Airport, business and conference hotels, while often conveniently situated, are sometimes soulless establishments designed for efficiency but lacking any atmosphere. The clink of cutlery on plates echoes through restaurants full of single guests.
In stark contrast MoxyMarriott’s fast-growing lifestyle hotel brand, has attracted worldwide attention with its colourful, vibrant hotel concept.
Now Moxy has also turned expectations of airports and conference hotels on their head on the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, UK.
Cocktails can be found on the vigorous bar at Moxy Birmingham NEC.
Check-in is on the bar. The vigorous lounge offers a number of cocktails and craft beers, and hot food is served throughout the evening at reasonable prices to actually whet your appetite.
Birmingham Airport and Birmingham NEC
Moxy has chosen a perfect location for its first hotel within the West Midlands. Its attractive lakeside setting doesn’t suggest that it’s the closest hotel for conference delegates and guests arriving at Birmingham International Station.
The hotel can also be just 10-Quarter-hour from Birmingham Airport (BHX), with a lot of the route being via a courtyard, through the exhibition lobby and a brief ride on a people mover.
Birmingham NEC Moxy is a vigorous hotel for those attending a conference or catching a flight from … [+]
Birmingham Airport is the seventh busiest airport within the UK and has good connections to Europe and international hubs similar to Doha, Dubai and Istanbul.
Opened in 1976, the NEC has 20 interconnected halls covering almost 185,000 square metres of floor space. It has hosted the British International Motor Show, BBC Gardeners’ World Live and the Crufts dog show, while the Resorts World Arena hosts major live shows and touring shows all year long. At the guts of all of it is Moxy.
The Moxy Experience
The entrance to the Moxy Birmingham NEC makes a powerful first impression and is more paying homage to an exclusive lounge bar than a hotel lobby.
As in most Moxy hotels, check-in takes place on the bar.
Eclectic furniture, various areas for working or relaxing, and a music theme that implies a vigorous nightlife welcome guests inside.
Bar staff will take a break from serving drinks to checking-in guests. Marriott Bonvoy Rewards program members can do that online prematurely.
If you arrive before check-in opens at 3pm, luggage storage is accessible in a lockable room with ID tags provided. This system is safer than many competing hotels.
The guest rooms at Moxy Birmingham NEC are compact but well designed.
Guest rooms are compact but well-appointed, with every part the fashionable traveller needs, including a Chromecast-enabled TV, working air con and USB charging points, in addition to UK and EU-style plug sockets.
A full bar menu of cask beers, cocktails and hot food is accessible throughout the evening. Although described as “bar food”, the menu is varied and the meals are substantial.
The pizzas are perfect for sharing and each the chicken and vegan curries are excellent – a must within the Birmingham area known for its Indian cuisine.
Chicken curry at Moxy Birmingham NEC.
When there may be a big event on the NEC or Resorts World, the bar is sure to be busier and it could actually be difficult to search out a table for 2, although there are often spaces available on the longer communal tables.
Rates for a double room start at a reasonable $115 when paid prematurely, but increase sharply as availability drops during major events. Off-site parking costs around $14 day by day, and guests can drop off their luggage on the hotel on the option to the parking zone.
