06-05-2025
Hotel review: Moxy Bristol
Moxy – what's in a name? Search online and it'll probably throw up 'moxie', which means 'vigour', 'pep' and 'verve', all fitting attributes of Marriott Hotels' upbeat, fashion-forward, Gen Z-licious brand. Launched in Milan in 2014, within a decade Moxy has stamped its fun-loving character globally, with 135 outposts in 25 countries, from Mexico to India, Serbia to the States. And of course the UK, with 18 properties nationwide.
Affordability is key. Moxy Bristol has rooms for two from £79 a night. Given the centrality – opposite Cabot Circus shopping and entertainment centre, and 25 minutes on foot to the bars of buzzy Harbourside – it's a great deal.
But what's the big deal? Well, there's the hotel's commitment to locality. It may be a generic glass and brick edifice on the outside – but step in under the squiggly neon-pink 'Moxy' sign, and an exuberant lobby filled with the art of Bristolian creatives fills your view.
The all-round dynamism is infectious, helped by an energetic, can-do young team, an all-embracing welcome – even dogs can stay – and the vibey ground-floor Bar Moxy that will get its hooks into you and won't let you leave. Grab your free arrival cocktail and join in.
Rooms and facilities
This place is no shrinking violet. Moxy Bristol flexes its muscles with a pretty fine gym, as well as 214 bright and snazzy, atmospherically illuminated bedrooms, including family-friendly spaces with sofabeds, that bear out the 'play and stay' ethos of the brand – no hefty wardrobes or dressers in these compact cocoons; instead a large square grid of mesh on one wall, with hooks from which to artfully hang your bags and glad rags.
On which note, Moxy hotels are meant to be springboards into social living and the local community, hence the emphasis on designer-cool co-working areas downstairs, and the Japanese simplicity of the (often small) bedrooms. Not that this means discomfort. On the contrary, platform beds are fresh, white, sprung perfectly between soft and firm, and very slumber-inducing.
There's a widescreen TV should you fancy a leisurely lie-in or rest-and-recuperate evening, as well as the usual tea- and coffee-making gubbins. Shiny, urban-smart bathrooms with cubic sinks and showers, while not made to swing cats in, would easily be at home in far pricier boutique properties.
Any drawbacks? Alas no onsite parking – but Moxy offers discounted tickets for Cabot Circus so you can leave the wheels close by.
Food and drink
With its vast floor-to-ceiling windows, table football and clusters of mismatched, multicoloured, midcentury-modern furnishings, the main lobby area is the hotel's hive. It's the place to sit for breakfast, a lively serve-yourself affair of cereals, full English essentials, pastries, bottomless caffeine hits and fresh fruit. This is fine people-watching territory, as night owls wander in still high on their late, late escapades, and smug early-to-bed couples murmur conspiratorially.
A 24/7 cafe (essentially a display cabinet – pick up and pay at reception) has crisps, healthy nibbles, fizzy drinks, beers and wines. Then there's cocktail time – when the bloody marys are super-spicy, the beers super-icy and your loosened-up co-drinkers super-nicey – to get you limbered up for an evening on the town.
Hotel highlights
Apart from the centrality and the all-round friendliness? The in-your-face in-house art, commissioned to celebrate the creative juices of the bohemian inner-city St Paul's district and its African Caribbean population – it was engineered by Bricks, a Bristol-based social enterprise that works with local communities, building their esteem, helping artists fulfil a civic role and encouraging urban inclusivity.
Don't miss – in fact you can't miss – Bo Lanyon's monumental painting 'Procession' in the hotel entrance, a dizzy swirl of colours referencing the carnival (more below). See, too, Lucas Antics' brilliantly cartoonish big murals that dominate the side walls of the dining space.
What to do nearby
Got your spending head on? Mosey around Cabot Circus, over the road. It's lined with fashion outlets from H&M to Harvey Nichols, Mango and New Look to Superdry and Zara.
If you're here in July, adjacent St Paul's puts on one of the most exciting street carnivals in Europe – expect music and food celebrating the vibrant local African Caribbean culture.
Otherwise, head down to Harbourside for I K Brunel's magnificent SS Great Britain, the world's first great oceangoing liner, launched in 1843 and now permanently docked.
Thereafter, bars and cafes are sure to waylay you. Try Loose Cannon for margaritas, mojitos, negronis and daiquiris - each a tenner or less.
Best for
Bargain-hotel budgeteers and late-night party people.
