With a lot of overdue vacations to take, for the first time in my life I took a full month off at the end of the summer. This month will take me to Croatia and then Scandinavia, but it’s with the first part of the journey that we begin here.
After a disastrous experience (one too many?) at the Sheraton Roissy, I decided to put down my bags at the Moxy Charles de Gaulle and, indeed, to make this hotel my base camp for future travels, at least for a while.
For the record, the program for this series of reviews.
# | Type | Review |
1 | Hotel | Moxy Charles de Gaulle (here) |
2 | Lounge | Sheltair Lounge Roissy Terminal 2D |
3 | Flight | Paris-Vienna in business class on Austrian |
4 | Lounge | Austrian Business Lounge (Non Schengen) in Vienna (T3 G) |
5 | Flight | Vienna-Split in business class on Austrian |
6 | Hotel | Le Méridien Lav Split – Deluxe Sea View Room |
7 | Restaurant | Restaurant Süg Split |
8 | Restaurant | Restaurant Kadena Split |
10 | Flight | Split-Zagreb in business class on Croatia Airlines |
11 | Flight | Zagreb-Dubrovnik in business class on Croatia Airlines |
12 | Hotel | Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel – Deluxe Room |
13 | Restaurant | Restaurant Konoba Bonaca Dubrovnik |
14 | Restaurant | Restaurant Heritage of Dubrovnik |
15 | Restaurant | Restaurant Zuzori Dubrovnik |
16 | Restaurant | Dubrovnik Restaurant Dubrovnik |
17 | Flight | Dubrovnik-Vienna in business on Austrian |
18 | Flight | Vienna-Paris in business on Austrian |
Booking
As usual I booked directly via the Marriott app a “Moxy room” which is the standard room model.
Location of the hotel
The Moxy Paris Charles de Gaulle is located in the airport hotel zone. But don’t worry, it’s no more than a 10-minute walk from the CDGVal, which takes you to all the airport’s terminals in just a few minutes.
The hotel is high up from the street, so access is either by stairs or a long ramp, which is more convenient if you have suitcases. Still, it could have been simpler.
Arrival and Check-in
I enter the lobby. At Moxy, the lobby is a large living space. A central islet serves as a counter for the bar and restaurant, as well as a reception area.
The welcome is as warm as ever, and the check-in takes just 2 minutes. I should even say botched.
“You’ve checked-in online…perfect…here’s your key….welcome to Moxy and enjoy your stay.”
When it comes to loyalty program application and customer recognition, it’s way behind. Thank you for your loyalty? No. Which of the following benefits would you like to enjoy? No. Automatic upgrade when superior rooms were available? No.
Even the pouch containing my key is not the one given to “Elite” customers.
I ended up settling the question of benefits (choosing a points bonus) by chat with the hotel’s customer service department later that evening, but what a pain it was…
In short, we can’t say that the welcome lived up to the promise, to the standards to which the property has accustomed us up to now, and even less to the level promised to a Titanium Elite customer.
The Moxy room
No surprises here: it’s clean, functional and tasteful.
Picky people will say that the bed is lacking a little. firmness and thickness but this is Moxy, not Sheraton, and the bedding is just as comfortable, if not more so, than in other hotels of a similar category.
Only drawback: not really designed for working with your computer. It’s okay for a few minutes, but after that it’s not really comfortable.
The style of the Moxy Paris Charles de Gaulle
As I was saying, the most notable aspect of the Moxy style is its “lifestyle” aspect, which is reflected here by a lobby that is a huge all-purpose room: reception room, bar, restaurant, lounge….
Not much else to add. You either like it or you don’t, but I find it very convivial.
Bar and restaurant at Moxy Paris Charles de Gaulle
Don’t expect great gastronomy. We’re dealing with a menu of freshly prepared dishes, reheated in what appear to me to be steam ovens.
As I often say, good reheated food is better than bad cooking.
I note in passing that the sanitary pass control will be forgotten, but that’s not easy in spaces that serve as both a place of passage and a restaurant, with two different regimes.
I’ll start with fallafel: very decent.
Then the Peruvian-style chicken….really good.
And chocolate moelleux for dessert: not bad, but hello calories.
All in all, it’s simple, well presented and effective. It’s snack food, but a good one. That’s all one needs for a very reasonable price.
As for service, it will be day and night. I had to deal with two waiters: one as friendly as a prison door, and a very nice one who was a temp: a clear illustration of the difficulties of rebuilding teams after the long closure due to the pandemic.
Gym at the Moxy Paris Charles de Gaulle
The (small) gym is open by reservation only. It’s better than what the Sheraton Roissy offers at the same time, but I’m put off by the approach.
Check Out
Leaving at the crack of dawn, I’ll check out directly on the Marriott app and avoid going to the reception desk.
Bottom line
A stay below our previous experiences. Failure on the loyalty program, quick check-in, unfriendly waiter, unresponsive customer service….in fact, if there hadn’t been a very nice second waiter who chatted me up during the meal, I’d even have been frankly disappointed.
The problem with offering little is that you’re not allowed to fail on the little you do. Post-covid recovery effect or not, it wasn’t on a par with what we’d experienced in the property.
In view of our previous experiences at Moxy Roissy Charles de Gaulle, we’ll stick with the accident theory, especially shortly after reopening.