Moxy Bristol — Hotel in Bristol

Avoid this hotel: Dodgy billing; awful management

For the sake of transparency, I admit that I am not a customer who is easily pleased as I generally do have expectations based on the presumed standard of the hotel at which I am staying. That said, I only write reviews when a hotel is either extremely good or extremely bad. In this case, here is my objective opinion based on our 3-night stay in November 2022:

“The Good”:

The rooms are small and are the size of a room you would expect at an airport hotel that you’re forced to stay at for just a night if you’re unlucky enough to miss your connection. That said, this is a new hotel and the rooms are tastefully appointed and, therefore, the modest size of the room itself didn’t bother us a great deal during the course of our 3-night stay.

The location is decent and just a short walk from Cabot Circus.

The staff is generally pleasant and the welcome drink is a nice touch, though extremely limited in terms of choice.

“The Bad”:

Our stay was over a weekend and the hotel lobby is literally a nightclub on the weekend…and I mean literally. The music carries to most floors. This may appeal to a certain demographic looking for a “party hotel”, but if this isn’t for you then it’s best to avoid this hotel, especially on the weekend.

The hotel has two lifts, one of which was already out of order when we arrived. The other was functioning but had a mind of its own and decided for itself which floor it would go to and when. By Day 2 of our stay, most guests had given up and were taking the stairs. As our room was on the 4th floor, we didn’t appreciate this much. Of course, I do not hold the staff responsible for this, but a hotel belonging to this chain should surely have a long-term service agreement for something as essential as a lift.

“The Ugly”:

Upon returning home, I noticed that we had been overcharged for our stay. I called the hotel and it seems we had been charged for breakfasts that we never consumed. I was assured that the said amount would be refunded as soon as possible. Two additional phone calls to the hotel on the two subsequent days and still no result. I was leaving for a work assignment abroad so could no longer keep calling. I emailed the hotel several times, no resolution. I then contacted Marriott customer service, still no resolution. I eventually emailed every single Marriott customer service address I could find online and flooded them with messages regarding my case. All in all, it took a whole month for me to get my money back, which apparently was refunded as a “gesture of goodwill”, which infuriated me even more.

Just avoid this hotel as it’s just not worth the hassle. If you decide to stay here regardless, keep an extremely close eye on your bill as the hotel’s management will certainly not make it easy for you to get...

So I’ve stayed at this location twice. Once in 2022 and now in 2024. The first time I stayed it was great. The staff were helpful and the room was clean. I don’t know what happened in the past year and a half, but this place did a complete 180 turn on that. If I never previously stayed here I would have given my most recent stay just one star. When we arrived I immediately asked for 2 extra pillows. They said no problem and that someone would bring them up. We waited for 30 minutes before going downstairs and asking for our pillows again. They said they rang housekeeping and that they were going to send it right up. We ended up taking a nap for 2 hours and during that time nobody came up to our room. Worst part is you don’t have a phone in the room to call the front desk so I had to go down YET AGAIN to ask why we didn’t get our 2 pillows. The guy at the front desk was now someone else and as soon as I asked him for pillows, he immediately said they didn’t have any. How in the hell does a hotel not have any extra pillows for guests? I have never been told in my life that a hotel simply didn’t have extra pillows. Absolutely ridiculous, and it’s honestly so hard to even believe that. I figured I’d ask someone else the next day because I didn’t want to get in an argument with the guy. The next day I went down AND THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. They told me someone would bring up my pillows but NOBODY EVER CAME. At this point I’m livid. I go downstairs and tell them to give me my pillows because at this point they’re just playing me for a fool and sure enough they said that they have no more pillows to give me. Again, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? It’s honestly unbelievable. A hotel that does not have spare pillows for their guests should not be in operation. That is just completely unacceptable. You should be ashamed Moxy.

Aside from the infuriating pillow incident, I noticed the room wasn’t really cleaned well compared to my first stay. I found dust bunnies under my bedside table (pictured), the bathroom sink had some dirty spotting, the carpets did not appear freshly vacuumed, and there was literally just a single roll of unused toilet paper in the bathroom. Honestly, what a disappointing experience compared to my previous stay. I would recommend you look for a better place to stay if you want the most bang for your buck.

Edit: changing my review from 2 to 3 stars because on our last night we got an amazing staffer at the front desk who went above and beyond to get us 2 pillows. Still far from a perfect stay, but its good to see that some people actually care about doing...

Myself and my partner shared a room here from 12th-13th June, as well as a couple of my friends had another room for the same dates. We checked in together with Jane at the desk, who was one of the most helpful and welcoming members of staff I have come across in any hotel I've ever stayed in.

When we arrived, she saw that we were coming as part of a larger group so put our rooms close together, so we ended up being opposite from each other. We didn't even have to ask for her to do that so that was really lovely of her. She then gave us a welcoming cocktail (a mocktail for my friend who does not drink alcohol) which was really tasty. Another of my friends was not there yet, so she gave us a voucher for that person to claim one when they arrived. She gave us all the information we'd need regarding where to get help if we needed it, and to be aware that the doors lock after 11pm so we'd need our cards to get back in if we came in later. She made such a great start of our trip to Bristol.

Then our rooms were brilliant. Spacious with air con that can be operated from the wall switch, which was great given how humid it was on those days. The rooms were well taken care of and stocked for things like the bathroom and getting tea.

We then came back after dinner and, as it was our friends birthday, asked at the bar if they were able to give us a knife so we could cut his cake. The member of staff there on the Thursday night (I'm sorry for not catching his name!) then was kind enough to offer us enough plates and cutlery as well for us to have it in the room. Since we were only expecting to get a knife and sort the rest ourselves, again this was really lovely of the staff.

The following morning, myself and my partner had the hotel breakfast. We both agreed that the variety of food available, hot and cold, was great. Everything was cooked or prepared perfectly, tasted amazing, and kept us full for the entire day almost!

We've already decided to come back to this hotel for a trip tp Bristol in the future. We don't even know what we're going to do yet, just the incredible staff and the amenities themselves are enough that make us want to return.

Thank you again to Jane for making our stay so...