Meet an airport hotel with a very different vibe

It is fair to say that the Moxy Sydney Airport is not for everyone.

But if you enjoy a lively atmosphere, vibrant shared spaces and fun additions then chances are you'll enjoy it a lot.

Most airport hotels are soulless places with people stressed about having missed a flight, or getting up early enough to catch one.

In contrast, the Moxy Sydney Airport has a fun vibe, with guests clearly enjoying themselves in the colourful, and expansive, shared public spaces.

You check-in at the bar, drop back later for cocktails, when the bar can be rocking.

There are games, shared spaces and fast wifi. I'm told lots of corporates choose to hold meetings here. Mixing work with fun.

I've stayed at a couple of Moxy properties before: in Glasgow and at Milan Malpensa. Both shared the same vibe but were not quite as lively.

Opened 18 months ago, Moxy Sydney Airport has 301 designer rooms, cosy but well-equipped. Make sure you book one with a fridge if you need one as not all offer that facility. Rooms with runway views are also great for plane spotters. 

You'll find Moxy Kitchen, Moxy Bar, Little Baxter Café on the ground floor, along with facilities like meeting rooms of various dimensions, a fitness centre, and a guest laundry.

Look out for points of difference like a retro photo booth, the signature pink boxing bag in the gym and Moxy bikes available if you want to explore the area pre- or post-flight.

There are colourful artworks throughout, including work by local artists Elliot Rutledge and Evi O.

There are a variety of room styles, including family rooms with bunks, and room rates start from a very fair $219.

Free airport shuttle are available to either domestic or international terminals and there is also a shuttle to Mascot Station for those heading to the city. Services run every 20 minutes to the domestic terminal (4.45am to 10.50pm - very handy for our early flight) and to the international terminal (5am to 10.50pm).

Valet parking costs $25 for eight hours and $40 for overnight.

If you are prepared to self park then Stay a night you can park your car for five nights for free.

Moxy Sydney Airport’s new Park, Stay & Fly package is perfect for travellers seeking secure, hassle-free airport parking paired with a stylish stay and inclusive return airport shuttle.

The news is all good for locals who need their car at the airport for their return.

The car park is covered with 24/7 CCTV surveillance for extra peace of mind. The deal includes a free shuttle ride to the airport and back and, after your five free nights, you can choose from daily rates starting at $15, weekly rates from $100, or save up to 20% on extended monthly stays.

Travellers who are part of the Marriott Bonvoy group can unlock extra perks.

See www.moxysydneyairport.com +61 2 9132 4800.

* Moxy Sydney Airport will be joined by a second Moxy location in the city on Pitt Street in Sydney CBD later this year.

# The writer was a guest of Moxy Sydney Airport 

Meet an airport hotel with a room style for everyone

It is the time of the year when family groups travel together.

There may be young children who need an eye kept on them, or more elderly family members who appreciate being close.

The Moxy Sydney Airport Hotel, which recently celebrated its first birthday, has room configurations that fit just about any family need, along with a location with visibility along both Joyce and Qantas Drive. It offers easy connectivity to the Sydney CBD.

Along with 301 rooms it also houses Moxy Kitchen, Moxy Bar, Little Baxter Café, meeting rooms, a fitness centre, and a guest laundry. 

I've stayed at Moxy properties before - they usually have a fun vibe - and will be checking this one out in the new year. 

There are several different room types, including:

Moxy Queen Sleeper – 228 Rooms
Queen bed, bathroom, AC, safe, wifi, tea & coffee
Airport runway or city views – 18 sqm

MOXY Twin Sleeper – 51 Rooms
Two double beds, bathroom, AC, Safe, wifi, tea & coffee
Airport runway or city views – 20 sqm

MOXY LOFT Airport – 9 rooms
One queen and one single king bed, bathroom, mini fridge, AC, safe, wifi, tea & coffee
Airport runway or city views – 21 sqm

MOXY QUAD BUNKS – 8 Rooms
Four king single beds, bathroom, mini-fridge, AC, safe, wifi, tea & coffee. 

