Moxy Edinburgh Fountainbridge — Hotel in City of Edinburgh

My wife and I stayed here last week for 2 nights. I have stayed at Moxy properties before and have always had a pleasant experience.

Check in was great and the staff was pleasant. When we got to the room, it looked fine on first impressions. I was coming from a terrible heatwave in London and was excited to finally have air conditioning. I turned on the AC immediately and cranked it up to full to cool down the very hot room. After about an hour, the room felt even warmer than before. I checked the thermostat and the current temp was higher than when we walked in.

This was a no go for me so I went down to reception and informed the staff. They said that there is a problem with the thermostats and they show the wrong temps. I said that the room itself wasnt cooling down at all though. They said they would send someone up to take a look. A technician (or they claimed to be one) showed up promptly with a vacuum cleaner?!? He cleaned the filter and the vents and said it was cooling now. I put my hand up and said it didnt feel like it was. He then admitted that there was a problem with the HVAC in queen bedrooms and I should just open the window. I told him that was a deal breaker for me. He offered to move me to a twin room instead and assured me that the ACs work fine there. He then went to look for an available twin room and as I was heading back down to reception, bumped into him in the hallway. He said he had a room for me and he had checked and made sure that the AC was working.

We walk into the new room and it was hotter than the first room. I said okay maybe it needs time to cool down. Once again, I crank it up to full and we decided to go about our day in the city so we could come back to a cold room. We come back 9 hours later and the room was again hotter than when we left. I notice that the so called technician had opened a window and the AC was not working.

I rushed down to reception and told the staff what’s going on. He now tells me that there is a problem with the entire hotel’s HVAC. I told him that I cannot sleep in a warm room and I need something to be done. He says that maybe we can try a different floor. He then checks his system to find two empty rooms and tells us that we can go check out the rooms first before we start moving our stuff again. We figured it was a good idea and went along.

Here’s where things get even CRAZIER!!. He takes us up to floor 3 and opens up room #1. The light comes on and we see someone sleeping on the bed being jolted awake. They yell something and this guy shuts the door. We were mortified, needless to say. He then tries room #2 and guess what, there was someone in that room too!! Mind you, this is now 1:30am at night!!

We are standing there completely frozen and this guy says that the rooms showed available in his system. He tells us to go back to our room and he will figure something out and come tell us. At this point, I know it’s a failed venture so we retire back to our room, very disappointed. The room was scorching hot even at this time of night. Sure enough, the guy shows up after 15 mins and tells us the same story about the thermostat showing the wrong temp. I ask him if he can feel how warm the room is and he agrees. This was with the window open all day. I ask him if he can give us a tiny fan or something and he looks at me as if I asked him for a wind turbine. He says they have nothing of the sort and that we should just stay in this furnace or we have the option of checking out.

Obviously, we weren’t going to go looking for another hotel room at 2 in the morning so we reluctantly bid goodbye and try to go to sleep. We woke up sweaty multiple times through the night and were exhausted by morning.

Sorry for the long review but I wanted to share my entire experience. Won’t be staying at a Moxy again. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! We were constantly lied to by literally every staff member we spoke to.

PS: The bathrooms had no ventilation whatsoever. We had to run down to the store and buy air freshener because it smelled pretty...

