced at a whopping £7.49! You can buy the same thing next door at the Tesco Express for half that price.
Fancy a can of Pepsi? That’ll be £3.00!
The other odd thing to tell you is that if you order a Pepsi can from the bar, it’s 50p cheaper than the self serve! Odd? Yes, very.
My Moxy lunch - the quality was fine but the bar don’t even open the Pepsi for you!
Other than the self service shop, bar prices were generally not bad
The room..
By their own admittance, Moxy rooms are small by design. There is no upgrading here, there is no ‘Executive Room’ to speak of. You book a standard room, and that’s what you’re getting, even if you’re Bonvoy God level..it’s a simple offering.
The room is similar to what you’d get with Premier Inn, Ibis Styles or Hilton Garden Inn. It does the job, nothing more. My room felt modern and everything worked - the same cannot be said for other Heathrow hotels that charge a lot more than this one.
The only downside is that a lot of new Premier Inn’s now feature air conditioning. In what I can only describe as a glaring omission, this hotel only features forced ventilation or heat. My room was baking hot throughout my stay, even with the window open - which wasn’t an option in the early hours as my room backed onto the approach path into Heathrow. I love watching the hearing the planes, I really do, but not at 5am when I’m trying to sleep!
My functional, but small Moxy room
Conclusion
Moxy is an odd brand for any airport, let alone Heathrow. I’m amazed it works here because Heathrow is a much more business focussed destination than say Gatwick or Stansted, which really does attract the more budget conscious (and by definition, younger) traveller.
There’s nothing wrong with it as such but if I was generation millennium I’d feel rather patronised by Marriott - the Moxy brand assumes you’re into loud music, chronic socialising and bright neon lighting just by being from a specific generation - none of which applied to me at any stage of my life!
For me, any Marriott hotel with a cheap rate is a bonus as it counts towards my lifetime Platinum Elite status - a status night here is exactly the same as a status night at a Ritz-Carlton - doesn’t matter what you spend, you’re getting one status night, per night. Right now, they also have a bonus of one additional status night per stay.
There’s a side of me that wanted to hate this hotel, but also a side that loved it. For the right price, it’s not a bad place to ‘hang out’ (I’m trying to use millennial language here, since we’re stereotyping). So, keep it real friends and maybe I’ll see you in my crib (the Moxy, Heathrow), sometime, ‘innit’..
I paid £158 for two nights, including breakfast and one alcoholic drink each evening, booking 7 days out.
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