 Airport runway or city views - 21 sqm

MOXY KING SLEEPER – 5 Rooms
King bed, bathroom, mini fridge, AC, safe, wifi, tea & coffee.
Airport runway or city views 39 sqm

MOXY FAMILY ROOM – 5 Rooms
Two queen beds + 1 single king bed, two bathrooms, AC, one mini-fridge, safe, wifi, tea & coffee. Airport runway & city views

MOXY Family Bunkhouse – 4 rooms
Queen bed + four single bunk beds, two bathrooms, AC, one mini-fridge, safe, wifi, tea & coffee. Airport runway and city views.

For details see www.moxysydneyairport.com

Moxy putting fun and frivolity back into travel

You could be forgiven for being unimpressed at the arrival of a new hotel brand into any major city these days, says our correspondent Roderick Eime.

If you think back 30 years or so, you could just about name every brand on the market. Now, in the third decade of the 21st century, there are more than 1000 hotel brands on the planet, says Smith Travel Research,.

We have business brands, funky ‘lifestyle’ brands, budget brands, luxury brands, resort brands, apartment brands, fashion brands and even pet-friendly brands. And then these are pigeonholed into a dozen or so categories like premium, midscale, economy etc.

So when Marriott International, the largest hotel chain in the world by the number of available rooms (1.4 million and counting) and which operates more than 30 brands of its own, dropped a new logo in Sydney in August this year, nobody flinched.

A gold star to any of our readers who can name this newbuild 301-key “playful hotel experience for the young at heart” which opened in the Sydney Airport precinct.

More clues? Well, this “disruptive hotel channels the brand's playful vibe and boundary-breaking experiences”. OK. Time's up.

Moxy Sydney Airport on Baxter Road (supplied)

It’s Moxy and while I can’t tell you who comes up with these names, I can tell you the objective is to create a personality that resonates with a particular demographic. In this case, the “young at heart”. 

Already there are more than 125 Moxy properties open across 24 countries and territories. Moxy Sydney Airport is the first Moxy hotel to open its doors in Australia and New Zealand, bringing the brand's “playful, thoughtful and spirited approach” to our most populous city.

STOP PRESS: Sydney CBD Moxy just announced

Marriott’s adept PR people tell us "Moxy boldly breaks the rules of a conventional hotel stay with a non-traditional experience starting at check-in at the ground floor Bar Moxy and comes to life throughout its social public spaces, like the Lounge and Library and the small but smart bedrooms and stylish, industrial design, vibrant communal spaces, 24/7 dining options, flexible working and meeting spaces and social service - all at an attractive price point." 

Moxy Sydney Airport Lobby (R Eime)

So much for the cliche-laden spiel, but when an opportunity presented itself for GOTR to sample this new product first hand, we jumped at it.

Between a Sydney media event and an international flight, we stayed two nights and had a proper chance to ‘road test’ the hotel and its amenities and can concur with the ebullient PR machine that the hotel does indeed strive to break away from the conventional.

There were, nonetheless, a few little things I don’t need to detail that any brand-new hotel has to go through with new staff and new systems. I’m sure they will sort themselves out.

Someone, presumably the eminent Canadian all-female interior designer firm, MAED. COLLECTIVE, has gone to a lot of trouble to create a novel atmosphere in the ground floor lobby and breakout rooms which rejoice in retro knick-knacks everywhere you look. 

Vinyl records, a photo booth and even a vintage arcade game.

Room (supplied)

Yes, despite their compact 18sqm size, the ‘industrial-chic’ bedrooms do combine functionality and flexibility as claimed, and create a sense of openness with the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive views. Remembering this is an airport hotel, not a resort, so the rooms are only as big as they need to be. 

The meeting spaces on the mezzanine as well as the lifts are faux shipping containers, not something I’d ever seen before and certainly something ‘outside the box’. [click to play video]

Dining, as you might predict, is minimalist but offers “homage to the iconic Australian Milk Bar, the hotel's street side café, Little Baxter, offers grab-n'-go-bites” where an assortment of mini-meals are displayed in a pantry-style nook ready 24/7. 

