Moxy Barcelona — Hotel in Barcelona

Well-appointed decor, very on-brand compared to other Moxy locations I've stayed at. (Some reviews complained about the room size and furnishings, but minimalism and less of a focus on the in-room experience is part of the concept, ie: it's not designed for you to spend all day in your room and put everything in drawers. So keep that in mind when booking.)

Where this location doesn't live up the Moxy brand is in its operational aspect. I understand it's relatively new (1.5 years old since its conversion?) but quite frankly it isn't run to the standard I'd expect from this level of a Marriott-branded hotel.

Here were a handful of issues during our 5-night stay that I hope they'll be able to resolve:

The A/C was spotty in both of our rooms. Some nights it was great, other nights it didn't get cool enough. (Signs say the max A/C adapts to outside conditions, but they were relatively consistent during our stay. Regardless, we had some sleepless nights because it was too warm.)

I also overheard several people at the front desk complain about their A/Cs not working over the course of a few days.

Both entry doors of our rooms squeaked very loudly. I asked them to WD-40 it. One of the rooms was done, the other wasn't (due to a DND sign, but they never retried on subsequent days).

But you shouldn't really have to even ask for this to be fixed in the first place?

1 of 4 elevators was broken for 3+ nights. Another (the one going to the rooftop) has a horrible metal grinding sound every time the door opens and closes. I'm honestly shocked it hasn't been addressed.

The doors also close incredibly quickly and after virtually zero delay. My 2-year old was hit on the side of the head by the closing door (it happened so fast) and he was thrown into the other side of the door frame where he hit the other side of his head. A lawsuit waiting to happen.

The elevator situation is already dismal as there's only 1 that goes to the roof level, and its call button is controlled separately from the other 3. Lots of people wanting to get to the pool (on floor 10) go to 9 (the top level on the non-rooftop elevators), then hike the stairs. It's not a great experience.

During a busy checkout time, elevator wait times were up to 10 minutes. (This maybe isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but when you've already called an Uber – or are rushing to get to the airport – and can't get downstairs, it's a little irksome.)

On top of that, because many elevators were full on their way down, staff encouraged people to press the UP button to try to find a chance to get in with luggage (after already pressing down), which then slows things even further because now the elevator is going to stop in both directions. It felt like being on a cruise ship on arrival/departure day. Total chaos. Obviously changing the elevator infrastructure isn't something that can be fixed, but I'd bet there's some operational improvements that could massively improve this experience if they cared enough.

Very long check-in lines every single day Trash left outside rooms sometimes wouldn't get picked up for 2+ days You get drink tokens when you check in, but they didn't tell me where to use them and when I tried to use them at the rooftop bar, no one up there knew how to redeem them either, only said they couldn't be used there. (Turns out the rooftop bar has totally separate management.)

That said, the all-day/dinner food from the kitchen was fantastic and the lobby staff were generally great. The pizzas were shockingly good. The food and beverage manager was awesome. He took great care of us on multiple occasions and was always enthusiastic and had a smile on his face.

The "play room" (with pool, foosball, and activities for kids) is a great hangout – almost like a family room. Lots of young kids playing together over the course of our stay.

A lot of the complaints can be chalked up to expecting an American-style level of hospitality from a location that isn't in the US, but since it's a Marriott-branded property, I have higher...

Truly embarrassing. How Moxy Barcelona has received four stars is beyond me.

Let’s start our journey at the lobby. Clearly where the bin room is because it stank of rotting garbage at all hours. The front area pungent of urine. Perhaps clean the façade?

Four elevators, only one going to the rooftop, likely the slowest things in existence. At least a five minute wait no matter the time of day and only fit maximum six people in. Feels like there should be more for a hotel that boasts its 400-room size.

The reception staff were so inconsistent, some lovely and clearly trying to make up for the others who were horrible, speaking in such a condescending manner to all who approached, no matter how kind or patient you were. I understand Barcelona hates tourists due to the economical imbalance, but damn, don’t work in hotels/tourism/hospitality if you genuinely despise.

The room was pleasant, bright and fairly spacious, with a great view towards the mountains and the national art gallery. Lucky for us, we also had an east-facing room, so we only received morning sunlight, meaning the room didn’t heat up too much. Lucky, because we realised on our last day that the air conditioning automatically turns off if the balcony door isn’t double locked. Not just closed. We thought it simply didn’t work and barely slept due to the heat.

