On my last tag-along trip with Steve to Stuttgart, we stayed in the relentlessly on-trend Moxy Hotel. It was kind of like staying in a hybrid of a funky nightclub and a kids playroom. The brand reflects the hospitality industry’s quest to lure millennial travellers with an affordable, stripped-down hotel experience that’s high on style. As a Gen-Xer, I instantly noticed the difference from the hotels we usually choose.
Am I too old for hotels targeted to millennials?
Everything about the Moxy reminded me that I spent my 20s using dial-up Internet and taking photos using a technology called film. Its brand is ultra-hip, a bit raunchy, and always fun. You would not recommend your grandfather stay at the Moxy. Send him to its grownup parent hotel the Marriott.
Room card
As someone who works remotely from a hotel room while on the road, the Moxy took some getting used to. As a Gen-Xer, I felt slightly out of sync.
Check-in’s at the bar
The Moxy party starts the moment you arrive. The fact that check-in service takes place at the lobby bar makes it that much easier to present guests with their welcome cocktail (avec or sans alcohol). No stuffy pressed uniforms and name tags here. The staff is young and don jeans and t-shirts—in minimalist black, naturally.
The lobby looks like it belongs to a Silicon Valley startup
Craving a game of foosball? Maybe you’d like to break out a game of Twister while you’re waiting for your taxi to show up? Once you enter the hotel through its bright pink revolving doors, you’re greeted with hip music, trendy furnishings, and enough retro pursuits and toys to keep hipsters with even the shortest attention spans entertained and engaged.
It’s not all fun and games, of course, there is a work area and one shiny new Mac desktop if you happened to leave your devices at home (as if). And, there are two “quiet” spaces if, you know, you have to make a Skype call with someone about a patent application or meet with an angel investor you’re courting for the app you’re developing.
No desk – No drawers – No closet!
Upon entering our room, we found the bed sheets in a tangle and everything askew. Was this part of the anything-goes, raunchy experience? Turned out it wasn’t. It was just a mishap in assigning our rooms. After returning to the bar/check-in desk to inquire, the staff person was extremely apologetic and accompanied us to a new room to make sure all was right.
It was, except there seemed to be some things missing. There was no closet, no drawers, and no functional workspace. To be fair, there was a “ledge” and a comfy chair, but the two didn’t line up well ergonomically for laptop work. Ah yes, millennials apparently are more suited to working in coffee shops and other communal environments, not a dull hotel room. I took my work to the lobby a few times, which was okay, but when I had to really focus, I found the foot traffic, chatter, and music distracting.
There was also no in-room coffee maker and no ironing equipment if you happen to have to wear clothes not made of jersey for a business meeting. I later learned that there is an ironing room on the second floor. Group ironing, how fun!
Everything is oh-so-clever and Instagram worthy
From the cheeky coffee machine welcome message in the lobby to the clever comments written on the elevator mirrors in pink script, the Moxy’s design clearly has social media in mind.
These gals were in Stuttgart for Cannstatter Volksfest (the equivalent to Oktoberfest) and were immediately drawn to the lobby’s graffiti-style feature wall for a group shot. After the staff person who was enlisted to take the photo did so, she dutifully reminded the group to tag #atthemoxy.
Working out is mostly about optics – although I did sweat a lot
I almost always do a workout or two in the hotel gym when I’m travelling. Most are functional; some are exceptional in the array of equipment they offer.
I was surprised that the gym at the Moxy was off the lobby across from the quiet workspace room. Both are on full display with ceiling to floor windows. This was a little off-putting initially. Do I want people wandering by and seeing me exercising? I got over myself and used it anyway.
The gym is small but had a couple of the basics – a rowing machine and stationary bike. I was there for the free weights and hoped to find a set of medicine balls. Alas, there were only kettle balls, but they sported super cute colours. And who doesn’t want to slip on a pair of pink boxing gloves for a session with the punching bag? Everything is on brand, but do people really use this stuff? I did take the bright red skipping rope for a jump or two—after I checked that no one was watching me.
I had a decent workout. My only real beef was that the room was stiflingly hot and there was no fan. I had to prop the outside door open with a pretty 15-kilogram pink kettle ball so that I wouldn’t pass out.
Enough trash-talking from this Gen-Xer
Overall, our stay was just fine. Open for only three weeks; the hotel is still working out some of the kinks. I’m sure the heat issue will get regulated, and the room cleaning mishaps will resolve.
The staff was always smiling and helpful and remained cool and calm even when things didn’t go smoothly.
I’m not certain when you would use one of these lockers off the lobby.
In its huge favour, the Moxy had the most solid internet connection I’ve ever experienced in a hotel of any calibre without any complicated sign-in process. It rocked!
Full points also for the low under-the-bed lighting that comes on automatically when you get up in the middle of the night to go to washroom—sleek and helpful. It reminded me of the undercarriage lighting a boyfriend in my teens had on his Camaro.
I also liked that when I took a break from working at “the ledge” in my room to grab some dinner at the grocery store across the street, it felt like I had had a night out as a result of walking through the lobby with its pulsing electronic dance music. It’s a fun vibe. Maybe I am still hip enough to stay #atthemoxy.
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Ok you’ve been to my home town? What a shame I haven’t read about it earlier. We could’ve met for coffee or something like that. It’s funny- I have never heard of that hotel and had to google it first.
That is too bad, Sina. I would have liked to meet up. The hotel is very new — it had only been open three weeks when we stayed there, so it’s not surprising you hadn’t heard of it. If I’m ever heading to Stuttgart again and let you know!