Breakfast, likewise, is no gala affair, but all your kickstarter essentials are there. Coffee is not overlooked and features signature blends and single origins from Marrickville's Double Roasters, paired with daily baked pastries from local artisan baker, Sonoma.

As any good airport hotel should offer, there is a dedicated free shuttle to both domestic and international terminals running on a rough half hourly schedule.

I imagine some would suggest an airport hotel should be just that, a utilitarian, practical property that homes in on the needs of the impatient traveller keen to get in and out of a destination. Then there are those, with whom I am finding myself increasingly aligned, who don’t mind a bit of frivolity and fun to ease their tiresome journey. I recall pre-COVID, a property across the road then named Felix (by 8Hotels) toyed with the novel concept of a retro-themed airport hotel, but alas, has now transitioned to a much blander and conventional Citadines.

Can Moxy revive the notion of travel-for-fun with its mould-breaking design? Initial Tripadvisor reviews suggest some guests are finding the unfamiliar adjustment awkward, while others are glowing in their praise. Me? I’m leaning toward the latter but acknowledge some streamlining of the fundamental processes will help. But it’s early days and I wish Moxy well. Travel should be fun and anything hotels can do to relieve the stress of travel is to be welcomed.

JUST THE FACTS

56 Baxter Road, Mascot, New South Wales 2020 Australia

Website: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/sydxp-moxy-sydney-airport/ . Toll free: +61-2-91324800

Google Map link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KruQ2DjWd5eeUEor8 

Moxy makes its Australian debut

The Moxy Hotels group, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 31 different hotel brands, today opens the doors to its first hotel in Australia.

The Moxy Sydney Airport is the first of a range of hotels that are designed to appeal to the young and young-at-heart with their casual vibe.

I've stayed at Moxy properties in Glasgow, and at Milan's Malpensa airport and enjoyed both stays.

Located in Mascot, in the Inner South of Sydney, the new 301-bedroom hotel is close by to Sydney International Airport, with Moxy’s pink airport shuttle bus set to greet guests as they arrive.

The hotel is easily accessible from Sydney CBD.

Sean Hunt, area vice president of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific for Marriott International (what a great job title!) said: “We have been fiercely focused on introducing new lifestyle brands to Australia that will appeal to the changing needs of modern travellers.

"The debut of Moxy’s disruptive hotel experience at Sydney Airport does just that, ringing in an exciting new era for Marriott International in the country.”



​​​​​Moxy Sydney Airport's design is inspired by Mascot’s industrial and art-deco heritage.

The hotel’s façade has a mural created by local artist Elliott Routledge, known for his distinctive, abstract designs.

The lobby has exposed ceilings, wrought-iron beams, and natural materials to create the open, airy feel of a converted warehouse.

Designed as a multi-functional work and interactive social space, the lobby is centred around the hotel bar where guests check in with a complimentary “Get Moxy” signature cocktail. Within the lobby, guests can also enjoy the hotel’s ​​​​Living Room, a laid-back communal space.

The industrial-chic bedrooms are said to "combine functionality and flexibility with edgy detail". The rooms feature modular furniture including Moxy’s signature Stellar Works foldable workspace desks and chairs, as well as smart features like peg walls to allow guests the flexibility to adapt the room to their needs.

Tech-savvy touches include motion-activated LED lights, keyless entry, 55-inch flat-screen TVs, and complimentary wifi.

Bar Moxy is designed for working and connecting during the day and transforms into a social hub at night. Local brands including Archie Rose and Young Henry are showcased, while the hotel’s street café, Little Baxter, offers grab n’ go bites or coffees and pastries for those looking to linger.

There are also five meeting studios for private events.

Located at 56 Baxter Road, Mascot, Moxy Sydney Airport offers rates starting at $209 per night.

See www.moxysydneyairport.com