Moxy London Excel

For convenience, the location was hard to beat: Royal Albert DLR station was about a five-minute walk away, and my disabled mother and I managed that fairly easily. Hotel parking was cheap and worked well for the length of our stay. The room was clean and well maintained, but cold, with no way to get the thermostat to raise the temperature. We were on the top floor, looking mostly at other hotels. Staff were generally polite and efficient, but one person left us waiting over an hour for a latte, despite being reminded three times while standing around doing nothing. We found the food unpleasant, with strange flavours. Neither the nachos nor the pizza and garlic bread were appetising, though the cocktails were tasty. I'd go to the restaurant for drinks, but eat elsewhere next time.

At 19.58 on Sunday night, two friends and I went downstairs to the Moxy bar to order food. They warned us it could take 45 minutes to an hour. We were fine with that, though the cashier seemed disappointed we still wanted to order. I chose a breakfast flatbread with bacon, eggs, and cheese, plus an orange San Pellegrino. I was told to get the drink from the shelf, but it wasn't there. We waited half an hour, then the dishes came out ten minutes apart, with mine last. There was no bacon in my flatbread. I managed to ask the waiter before they got away, and they said they were out of bacon. I wish they'd told me earlier so I could choose something else. The waiter just shrugged and left. No apology or offer to make up for the mistakes. It's deplorable service for a hotel brand. Moxy may not be high-end, but guests should still be treated politely and decently.

A really good budget hotel, with modern, clean, quiet, spacious rooms and super relaxed, friendly staff. They even give you a welcome drink. For a short stay at this price, I couldn't ask for more.

The £20 deposit still hadn't been returned after a week. The hotel is also quite far from the city centre, with not many places to go for entertainment nearby. The stay itself was okay, but with those issues it felt overpriced. If I'd known beforehand, I'd have stayed somewhere else.