Moxy Memphis Downtown — Hotel in Memphis

Only have 30 seconds? Here’s my short & sweet. This hotel will be one of my frequent stays in Memphis. As the title alludes is the perfect mix of functional design that surprisingly delivers on your needs alongside a hipster, modern vibe. What this is NOT is the traditional full-service Marriott property. If you have stayed in Sheraton or Westin’s your whole life and are looking for this to replicate that same feel, it may disappoint. I also don’t think I’d give the head nod on this brand (not the property specifically) for family travel, especially with modern travel.

The valleys: So what went wrong? As silly as it seems, almost nothing. My only call out is the more passive recognition of the Marriott elite status. I had to remind them at check-in in order as Platinum guest in order to get the points benefit applied and when I asked about if any upgrades were available they seemed confused. That being said, they easily found my status and offered the points vs. food credit options.

The only other call out was that I was briefly stuck on the elevator. It looks super modern and clique but is still clearly running on the pre-reno infrastructure. The panic set in for a few moments but I was able to get off in about 5 mins. I did take the stairs out of an abundance of caution for the last few days.

The peaks: What delighted? Met Expectations? made it a 5-star review?

Location - I love the downtown location because on one side it opens up to Main Street where a trolly runs (it is also closed to most vehicular traffic, so great for a morning run or walk). They have a great patio where fire pits light up at night. Also a 2 min walk to a Starbucks, Walgreens, and lots of local restaurants.

On the OTHER side is easy access off of Front street (far enough from the road that you don’t hear road traffic). Valet parking is available and it is also super easy drop-off/pick-up for Uber, Lyfts or other ride shares.

Check-in - You check in at the bar when you walk-in the door. Other than the Marriott Bonvoy comments mentioned above, super easy check -in. They also give you two drink tokens (poker chips) that you can redeem for a free Moxy house cocktail (rum-based drink). Modern vibe again in the lobby, couple small sitting areas, wrap-around bar that also does coffee and light bites, area to buy drinks/snacks, and lots of games like pinball and shuffle board.

Room: This is one of the things that will be offsetting to legacy full-service hotels....the room looks SMALL, 200 sq feet small. But the intelligent design makes you wonder why you had all that dead space in your hotel room to begin with (again, unless you have kids).

They have prioritized the important aspects like an incredible shower, huge TV with integration to all your streaming services / music, and great HVAC system that worked flawless.

Lots of little quirks like a table and chair that hang on the wall. Steamer was also in the room which was awesome. There is a communal ironing room if you need that kinda thing.

The toiletries are all from large, refillable bottles which seems to be an industry-wide shift to be more eco.

Fitness center: Again, the brand prioritized the things that are important like over-investing in the fitness center. Incredible cardio equipment, a full punching bag with gloves and pads, a fun re-purposed bike to ride as well as all the usual free weights. There was the expected fresh towels, water, etc.

Staff: All the staff I interacted with were prompt, polite and down right fun. None of the stuffiness that you sometimes find at larger chains. Special kuddos to Aaron at the bar who made my trip with a fun conversation and also his support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He is a shining example of the strategy of hiring people that treat other people right and shine thru the personality, the rest can be learned on the job or trainings through coaching. Aaron will keep customers coming back to Moxy and excel in wherever...

My qualm isn't so much with the Moxy as it is with the valet service provider they outsource to. Read below:

I arrived in Memphis for my second stay at the Moxy on Saturday, July 3, 2021. I arrived at 1:00p CST and began unloading my vehicle in the valet service area where I exchanged dialogue with valet attendant, Derique. I initially parked and unloaded my vehicle in the valet service area on the curb, just before the hotel entry door and told Derique I was going to secure my dog and luggage in my room. He acknowledged my communication with him and instructed me to pull my car even further into the valet service area behind a white BMW sedan. Upon doing so and checking for his approval of my vehicle's new position, Derique said I was "good" so I left my car running for him to valet/park as I did during my previous stay at the Moxy (Fall/Winter 2020) and all other valets I've used before in the past where valet immediately occupies and/or secures your vehicle.

I came back downstairs at approximately 1:15p CST and saw that my car was not in the valet service area, so I assumed Derique had parked it (as I expected). However, upon waiting outside for 10-15 minutes for Derique to acknowledge me and retrieve my vehicle, he just kept looking at me and walking back and forth between other vehicles. I assumed he was too busy to acknowledge or assist me so I went back inside and asked another valet attendant to retrieve my vehicle; however, he said my car keys were not in their designated safekeeping area. I then assumed that Derique must have held onto my keys since I spoke directly to him about coming back downstairs in a timely fashion, so I asked the other valet to retrieve my keys from Derique. That's when Derique advised he neither had my key nor moved my vehicle - and I realized that my car had been stolen.

