Moxy Southampton - The Ideal Pre Cruise Stay?
Southampton isn’t just a student city - it’s the busiest cruise ship port in the UK, and one of the busiest in Europe. With this in mind, you won’t be surprised to learn that you’ll be spoilt for choice when trying to find a hotel in Southampton. Whether you’re looking for a pre-cruise say or a weekend getaway, Southampton is the perfect base for your adventures. In my never-ending pursuit to find the best hotel in Southampton for your money, I stayed at Moxy in Southampton city centre for a night to put it to the test.
After first experiencing Moxy during a mini-break, the quirky hotel chain has been a go-to for me. Full of personality without being style-over-substance, Moxy always manages to cover the basics and sprinkle some fun and luxurious touches on top. Each Moxy hotel is decorated to reflect the local area - in Chester the communal spaces features thoughtful touches that gave a nod to the city’s horse racing heritage, so you can imagine the nautical theme running through the chain’s Southampton offering.
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| Moxy Southampton is the perfect place for a pre-cruise stay - just a few minutes from the port! |
Location and Car Parking -
Located next to West Quay with a view of the docks, Moxy couldn’t be any better placed in Southampton. From our hotel window we could see Dock Gate 10 (the entrance for City Cruise Terminal) directly opposite, as well as Iona moored at Ocean Cruise Terminal just a few minutes walk down the road.
Even if you’re not going on a cruise, Moxy is ideally located to explore all that Southampton has to offer. Situated just around the corner from West Quay, it’s a short walk to access some of the many restaurants and shops in the city centre.
A little further afield you’ll find Sea City Museum, Solent Sky Museum, and it’s a short drive to Beaulieu Motor Museum. Calshot is also not far away, and offers one of the best views of the ships in the Solent that you’ll find. For a really unique day trip, consider waking up early and get the ferry to the Isle of Wight for the day.
As with most city centre hotels, parking is a bit of an issue at Moxy. There is a small car park and during our visit some construction was taking place, further limiting the car park to less than 20 spaces- looking at the size of the construction area I’d say there are maybe 30 spaces normally. The Moxy Southampton website says that parking is charged at £8 per day, but when we arrived we put our registration details in on the screen at reception and weren’t asked to pay so I’d double check when you arrive - you might be lucky and parking is now free, or we might have accidentally gotten away with unknowingly not paying! If you arrive and this is full then you would need to park in West Quay Shopping Centre; if you’re in Southampton for the weekend this may not be an issue, but it’s not unheard of that cars full of luggage or cars left attended for long periods of time in public car parks are the target of vandalism.
We usually like to drive down to Southampton early on the day before our cruise and we’ve always managed to get space in hotel car parks and (so far) have never witnessed anything untoward.
We arrived at Moxy at 2:30pm and got one of the remaining two spaces in the car park at a time when there weren’t any ships sailing out all week. If you’re travelling to Southampton via public transport, or you’re not leaving anything in your car overnight, then you should be fine to leave it in a public car park but it’s definitely something to consider. I’d always recommend taking the train to Southampton where possible anyway - the roads are incredibly confusing and the traffic is usually awful, especially on cruise ship turnaround day!
The Welcome and Helpful Staff -
One of Moxy’s biggest strengths is undoubtably the staff and their hiring process. More often than not you arrive at a hotel and are immediately aware that you wanting to check in to your room is a massive inconvenience to the receptionist. This could not be further from the experience you get at Moxy - every hotel I’ve visited (both to stay, and just to be nosy at the decor in the case of the Bristol Moxy!), I’ve experienced a warm welcome, a big friendly smile and a relaxed atmosphere. Moxy is very millennial-focused so this makes sense, but the friendly yet not over-the-top welcome is always so appreciated for a self-declared awkward millennial. Equally if you have any issues or need to make a special request, it’s handled really well but without too much fuss. When we arrived at Moxy Southampton our room smelt really strongly of drains. No big deal as long as it could be put right - at the end of the day, hotels are open 24/7 all year round and sometimes things break and the first person to notice is the guest. We went down to reception to report the issue, and the person at reception immediately apologised and gave us a new room. They weren’t at the reception desk when we were heading out, but they saw us walk into breakfast in the morning and stopped us to check that everything was ok with our new room. I really appreciate the fuss-free and quick way of dealing with issues and the fact that they remembered to check on us the next day - as someone who travels more than average, I’ve experienced one or two issues with hotel rooms over the years, and Moxy’s way of dealing with things isn’t the norm unless you’re staying in a much pricier hotel!
The Facilities -
Moxy knock it out of the park with their facilities every single time. Every Moxy hotel has a large area dedicated to all things fun - this is great at the best of times, but especially if you’re waiting for your cruise ship embarkation slot and need to kill some time.
On top of this, each hotel has different games on offer. At Moxy Chester you could play pool, giant Connect 4, play the guitar or choose from their giant selection of board games. At Moxy Southampton the pool table was replaced with table football, they had their own retro arcade machine and even a Moxy photo booth, alongside the varied selection of board games.
The decor in the common areas celebrated Southampton’s maritime heritage, both with stylistic touches like the shipping container wall and with pieces of memorabilia. There were several items with plaques that contained more information, allowing you to learn a little more about the city’s past. My personal favourite sections were the rainbow shipping container wall (of course), and the mural of Calshot Spit with a working light. I don’t think it’s something that many visitors to the city would understand, but if you’re a maritime nerd or have spent a lot of time in Southampton then it’s a detail that you’ll absolutely appreciate.
