Review: Moxy Vienna Airport

During a recent aviation geek event, I needed to stay close to the Vienna Airport.

There are two properties quite close to the Vienna Airport. They are the NH Vienna Airport Conference Center and the Moxy Vienna Airport, and they are very close to each other with the NH being slightly closer to the airport by about a block. Because of the event the NH hotel was quite full, so I booked the Moxy instead for a single night. The Moxy is a category 3 Marriott property, which requires 15,000 points per night. I paid the 84 EUR nightly rate instead.

Arrival and Check-In

The Moxy Vienna Airport is conveniently located just a couple blocks from the airport. Here’s a map from the Moxy’s website showing just how close it is –

It was a rainy afternoon when I arrived, and there is an underground tunnel that connects the Moxy to the airport arrival terminals via about a 10 minute walk. The tunnel was a comfortable temperature and clean, as well as being well-lit. When I was just across the street from the Moxy I did have to exit the tunnel and use the crosswalk outside but it was minimal and doable with a rollerboard suitcase.

The lobby was bright and buzzing with activity. Lots of guests were hanging around in the common area, and there was a line 5 deep for check-in which was done at the bar. Although there were two hosts behind the desk there was no separate line for Marriott elites, nor did the line move quickly.

Finally it was my turn, and the energetic host got me set up with my room key in no time. I got in the elevator, and noticed that the walls were plastered with photos that were designed to appear as though they were polaroid shots.

Most of the people in the photos looked like they were college kids having a fun and silly time. Refreshing, from the usual hotel elevator advertisements seen at some hotels.

Stepping off the elevator on the 5th floor, my room was to the left and almost all the way down the hall.

Guest Room

At first glance, the room looked cute, tidy and compact. As soon as I entered the room I looked for a place to open up my suitcase. There was no closet, and the room was fairly small. I chose a wall near the TV that was fairly out of they way so I wouldn’t be tripping over it.

I had a number of dresses and button-down shirts to hang and my husband was going to be joining me as well with more work clothes, but there were only three wall pegs (with three hangers total). I filled up the pegs and ran out of hangers but thank goodness I’d brought many dry cleaning hangers on my clothes. When my husband arrived and hung up his clothes, the pegs were strained and the girl on the wall went from looking fierce to echoing my frustration that there wasn’t enough hanger space (or hangers). It was also quite warm in the room, so I turned the thermostat to the coolest setting.

The restroom was also small, and instead of offering individual sized conditioner and shampoo bottles there were simply large bottles in the shower and sinkside. Muk was the brand name. There were two large-ish towels, two small, and a hair dryer underneath the sink. There was a tiny step-trash in the bathroom, which turned out to be the only one in the room.

The view from the window was great for an AvGeek as I could see the planes coming and going. It was quiet too, as the windows were thick.

For those tiring of the outside view, there was a large 42 inch flat screen TV. As I was there for work, I never turned it on.

The bed was Queen sized, and although the linens felt nice, there was just one synthetic pillow per person. In the time I had been in the room the temperature had gotten hotter, so I moved to the bedside table to call down to reception to inquire about the A/C and to request a couple feather pillows.

To my surprise, there was no phone on the small glass bedside table to the left of the bed. There wasn’t anything on the table at all. There was a reading light above that was attached to the headboard, but not even a charging outlet.

The bedside table to the right was a little better, as it held both a USB and power outlet. There was another reading lamp above, but that was it. No phone.

As I had two laptops, a couple iPads, and a couple phones to charge, the small shelf obviously wouldn’t hold everything. As there was no desk in the room, I ended up putting some of my devices on the chair near the bed, and others on the roomier shelf and block chair near the TV where another outlet was located. After looking around thoroughly, I also finally determined that there was just no phone in the room at all. It was almost comical, except that I now had to go down to the front desk if I needed anything.

I went downstairs to ask about the pillows and air conditioning, and had to stand in an even longer line at the reception/bar. When it was my turn, the host cheerily told me that they were happy to provide a couple of down pillows and someone would bring them right up. Great! I found out that even though my Marriott profile indicated that I wanted only down pillows, the Moxy only uses synthetic pillows unless a guest specifically requested them at check-in. Good to know. They also said that the hotel had already been switched over to heating mode for the winter (and this was in early and warm September), so no air conditioning was possible. I thanked him and headed back up to the room, but no pillows came. My husband went back down later and inquired again about the pillows, and several hours later they arrived.

Turning off the thermostat entirely and opening the window as far as it would go resulted in a cooler temperature that was just barely comfortable enough for sleeping. The drapes blocked out light very well, and there was no noise from nearby rooms. Since the window was kept open during the night to keep the room cool enough there was a lot of noise from the planes, and traffic could be heard on the streets because of the rain as well. One odd feature the room had was under bed lighting, so when I leaned over to reach something on the floor in the middle of the night a light suddenly switched on without my wanting it. After a few minutes, the light silently turned back off.

Marriott Platinums do not receive complimentary breakfast at the Moxy hotel, and I had seen signs the night before that advertised breakfast for 15 EUR. Figuring it to be pretty substantial for 15 EUR, in the morning I made my way down to the lobby area to check it out around 7am. I walked along the breakfast shelves to take a look before paying, and decided against it. There were apples as well as lots of spreads for bread, but there were just a few bread rolls left. The bowl with fruit salad was empty, the cottage cheese was gone, a shelf that supposedly held pork items was empty, and there was a long line for the juice and coffee machine which seemed to be on the fritz. Maybe a group had just come through but there were just slim pickings left (at 7am?), and although inconvenient to leave the hotel for breakfast, 15 EUR could get me a much more robust and tastier meal.

Summary

I have mixed feelings about this hotel. The location was great, the property was clean, staff helpful, and the room was quiet. I get what Moxy is trying to do, with their “hip” approach and Millennial focus. The bar and social seating area were quite popular and busy in the evening, but I didn’t hear any noise or partying when I went to my room.

However, I think an airport hotel really needs to have quicker check-in so there isn’t a long line. I didn’t sleep well because it was so warm (plus the noise from outside due to the window being open). Breakfast with few options for 15 EUR was a disappointment, and I personally think removing phones from the rooms isn’t a good idea. Aside from being inconvenient, if someone had a heart attack in the middle of the night or fell in the shower, there would be no way to contact front desk. But Moxy is different in several ways, and it shows.

84 EUR it was a good deal for a clean, comfortable albeit basic hotel, and I would have enjoyed the stay a bit more if I had simply been on a layover.