Snapshot review: Moxy London Excel

I stayed at the Moxy London Excel prior to the pandemic during a work trip, I remember being impressed by the budget brand of Marriott Group. I wanted to return as the UK began to open up again to see what had changed and whether it’s a good option for you to stay when near the ExCeL Centre or London City Airport.

The easiest way to get to the hotel is via the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) to Royal Albert Station. If you are coming from Central London you will most likely interchange either at Bank or Canary Wharf from the Tube.

Moxy London Excel is situated along a row of several budget hotels including Hampton by Hilton, Holiday Inn Express and Travelodge. I have stayed at all properties besides the Travelodge, with Moxy being the most premium property.

My favourite thing about all these hotels are the views you get of London City Airport. I could watch planes take off and land from here any time.

The Lobby design is quirky and modern - designed to entice Millenials and Gen Z who want something a little more different than a budget chain.

Moxy Hotels emphasise communal spaces to encourage co-working in a similar vein to Wework. When I last visited this property, I spent a number of hours working from here quite comfortably.

Just because this setup encourages coworking doesn’t mean they don’t like to have a bit of fun - with the lobby also including pool tables.

Interestingly, Moxy London Excel has lockers in the lobby - which could come in handy if you need storage after check out - even if large suitcases don’t fit.

The hotel is littered with all funky pieces of artwork which I feel gives the place just a little bit of character when other hotels can feel soulless.

Onto the rooms and lets start with the positives - a big queen sized bed that is really comfortable. I did request extra pillows since one is not enough in my view. Compared to the Lobby, design is more muted but is still palatable.

A large 42 inch Samsung Television is affixed to the wall although like many other Marriott properties the Chromecast was flaky - some apps like BBC iPlayer, Netflix and YouTube Music worked while others like YouTube (proper) did not.

There is no wardrobe in the room only open hangers which sit in front of some slightly creepy artwork.

A solitary chair sits in the corner which I struggled to get on with thanks to an odd angle and no footrest. When I did get comfortable, I was at such an odd angle it probably wasn’t any good for my posture.

Several areas of the room were clad with writing… While the idea is nice, in practice I find it a little tacky.

The ‘desk’ (if it can be called that) constitutes a small pane of glass which is by no means big enough to hold a laptop - you are most definitely better off going to the lobby to work.

This being a modern hotel, plug sockets are not an issue here - with plenty mains and USB plugs.

However in my experience, in-room WiFi was atrocious - average just a few Mbps up and down making it unusable for modern web-based applications. I do not remember having this issue on my last visit, in fact I remember taking a few Microsoft Teams calls from my room.

Most rooms at the property will have somewhat of a view over to the airport - but most are more likely to look into the surrounding hotels.

The bathroom was simple with Muk amenities. Very little to note here but we both got a decent shower each - which is all you want from a basic hotel.

The primary frustration with the sleep during our stay was the temperature of the room. With all A/C disabled we could not control how cool it was and, considering it was a mild March day, the heating was too high. Other guests also reported this issue at the time but it did make a comfortable bed turn into a bad night’s sleep.

Onto breakfast which is served in the bar, shop and reception area.

The spread consisted of self-serve items including eggs, soft bacon, sausages, pastries and donuts.

The food was poor, flavourless and worse than prior to the pandemic. The pastries were dry while the bacon was only just about cooked - with this likely being one of the worse chain breakfasts I’ve had.

The one saving grace of the breakfast was the selection of more continental items such as cheese, yoghurts and cereals which at least meant there was something a bit more appetising.

Unsurprisingly, Coffee was not much better than the rest of the breakfast - although at least a step above instant coffee.

Maybe the Moxy Breakfast falls into this category…

Conclusion

I felt disappointed by my stay at the Moxy London Excel. While I suspect heating issue will be fixed in due course making for a comfortable sleep once again, this ruined the previously positive experience we had. I’m happy to say that the communal areas are still good at the hotel but the breakfast was offering was poor. I would recommend the Moxy at the right price, which in low season can be as low as GBP 60 per night, but I would almost always reject the breakfast - the cost, which I believe is an additional GBP 10, just isn’t worth it even for convenience.