Moxy Charleston Downtown — Restaurant in Charleston

Unfortunately, my 3-night stay at the Moxy Charleston Downtown was abysmal. I will offer bulletin points of issues I believe people should know about and consider before staying here.

The rooms are incredibly small. Laughably small, even. A room with two queen beds had the beds positioned so that they are almost touching, foot to foot. Other than beds, there is no real furniture. No chairs, no nightstands (an awkward floating shelf and a very small footstool), and no closets. You’re forced to hang your clothes on multiple weird hooks that protrude from the walls. It's inconceivable how poorly the room layout/design is. You are essentially getting a glorified/highly overpriced dorm room...but even smaller than that. The TV is wall-mounted but not on a movable bracket; there is no way to tilt or adjust it. The beds are very comfortable; the water pressure was perfect. We requested a different layout and were offered a room with four beds, for the same price (the only benefit of this experience.) Four beds sounded like the room would be much more spacious. Nope. It's simply queen-sized BUNK BEDS. Bunk beds...for this much per night? I was appalled. The bathrooms don't have real doors on them; instead, they have one large sliding door, that is not 100% private, offers ZERO noise canceling, opens with the lightest of touches, and has NO FAN. When I say you can hear everything that happens in these bathrooms, I MEAN LITERALLY EVERYTHING. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing. Turn on the sink faucet, shower faucet, and TV before even thinking about doing much in there if you're not staying alone. Unbeknownst to all of us, there is a $35 valet fee, which, if it was a one-time fee, sure. But no. Is it a daily fee? No. It is a fee charged every single time you need to retrieve and/or park your car PER DAY. This was never explained to us while booking or at check-in and was an unexpected, alarming additional fee at check-out. The views are not great. Empty lot on one side, brick building on the other side. The roof-top bar and patio...this is the shining light...but even its light was dimmed during the stay. To start, we stayed on the hotel's opening weekend. This hotel thinks very highly of itself and is trying to market itself to a younger crowd. Hostile bouncers, incredibly loud music; don't get me started on the bar staff. One moment of peace I had was sitting on the rooftop patio at midday, as the bar was mostly empty, and it was a gorgeous day out. Until a large group arrived at check-in. Did I mention that check-in is also on the SIXTH FLOOR - the same floor/location as the bar? Who thought this was a good idea? Where is common sense in planning here?? Room cleaning is done every two days; not every day. Additionally, there are large industrial cabinets on each floor filled with extra towels, washcloths, bathmats, toilet tissue, etc. This would be fine...if I were staying at a Holiday Inn Express. For the price point: I expected more.

I think that's my biggest takeaway. The price does not match the experience. The location is not great; the rooms are so, so small; there are zero amenities; the bathrooms are not private; heck, even the Starbucks employees on the ground level seemed to begrudge their surroundings. Did I mention it was opening weekend? Perhaps it's learning curves...but for the amount spent, more homework should have been done.

I will not recommend the Moxy Charleston Downtown, nor would I stay here again; I do hope that some changes might be made by the hotel leads in order to provide people with a better, more...

Warning this will be long but it will help. Let me be very clear. I’m not 60 yrs old I’m 40. My wife and have traveled and we like staying in nice hotels. I can understand how someone of you gen z would like this bullshit hotel. So please read it’s actually funny.

We expected something quirky and minimalist, but we didn’t realize it was going to be this bad. Let me paint the picture for you.

Let’s start with the room. Picture this: you walk in expecting some cozy Charleston charm, but instead, you’re greeted with… pegs. Yes, pegs on the wall where your closet should be. I guess they assume hanging your clothes like some avant-garde installation is trendy? Minimalism at its finest – or laziest – because, trust me, those pegs do nothing for your suitcase full of crumpled clothes.

Now, onto the pillows. Imagine laying your head down on a bag of half-inflated balloons or, better yet, cotton balls stuffed into a pillowcase by someone who’s clearly given up on life. If neck pain and insomnia are your idea of a good time, well, congratulations—you’ve found your perfect hotel. Pillow scale these fall under 0 out of 10.

Next, there’s the Stash Closet. Every floor has one, and it’s like a low-budget scavenger hunt for basic supplies. Need a pillow (good luck), a tampon, or a razor? Pop over to this communal grab bag and help yourself. It’s as though they thought, “Why not let our guests do some light shopping down the hall instead of providing decent amenities in the room?” Who needs room service when you can forage for your essentials like it’s survival camp?

And the amenities? Oh, wait—what amenities? There was no robe, no slippers, not even the humble luxury of a little safety pin or thread for that inevitable wardrobe malfunction. But don’t worry, there was a safe… just not in your room. That’s right, for all the emphasis on the essentials, they forgot one of the most basic needs: security for your belongings. Because who doesn’t love dragging all their valuables down to the front desk every time they want to store or retrieve something? It’s a fun way to get those extra steps in.

But the true adventure lies outside the hotel. The location is just down the street from a homeless shelter, which really adds to the “local flavor.” Morning coffee outside the Starbucks comes with a free side of uncomfortable eye contact from passersby. I’m all for supporting the community, but maybe not when I’m trying to enjoy my overpriced venti latte flavor bullshit of the month in peace.

And let’s not forget the valet parking charge. Now, I would’ve happily paid this—if I had a car. But since I arrived by taxi and spent the whole trip on foot, the valet charge was a delightful surprise. When I pointed out this little oversight to the front desk, they acted like it was a perfectly normal mix-up. Guess my imaginary car had a great time in valet, though!

So, in conclusion, if you’re into paying top dollar for a room that feels like a dorm, sleeping on pillows that rival cotton candy in density (but not in comfort), and storing your valuables anywhere but your room, then this is the hotel for you. Oh, and if you enjoy your morning coffee with some unexpected street interactions, you’ll love it even more. For everyone else? I’d suggest exploring Charleston’s other options—preferably the ones with safes, closets, and pillows that won’t leave you in a chiropractor’s...

I will never again stay at a Moxy hotel. This was the worst hotel experience I've ever had. We saw other reviews saying the rooms were small, but we thought those were exaggerations. They were not. You can't fit 2 people side by side anywhere in the room except on the bed. There are no refrigerators, microwaves, or coffee machines in the rooms. They do not have ice machines available - instead, you have to go to the front desk and request a bucket of ice to bring back to your room. There are also no breakfast options available either. You can go to the Starbucks on the ground floor and pay for coffee or breakfast items.

This is supposedly a "pet friendly" hotel but does not have a pet relief area, so you have to take your dog out next to a busy road with almost no grass areas. This is a "hostel style hotel" with thin walls, so if your pet makes any noise, other guests call and complain. On a Saturday at 8pm, we received a call after being gone 15 minutes that our dog was barking, and we needed to come back immediately. We let them know we were walking back, and they had an attitude and asked if we could just get an Uber. It was about 9 minutes between receiving the call and arriving back at our room. It would have been longer to wait for an Uber. When we arrived, there were at least 3 other dogs on our floor that were barking and continued for the next hour or two. Dogs had also been barking many times throughout our whole stay - daytime and nighttime.

The valet parking is $35 per calendar day, so we were charged $105 for parking there less than 48 hours. When we arrived, we waited about 30 minutes to get our car into valet due to their car elevator system taking a long time. We were also under the impression that you could not get your car out until check out due to the "valet" system.

The suggestion that the Moxy hotels are more affordable than typical hotels is not true. In total, for a 2 night stay in a 1 queen bed room with a pet and parking, it was $685.

Some positive things are that the vibe and theme of the hotel are pretty cute. The bar/lounge/check-in/reception/ice request area/terrace on the 6th floor was nice and had a local DJ for music...