The economy hotel tier in Europe will see a new player come March 2014: Moxy Hotels. The brand, backed by Marriott, expects to open the first of their new properties in Milan roughly a year from now, kicking off plans for 150 properties across Europe over a 10 year period, 50 of them in the next 5 years. The brand is focused on the millennial generation, with an emphasis on stylish design, connectivity and an affordable price. They want to grab the intersection of the backpacker and jet set markets.
Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International, sees great potential for the new brand:
MOXY HOTELS is the essence of the next generation traveler, not only Gen X and Y but people with a younger sensibility, for whom contemporary style is paramount. Every aspect of the hotel was thoughtfully researched and crafted to reflect and deliver on the changing lifestyles and expectations of this fast-growing customer segment. We believe Marriott will lead the way in redefining the traditional economy hotel experience throughout Europe.
After Milan the brand plans to open in Frankfurt, Berlin and London. Other locations will be targeted in Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
The hotels will be medium sized – the goal is 150-300 rooms at each property – with a focus on welcoming common spaces as much as in well appointed rooms. In this way the Moxy brand hopes to offer the social aspects of hostels while going a step or three up the ladder on amenities and privacy when the guests want it. And with free wifi throughout the properties and USB ports at every outlet the company is clearly taking a fresh view on features, at least in some areas. And for guests who want something a bit more traditional there will still be large LCD TVs in the rooms.
For budget travelers who are also points-focused the Moxy chain offers the best of both worlds. Their participation in the Marriott Rewards program will allow guests to accrue and redeem points similar to other Marriott-backed properties. And with only 20% of the budget hotels in Europe currently brand-affiliated this new product opens up a lot of possibilities in the space.
The way they describe the properties I can see some appeal for my travel habits, despite being quite a bit older than the "millennial" target market. That said, looking at the photos on their website I’m clearly not in the same circles. Not quite hipster and not quite euro-trashy; I don’t exactly know what they are going for, but it does have me intrigued. And, while I don’t really love visiting Milan, I suppose I can plan a trip for next spring anyways, just to see how it is.
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Sounds like an Aloft-clone. I love Aloft!
A Marriott version of the Aloft brand?
Marriott should do well with this new brand. As all the hotel chains rotate into younger more modern designed hotels, they will attract the growing wealth of Gen Y / Millennials but also some of the older generations who enjoy more modern design.
Even when you look at remodeled Courtyard / Springhill Suite hotels, they definitely utilize more modern designs as opposed to the traditional designs that we used to see.
What I’ll be interested to see is what will happen when modern design becomes completely ubiquitous.
Their furnishings and their real estate are going to be all Ikea. No joke.
http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Marriott-partners-with-IKEA-to-launch-economy-hotel-brand/?a=hotels
HansGolden and Jon beat me to it. It really looks like Marriott does Aloft. I don’t really see that as a bad thing, though. A well located hotel in that class that’s part of Marriott rewards in a major European city wouldn’t be bad at all. While I love the modern modern full-service luxury brands as much as anyone else, I also don’t need all that stuff every trip. If we’re headed to Europe for a quick trip with a full itinerary, a well designed, comfortable, well located, affordable (whether paying in local currency or points) hotel that offers the basics done very well would be right up our alley. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of these in the US as well.