Hotel Review: The Moxy London Excel

You may be surprised when you step inside the Moxy London Excel hotel. It’s a chain hotel with the ‘heart of a boutique’ and plenty of intriguing features.

The front of the Moxy London Excel Hotel with a pink sign reading "Moxy," matching pink planters with shrubs, and reflective windows under a clear sky.

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It’s never ideal to check into a hotel in the late evening, but it’s even less ideal when you’re planning on photographing the hotel for a review!

And that’s what happened to me recently when I checked into the Moxy London Excel late on a Saturday evening. I’d been up since 5am and had spent a long day at a course in London. I just wanted to get into my room and go to sleep…

Luckily, the hotel staff were super helpful, and the following day, I was able to take photos in a freshly made-up room, so all was not lost.

Moxy hotels are part of the Marriott group of hotels. Hotels are currently open in Aberdeen and London Stratford, as well as the London Excel hotel. London Heathrow and five other UK hotels will open in 2018. This hotel is perfectly located for anyone visiting London Excel for an exhibition or conference.

Modern lounge area at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with eclectic furnishings, including suspended basket chairs, a grey sofa, and various armchairs, featuring a combination of industrial and chic decor elements.

The hotel’s website describes Moxy as ‘an affordable hotel for every budget with the soul of a boutique hotel’. And as soon as you enter the Moxy London Excel, you know there’s something different about this hotel.

The reception area features a combination of industrial architecture, pop art on the walls, and a range of board games. Definitely not your standard hotel reception!

A table-football table is placed in front of a colorful graffiti-style wall art with the word "Moxy" painted on it, with a chessboard on a table to its left, inside a lounge area at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with sheer curtains partially allowing natural light into the space.

Ceiling-to-floor windows in the hotel’s lounge area flood the room with masses of natural light. There are big armchairs to relax in, giant board games, and even a football table.

With free high-speed WiFi throughout the hotel, this is definitely somewhere you could catch up on some work or meet up with friends and family.

A neatly made double bed in a modern hotel room at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with bedside lamps turned on and a window with sheer curtains in the background.

A Room at the Moxy London Excel

This double room is identical to the one I stayed in at the Moxy London Excel. Twin rooms and family rooms with a double bed and a sofa bed are also available.

The bed is very comfortable, and the high thread-count bed linen is as crisp as you would expect to find at a Marriott hotel.

Modern hotel room at the Moxy London Excel Hotel featuring a neatly made bed with white linens, a black ergonomic chair to the side, an illuminated bedside lamp, and a padded headboard.

A neatly made bed at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with white pillows and a wall-mounted lamp in a room with a striped accent wall.

I would have liked a couple of extra pillows, and I thought the quilt was a little thin, but then I like to be toasty warm in bed. Luckily, the air con in the room was very efficient, and I had a good night’s sleep.

Because this room is quite compact, there is no wardrobe, just a small hanging rail. That’s probably not a big deal if you are only staying for a night or two, but I think it would be a problem for a longer stay.

A modern hotel room at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with a wall-mounted television, a bedside lamp, and an upholstered bench at the foot of the bed.

A Design-led Room

From the wall art to the back-lit panels dotted around the room, this is not your standard chain hotel room. One of the room’s nifty features is the under-bed lighting that turns on automatically if you get out of bed in the night.

I also appreciated the USB charging points at the bedside. That’s so convenient compared to some hotels where you have to charge your phone across the other side of the room!

The TV at the foot of the bed is a generous 42” and has internet connectivity. You can either hook up your own device to stream to the TV or log into the internet on the TV directly. You can clear your login credentials anytime, and they will be removed automatically when you check out of the hotel.

And yes, I did end up watching YouTube instead of the news in the morning.

A modern bathroom vanity at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with a rectangular basin, two folded white towels, and assorted toiletries, featuring a mirror and a wall-mounted tap.

A Compact En-suite

As with the bedroom, the en-suite is quite compact. There’s no bathtub in here, but there’s a decent-sized shower cubicle and a smart washstand, and everything was spotlessly clean.

A modern shower at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with white tiles, featuring a handheld shower head, metallic fixtures, and two pink bottles placed on a shelf.

MUK toiletries are provided in the bathroom, along with good-sized and suitably fluffy towels.

A hairdryer was provided in the room, but the cord was too short for me to dry my hair in front of the mirror. This was a rare flaw in what is generally a well-designed hotel.

A coffee station at the Moxy London Excel Hotel with thermal milk pitchers and a sign that reads "but first, coffee," flanked by sugar dispensers.

Food and Drink at the Moxy London Excel

The snack bar area in the Moxy London Excel is open 24/7. This is fantastic if you check in late and need something quick to eat and drink.

The hotel offers a continental breakfast for £10 per person, and the bar serves a mix of coffees, cocktails and other drinks.

The hotel doesn’t have a restaurant, but there is plenty of choice in the local area. And if you want more choice, you are only a few minutes walk from the nearest DLR station (Royal Albert).

A decorative couch cushion with the phrase "wherever i lay my bum that's my home" rests against a couch at the Moxy London Excel Hotel, with a unique wall art piece made from vintage suitcases in the background.

Moxy London Excel: The Verdict

I wasn’t expecting much from a chain hotel that’s obviously intended to serve visitors to the Excel exhibition centre.

It serves that purpose very well. This hotel would be perfect for anyone attending a trade show or exhibition at Excel, as it is just a 5-minute walk to the nearest DLR station and a similar walk to the exhibition centre. However, if there was a major event at the Excel, I would expect a night to cost more than the £94 I paid.

A mural on a wall at the Moxy London Excel Hotel depicting a stylized ship and a Beefeater guard within a red and white geometric design, partially obscured by a fire exit sign and a small notice to the left; the bottom of the mural features wave-like patterns with graffiti elements.

However, I was surprised to find that the hotel was so design-led and had so many quirky touches. The room was very comfortable, and I loved some of the extra features, like the USB charging points. So many hotels still don’t take the day-to-day requirements of travellers in 2018 into account.

That’s not to say that the Moxy London Excel is perfect. The need to keep the room compact means there’s no storage for clothing, so I wouldn’t want to stay here for more than a night or two.

But overall, I really enjoyed my short stay at the Moxy London Excel. I just wish I could have checked in earlier to take advantage of the lounge and bar area downstairs!

The Details:

London Moxy Excel
1001 Dockside Road, London, E16 2FQ
Hotel Website

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