Why this playful brand won the TPG Award for Best Affordable Hotel Brand

08.11.2023 - 18:55 / thepointsguy.com

If you ask Merriam-Webster, Moxie means "energy" or "pep." If you ask Marriott, Moxy is "a playful, affordable, and stylish hotel brand designed to give guests everything they want and nothing they don't."

And that's exactly why TPG readers crowned Moxy as the best affordable hotel brand in the 2023 TPG Awards.

If you've never stayed at one of the 125-plus locations spanning the globe — from Tokyo to Tromso, Norway; Shanghai to Seattle; and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Sydney Airport (SYD) — you've probably at least noticed the chain's neon pink signage or been tempted to book after seeing its typically affordable price points, attractive photos and trendy locations.

According to Brian Jaymont, the global brand leader and senior director of Aloft Hotels and Moxy Hotels, Marriott found out that guests wanted three things before it announced the brand back in 2013: a comfortable bed, an awesome TV and a great shower.

Armed with that knowledge, the Marriott team got creative and came up with "small but smart" rooms that typically measure around 185 square feet. Instead of a closet, Moxy introduced simple peg boards where guests can hang clothes or a bag. Rather than a full-on desk, some rooms offer small fold-up options that double as wall art. And in the bathroom, guests will find solid walk-in showers to wash away a day or night out on the town.

The company also realized that the brand's target traveler was satisfied with a small accommodation because the locale was the focus of the journey.

"Our travelers have told us they want to explore the destination," Jaymont said. "They don't want to just be stuck in the room."

With that in mind, the brand ditched the traditional check-in desk in favor of Bar Moxy, where guests can get their "room key and a cocktail," as the Moxy website states. (In fact, many Moxy properties offer a free drink at check-in.) It turned the lobby into a design-forward social hub and built a place that served more as a launch pad into the destination itself rather than a refuge from it.

Related: The 1st Moxy hotel in Brooklyn is proof that the affordable brand is finally growing up

"What we ended up doing is proposing a deal to the traveler," said Mitchell Hochberg, president of Lightstone, the development company behind a handful of Moxy properties in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. "We reduced the (room) rate and (in return gave) them a room that's efficient, i.e. smaller, but still stylish, along with public spaces that are engaging and well designed."

Typically, those smaller rooms equal a smaller price tag — rates can even be found for less than $75 a night in certain markets — but ultimately will vary depending on location and seasonality.

One thing is for