Bizarre and deeply disappointing stay

This was one of the most bizarre, frustrating, and unprofessional hotel experiences I have ever had. The only redeeming aspect of the Moxy Edinburgh Fountainbridge is its relatively central location in Edinburgh, though even that is diminished by its proximity to an active and unsightly construction site, which affects the comfort and ambiance. Many neighboring hotels on Fountainbridge Road do not share the same disadvantage. I traveled to Edinburgh to speak at an international neuroscience conference and booked this hotel well in advance. I also paid in full several weeks prior to my arrival via a payment link provided by the hotel, as part of a group rate negotiated by the conference organizers. The payment was confirmed by email and over the phone by the hotel administration. Despite this, when I arrived after a long international flight, the front desk had no record of my payment. I was asked to provide a credit card and was immediately charged again. When I raised the issue, the staff refused to acknowledge my documentation and insisted there was no evidence of prior payment. Only after a prolonged and stressful confrontation at the reception did a passive-aggressive supervisor named “Ladi” intervene and admit they were experiencing IT and other issues. She was eventually able to locate my original payment on another system. However, rather than offering an immediate refund, she told me to “come back later” due to the technical problems, and emphasized that it was against their policy to process refunds on the same day. I returned multiple times, each time receiving the same vague dismissal: “Please come back later.” No resolution was offered. In addition to the billing fiasco, the room itself was unclean and completely substandard. Apart from the unpleasant room smell, the carpet was stained with what looked like old food stains (photos attached). When I brought these issues to the attention of the staff, I was told the stains were “just discoloration” and “not a problem.” No cleaning was offered. When I pressed further, the staff said I could possibly switch rooms the next day, depending on availability, which, of course, never materialized. Even more disturbing, there was a “Crew Only” staff room directly across from mine. On two separate occasions, I witnessed a young male staff member entering that room, playing explicit adult content loudly enough to hear from the hallway. He exited both times red-faced and sweaty, seemingly unfazed by the fact that I was standing just outside. This hotel suffers from far more than isolated incidents. Many of the negative experiences described in other tripadvisor reviews, such as poor room maintenance, missing essentials, unpleasant odors, chaotic and overcrowded breakfast, and staff displaying a passive-aggressive, dismissive attitude, are absolutely accurate. My experience only adds to the picture of a fundamentally mismanaged, guest-indifferent, and unprofessional establishment. In short: a truly unacceptable experience. I strongly recommend...

This was one of the most bizarre, frustrating, and unprofessional hotel experiences I have ever had. The only redeeming aspect of the Moxy Edinburgh Fountainbridge is its relatively central location in Edinburgh, though even that is diminished by its proximity to an active and unsightly construction site, which affects the comfort and ambiance. Many neighboring hotels on Fountainbridge Road do not share the same disadvantage.||I traveled to Edinburgh to speak at an international neuroscience conference and booked this hotel well in advance. I also paid in full several weeks prior to my arrival via a payment link provided by the hotel, as part of a group rate negotiated by the conference organizers. The payment was confirmed by email and over the phone by the hotel administration. Despite this, when I arrived after a long international flight, the front desk had no record of my payment. I was asked to provide a credit card and was immediately charged again. When I raised the issue, the staff refused to acknowledge my documentation and insisted there was no evidence of prior payment. Only after a prolonged and stressful confrontation at the reception did a passive-aggressive supervisor named “Ladi” intervene and admit they were experiencing IT and other issues. She was eventually able to locate my original payment on another system. However, rather than offering an immediate refund, she told me to “come back later” due to the technical problems, and emphasized that it was against their policy to process refunds on the same day. I returned multiple times, each time receiving the same vague dismissal: “Please come back later.” No resolution was offered.||In addition to the billing fiasco, the room itself was unclean and completely substandard. Apart from the unpleasant room smell, the carpet was stained with what looked like old food stains (photos attached). When I brought these issues to the attention of the staff, I was told the stains were “just discoloration” and “not a problem.” No cleaning was offered. When I pressed further, the staff said I could possibly switch rooms the next day, depending on availability, which, of course, never materialized.||Even more disturbing, there was a “Crew Only” staff room directly across from mine. On two separate occasions, I witnessed a young male staff member entering that room, playing explicit adult content loudly enough to hear from the hallway. He exited both times red-faced and sweaty, seemingly unfazed by the fact that I was standing just outside.||This hotel suffers from far more than isolated incidents. Many of the negative experiences described in other tripadvisor reviews, such as poor room maintenance, missing essentials, unpleasant odors, chaotic and overcrowded breakfast, and staff displaying a passive-aggressive, dismissive attitude, are absolutely accurate. My experience only adds to the picture of a fundamentally mismanaged, guest-indifferent, and unprofessional establishment.||In short: a truly unacceptable experience. I strongly recommend...