Moxy Duesseldorf City

We’re Marriott Titanium and Hilton Diamond members, and Moxy made us question Marriott’s idea of basic necessities in a hotel room. It felt like staying in the sparsely furnished spare room of a college friend’s first apartment. Clearly, we’re over 25 and the wrong demographic. There was no closet, dresser, desk, nightstand, safe, fridge, microwave, coffee maker, iron or ironing board, phone, or bathroom hooks. There was no décor either. Clothes ended up in piles on the floor. The shower had no doors, and its two thin purple curtains couldn’t keep water from spreading across the bathroom. The bed had a futon-style mattress, thin bedding and only two thin pillows. It was shoved into a corner, so one side was accessible only by crawling in from the foot, and then I was sleeping an inch from the wall. The room layout was poorly designed. There was no breakfast, coffee or water included, and to buy any you had to queue at the bar or check-in. The lobby décor seemed like something a teenage girl might like. The location was walkable, the multilingual front desk and bar staff were friendly and helpful, and the lobby-bar area was social. The water pressure was good and the place was clean. It made us appreciate our next two hotel rooms, which weren’t at Moxy, so much more.

The hotel's biggest plus is where it is: the subway is right beside it, the main station is an easy walk, and Japanese and Korean restaurants are just along the next street. Inside, it's a basic Moxy, with city pop art and a Düsseldorf design and fashion theme. The rooms are small but reasonably equipped, breakfast is decent, and there's a gym with basic equipment.

The rooms were clean and good, and breakfast was tasty despite an average range of choices. Check-in and checkout, though, both took ages. Digging through a pile of paper for every guest can't be the best system.

Everything worked well, and the location was convenient. The place was clean and comfortable, with that familiar friendly Moxy feel. My room, though, was pretty standard, probably the most ordinary one I've had at any Moxy.