Speaking of sleeping, the mattress was maybe a $15 foam topper from IKEA? Not sure, extremely uncomfortable. The pillows needn’t have bothered to be there as they were so thin. We did received a second set after asking reception.

No soap in the bathrooms, no wardrobe or any storage, no fridge in the room, all water had to be paid for.

Breakfast was 21€ per person, a selection of pastries/fruit/eggs from a bag/deli meats. Fine, not worth the price. (Which the staff also said to us upon check in, lol)

“24 snacks availability”, but it’s 5€ for water, 6€ for a stale, plain ham sandwich, and a selection of small bags of chips that again, are super expensive.

No wifi, unless you sign up to be a member for Marriot Bonvoy.

The gym is great. Well maintained with new equipment. It was the only good thing about the hotel, so we actually used it.

Grateful the pool and rooftop was there, but it was a small plunge pool that was as warm as a bath, with not enough chairs or space in the water for the amount of people who tried to visit.

The restaurant on the rooftop is laughable. All food costs are exorbitant, the staff are so rude, service doesn’t exist. Backs turned, talking amongst themselves, slamming plates down, openly annoyed if you ask for something a second time (after waiting 20 minutes in the first place in an empty restaurant with zero communication…). Talking about you in Spanish because you are a foreigner and they believe you don’t speak the language and can’t understand. Very unpleasant.

Looks/feels/operates more like an upmarket backpackers, at starred hotel prices.

One of the staff members told us that they have to pay for their own coffee. If the hotel doesn’t look after their own staff, why on earth would the staff want to look after the guests?

Super close to the Metro, so it’s easy to navigate the city by train, but it’s not within walking distance of much.

200€ charge to our credit card post check out, with no tax invoice. We didn’t use anything and paid as we went. Trying to dispute, but there is no way to contact.

And to top it off, wasted an hour of my life writing this review, for a global, multi-million dollar company who won’t care or change. Talk with your money,...

I stayed at the Moxy Barcelona from 6/4-6/9 for the Primavera Music Festival. Looking online, the hotel looked perfect - vibrant colors, fun spaces, close to a metro, free breakfast. I check in and go to my room and the A/C is not working. At first we are unsure if we are doing something wrong, so I go to the front desk to ask if someone from maintenance could come check out our A/C. We wait about 15 minutes and no one does. We call the front desk to ask again, wait another 15 minutes, no one shows up. We go down to the front desk again and this is when we are told the A/C for the entire hotel is down, and they are working on it. Inconvenient, but we give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sleeping the first night, the room was more than likely around 82° (27°C). This was so unbearable to me, that I moved some pillows and my blanket to the balcony, and literally slept outside… just to cool down.

We wake up the next morning, ask for updates, and they say the same thing. We are going to a music festival 3 days in a row and the thought of being out/standing/dancing for 12+ hours and coming back to a hot room was horrid. We submitted a complaint to Marriott explaining the situation. They reply with the first screenshot, clearly a copy and paste message for all complaints, depositing 10,000 points into my account - no where near the value of a stay for even one night.

I reply to this email vocalizing how angry I was at this response, which clearly shows a lack of customer care. I stated how a broken A/C is not just a minor inconvenience, this is the one feature I actually need to work, and it isn’t. They reply with the second screenshot, stating they are once again sorry, and that a manager from the property would be reaching out to me within 5 business days. This has not happened yet, but that does not necessarily matter. Also I was still at the hotel, why couldn’t I be spoken to in person about the matter?

To pay $1500 (which I know is not a ton of money to some, and definitely nothing to a multi trillion dollar brand like Marriott). But the point is this “inconvenience” made sleeping insufferable. While they told us it was the entire hotel, part of me feels that was a lie, otherwise the entire hotel would be at the front desk every second of every day. Also the 3rd floor (the main floor with check in and the gym) the A/C was working fine.

So the few positives I will say is that the staff is friendly, the free breakfast is one of the best breakfast’s I’ve ever had, the hotel gym is one of the nicest hotel gyms I’ve ever seen, and it really is beautiful and aesthetic. If it weren’t for the A/C issue, this easily would have been a 5 star review. But due to the this issue that caused my stay to be so uncomfortable, nothing else even matters, which is why I have no choice to leave a 1 star review. I also included these screenshots and am writing this review on the day of departure, to see if any action will come of this.

In sum - if you don’t mind a room without A/C, this place is perfect. However, if you need A/C (which I assume is most Americans who I know is the fair majority of people who stay here since it’s an American brand/people use their points), seriously don’t...