The only thing that may be a deal breaker for you is the lack of gym - surprising considering it’s a brand targeting millennial, but at the same time I don’t necessarily expect a gym for a hotel in this price bracket. For a quick weekend trip I think most people would be fine skipping a workout and using the extra time to explore instead.
The Room -
Moxy hotel rooms are always well-designed and perfectly laid out for a short trip. The open concept wardrobe is more reminiscent of a clothing shop changing room with pegs jutting out of the wall with coat hangers on. This is just enough for a weekend trip and I personally prefer this as it means you’ve not got wasted space and light being blocked by a fully enclosed piece of furniture.
Having said that, for longer stays the lack of storage could be an issue as there aren’t any drawers or anywhere else to hang your clothes. At Moxy Chester they have a full wardrobe rail hung parallel to the wall and a peg board behind with hooks to allow you to hang accessories which gave you a lot more storage in a similar sized space, but I’m wondering if the corridor into the main area of the room in the Southampton hotel was just a little too narrow for this. Personally, I’m the kind of person who lives out of their suitcase for a weekend and only hangs up the things that would crease so it didn’t bother me, but it’s something to note if you’re the kind of person who prefers to fully unpack.
Going into the main bedroom area, there is a small desk opposite the bed, small side tables and a large comfy chair next to the bed. The room is flooded with natural light and is really well laid out to make the whole room feel larger. The bed is extremely comfortable to the point that it’s impossible to get up early! The bed is built onto a platform which houses motion-activated LED lights - from online reviews I’ve seen that they’re a bit “marmite”, but I personally love them. As someone sharing a room, being able to nip to the loo or grab something in the night without waking up my partner by needing to turn a light on or trying to grab my phone in the pitch black to use as a torch is a brilliant piece of design that I wish more hotels implemented!
The bathrooms are small but perfectly formed, with floating storage under the sink, a large mirror and double shower with a rainfall shower head which is always a win in my book. Moxy also provides great quality toiletries so you don’t need to worry about bringing your own for a weekend mini break.
The room feels calm, spacious and overall well designed for a city break or pre-cruise stay.
The Refreshments -
One of the most unique touches that still blows my mind is that upon check in you’re given a voucher for a free glass of their welcome cocktail or mocktail - it’s a small extra touch but it’s unique and guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
We were in the city for work so didn’t experience dinner at the hotel, but I can honestly say I was blown away with breakfast. I can’t eat gluten and usually hotel buffets are very limited - a plate of scrambled eggs and tomatoes is usually all I get. Moxy was the total opposite - in addition to a full selection of gluten free cereals, bread and pastries, there was fresh fruit, several yoghurt options, granola, “normal” (not gluten free) pastries, cold meats, cheese, and the standard Full English Breakfast. I opted for fruit and greek yoghurt, a gluten free waffle (just because I’d never had one before), and decided to have some toast. Everything was really fresh and top quality - it was the perfect breakfast to set us up for a day of exploring.
Whether you’re in Southampton for a mini break or you’re staying for the night before boarding a cruise ship, there’s plenty to do in the city. You’ll find a wealth of different museums covering planes, ships, cars and art, or you can walk the historic walls of the city and discover the history by reading the plaques along the way. Boat trips are also a popular option - SS Shieldhall is one of the oldest and most beautiful ships. Run entirely by volunteers, they run day trips most weekends as well as for special occasions like the inaugural sailing of a new cruise ship from Southampton or the annual boat show.
There’s plenty of parkland and beaches to explore. Located on the outskirts of the city, Calshot has a perfect view of ships from the Solent, a small beach to walk along and you can visit Calshot Castle for a unique view from above.
If the weather isn’t on your side, there’s plenty to do inside. Take a walk around the shops at West Quay or head to one of the many indoor activities like indoor rock climbing or see a show at the historic Mayflower Theatre. Southampton is also known for its vibrant nightlife, so you’ll never be short of something to do in the evenings!
On first glance at a map you’d be forgiven for not realising, but Southampton is surprisingly well located for a lot of day trips with a lot of tourist hotspots only 1 or 2 hours away. You can get to Brighton in under two hours, the small seaside town of Worthing is 90 mins away, and heading in the other direction you can reach Poole, Bournemouth and Portsmouth in under an hour. The other option that’s unique to Southampton involves getting on a Red Funnel Ferry over to the Isle of Wight - after a relaxing hour spent at sea, you’ll have your car ready and waiting for you to take a road trip around the island for the day.
If you’re looking for an ideally located pre-cruise stay or you’re hoping to get out and explore the local area, Moxy Southampton is an ideal base. Located just opposite the cruise terminal and right in the city centre, you can easily ditch the car and enjoy exploring your surroundings. If you’re staying for the weekend, make sure you take some time to explore the local nightlife with a trip to the theatre or enjoy some live music at one of the many bars. In the morning, fuel up with a great breakfast at Moxy, then jump in the car or on a train or ferry to explore any of the brilliant destinations dotted along the South coast. Having only ever stayed in Southampton before a cruise, we’ll likely be back to explore more of the South coast in the near future.
With Moxy’s calm, well-designed and comfortable rooms you’ll be guaranteed a great night’s sleep, leaving you with plenty of energy to explore the city the next morning.
Love and Feathers,
The Owlet 💛
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