MOXY Oslo X

The breakfast was phenomenal, and there are lots of fun little things to do around the place, especially with a kid, or if you’re a child in an adult’s body. The whole idea is to get you out of your room, socializing and doing activities on site. The rooms, though, are tight and feel like college dorms or a hotel for a college basketball team. The beds aren’t very comfortable. Still, the price is perfect, and it works well for a conference or a stop before heading out into the surrounding wilderness. It’s a strange, funky place, everything hotels usually aren’t. You might think you want to hate it, but the more you explore, the more you love it.

I loved the hotel’s design, but the overall stay was bad. Dinner isn’t included, and the food service was a mess. On my first day the restaurant was closed, so I ordered from the bar. After 40 minutes I asked about the wait. They apologized, gave me a free coffee, and brought the food 10 minutes later. The next day the restaurant was open, but I ordered the same margarita pizza because there weren’t many choices and I’m picky. After 40 minutes I went to ask, but the staff member cut me off, said she’d already told the chef to fix it, and sent me back to sit down. Ten minutes later, two other girls who’d waited about as long as I had and I got our food. When we tried to leave, we were yelled at and accused of not paying. We showed our receipts. She looked at mine, said, “Oh okay,” then tried to hand it back, snatched it away, and said it wasn’t mine. A moment later she admitted it was mine and wished me a nice evening. There was a horse event during my stay and nobody told me. The smell of manure lasted the whole time, and it would have been good to know in case I was allergic to horses. Getting to the hotel was confusing too, since I had to drive through the event. The Chromecast on the TV didn’t work, and there really wasn’t much information provided.

The front desk staff were very nice and polite, and the restaurant space looked warm and rustic, though a little too dark in places. Some signs were hard to read because the lighting was poor. The breakfast was below average. I’ve stayed in plenty of hotels where you get the usual sausages, eggs, mushrooms, bread and so on, but the mini sausages here were wrinkled and inedible, and the scrambled eggs were among the worst I’ve had. My glass was dirty too, even though it had clearly been through the dishwasher. I suspect they’re putting out older food, which is the only explanation I can think of for those sausages. The room’s air system was louder than a hairdryer, and there was no way to turn it down. I thought it had to be broken. The shower drain was clogged, so we had to wait for the water to clear between showers or risk flooding the bathroom. It’s a very cheap hotel, but a coat of paint doesn’t make a run-down place decent. The building felt old, smelly, loud, and squeaky. The lobby photos look nice, but don’t be fooled. This hotel seems to cater to Chinese tourists, with signs in Chinese everywhere. Breakfast was packed as soon as it opened, though they did open a second dining area. There are better hotels for the same price. It feels like they’re cashing in on a hip look and a fresh makeover.

The rooms were clean, spacious, and well equipped, and the staff were friendly and very accommodating. It’s good value for the money. The hotel is roughly 20mins from downtown, though, so it can feel quite secluded.