Upon confronting Derique about my vehicle, he stated he saw my car "drive off", but failed to mention that to me when he saw we standing outside in the valet obviously waiting for my car for 10-15 minutes. Derique was very dismissive when questioned by MPD Officer E.S and me. Prior to police response, he even taunted me by laughing, smiling, and waving at me and my cousin as I sat in her car waiting for the police to arrive.

The surveillance footage from hotel cameras showed Derique walk away from my vehicle (left running) after I went inside the hotel. Moments later, an unknown subject walked across the parking lot directly to my vehicle where he noticed it was running, got into my vehicle and sped off. Due to it being a holiday weekend, I was unable to secure a rental car through my insurance to get back home to Arkansas that Sunday, July 4th, and had to spend money I didn't plan on spending for another night at the Moxy (my cousin's apartment community doesn't allow dogs). I paid $250+ the first night and $150+ the second night, in addition to being out of a vehicle, and the trauma that came along with my car being stolen 15 minutes after arriving at the Moxy - revictimized and severely inconvenienced.

I was and still am extremely disappointed in how hotel management, while the manager was nice enough to secure and share the surveillance footage, and valet treated me as if it was my fault that valet didn't properly tend to my vehicle. The only apology/complimentary service I received was a replacement bar drink voucher from the front staff since I didn't get to use my vouchers my first day due to the incident transpiring. I didn't use the second set of vouchers either because I was so distraught about being stuck in a city at a hotel I no longer felt safe at.

I do not plan on staying at the Moxy ever again and will work towards some person or business entity being held at least partially liable for the neglect that resulted in the theft of my vehicle.

P.S. Responding police advised car thefts involving valet were becoming increasingly common in that downtown conglomerate of hotels.

Nice hotel,...

I had a horrific experience at the Moxy Memphis Downtown. I have never been so uncomfortable with service provided by a hotel. There was a large group of non-guests loitering outside the front entrance (drinking, loud music, hanging out of their vehicles) of which the one security did nothing to clear but seemingly was interacting with. I called guest services only to be pressured to come through the crowd of people in order to check in. The front desk clerk Lo, was very unprofessional and dressed in a hoodie, jeans, no name tag or uniform. She was not pleasant and seemed very irritable after asking her questions about all of the people and how security did nothing regarding the safety of their guest. As a punishment from having been concerned with my safety at the hotel I was placed on the floor with barking dogs in the rooms adjacent. I was would been inclined to believe this was all they had left had another guest check in right behind me and get placed two floors down. Outside of my window, in the back of the hotel was constant commotion, loud music and screaming from those on the streets. I asked about valet which is apparently split between other hotels in the same area. The two valet attendants did not have on any identification (name tags, branded shirts/uniform) so it was impossible to know who worked at the Moxy and who was a guest. I was told that I would receive a text messages with information to retrieve my car in the next 10 minutes. After 20 minutes of being inside my room, I realized I had not received ay communication regarding my vehicle. Went back downstairs to ensure they had the right information (phone number, room number) one valet attendant who had earphones in told me that it had gotten busy and he was going to send messages out now. I go back to my room for another hour and still nothing. This time a call the front desk and ask her if there was anything I needed to do as I hadn’t received the message from the valet and was worried that there might be an issue. Her response was very unprofessional, “there’s nothing you can do and I don’t work for valet. I can’t stop you from coming down to the lobby but I’ll make sure they get this message. If you want to come down, then that’s on you”. I told her I’d call her back and let her know what I wanted her to do. I packed my suitcase and prepared to check out of the hotel at 1:30am. When I called back to lobby it was the valet attendant saying that their system was down and that I should receive the message in a few hours. I asked him to bring the car around and he did. When I got to the front desk, no one was there. Security was off to the side on his phone and I asked how long before the person at the front desk would be back. She was outside and walked in without asking anything about my stay or why I was in the lobby at almost 2am with my luggage after only checking in less than 2 hours prior. I asked for the managers name or card and there wasn’t any. She wrote the manager’s name on a sticky note and assured me that someone would give me a call first thing in the morning. They did not. I had to call from the hotel that I checked into at 2:00am without any issues. I checked in and out of the hotel within 2 hours. The worst...