Moxy Richmond Downtown revived a long-vacant 1916 office building at 5th and Franklin (after a redevelopment that stalled for nearly two years) into a 100-room, bar-first lifestyle hotel that opened in November 2022. Bar Moxy, not the front desk, is the real heart of the place.
The essentials
Group Marriott (Moxy Hotels)
Opening November 2022
Rooms & suites 100 rooms
Segment Upscale/Lifestyle
Designer NC
Entry rate From $190 Learn more → The place The hotel sits at the corner of 5th and Franklin Streets in downtown Richmond, inside an eight-story building erected in 1916 as one of the earliest commercial structures on East Franklin Street.
The concept Before Moxy, the building spent decades as the Advantech Building, a city-backed incubator space for small and Black-owned businesses, and had sat vacant since 2016. Local developer Shamin Hotels bought it that year for $2.5 million, gutted it in 2018, then stalled the project when its development plan wasn't approved: construction only resumed in early 2020 and finished in 2022, with Chesterfield-based North South Construction as contractor. The result is Marriott's bar-centric, design-forward Moxy brand: an interactive lobby built around retro gaming and music, keyless entry, motion-sensor lighting and small, efficient rooms aimed at travelers who want energy over square footage.
Because the building had never operated as a hotel before (office space, then a vacant incubator) the Moxy conversion counts as a genuinely new hotel operation rather than a rebrand of an existing property.
Dining & wellness Bar Moxy doubles as the front desk and social hub, greeting arriving guests with a signature "Got Moxy" cocktail and offering small plates and games through the evening. A Grab n Go station covers coffee, local drinks and snacks, with a Breakfast Naan option in the mornings; there's also a fitness center.
Our take A useful, well-located downtown option more than a destination in itself: Moxy's playbook of retro-gaming lobbies and pocket-sized rooms is squarely mid-tier lifestyle, but the fact that a long-stalled, historically Black-owned-business incubator got saved rather than demolished gives it more civic interest than the average Marriott conversion.
Google guest reviews 4.0/5 · 329 reviews
This was my first time staying in a Moxy branded hotel so I was quite excited however, this excitement quickly died. I arrived at around late at around 4:40pm due to traffic despite my 3pm check in time and expected my room to be ready. It was not. The hotel staff informed me of a 15-20 minute wait for my room so the staff can clean it. I completely understand being overwhelmed with an influx of people since there was a concert in town so I waited. However, during this wait time the check in line got quite busy so i stepped back in line. Its now around 5:30pm, 50 minutes went by at this point, I get back to the desk and unfortunately my room is still not ready. Two hours and a half past check in time and my room is not ready. The gentleman explained that they were short staff which I have no problem with, it happens, what I fail to understand is why the management did not have better planning for a busy day/night at their hotel. I do not like to throw my status around but as a Titanium Elite member to marriott hotels, this is highly disappointing from mangament. I hope the staff on sight for that day got paid extra because not having rooms ready by 5:30pm for a 3pm check in is insane. Tired from waiting I ended up getting what seemed to be a downgraded room from what I previously booked, it was overall just an extremely disappointing hotel.
Probably the worst hotel experience we’ve ever had after years of being travelers. We arrived for a birthday trip to be greeted with the most incompetent and inconsiderate staff I’ve ever seen. We were initially checked in my Ashley- whom may be the manager. Ashley took over an hour to get us checked in to our room. She sent us up to a room with keys that did not work. We came back to get the keys fixed, she “fixed” them, we went back up to try again and another guest opened the rooms door that we were assigned.
Assigning two sets of guests to the same room is a major safety concern as well as incredibly unprofessional. We went back to the desk for the 3rd time to tell them their mistake and were compensated with two free well drinks from the bar. We then had to go through the same experience three more times.
After an hour and a half of this nightmare, we finally got into a room that had no windows.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, upon checkout we were double charged.
Do not stay here, stay literally anywhere else.
Beyond disappointed in the Marriott brand.
The room was very clean and we loved the view. For the middle of the city it was a quiet street on a Friday night. The bar was nice and we had fun with the games. The staff was all super kind. I wish I got all there names, but we did get Kim's. Loved our check in experience with her!
If you have the option to stay elsewhere, I strongly recommend you do. I chose the Moxy Hotels for its minimalist, creative aesthetic and convenient location near the children’s hospital, as I was visiting a close family member and needed a space where I could also get work done. Unfortunately, the property fell far short where it mattered most, basic service and communication.
At no point prior to arrival, despite their frequent use of app and email messaging, was I informed that the hotel had no internet service. This was also not disclosed at check-in. I only discovered the issue after settling in late at night with the intention of completing work.
When I went downstairs shortly after checking in, even the small details were off, there was no beer available despite the complimentary drink offering (on a Friday), and again, no mention of the WiFi outage. Once I realized there was no internet, the front desk did not offer a solution and instead directed me to a third-party support line. I spent over an hour and a half on the phone, including waiting for callbacks that never came.
From Friday night (around 9 PM) through Sunday morning at checkout, there was no WiFi and no proactive communication or updates from the hotel. As a result, I had to leave the property and incur additional costs (multiple Uber rides) just to access reliable internet, time and money that could have been spent with my nephew during a very important visit.
The compensation offered, 3,000 points (approximately $33.75), did not even cover the transportation expenses, let alone the disruption to my stay.
The design may be appealing, but without transparency, accountability, or basic functionality like WiFi, the experience does not justify the price.
Stayed at the Moxy Richmond Downtown this weekend and at first we were extremely concerned.
The room was admittedly small and cozy, which was fine, but then we noticed a lamp shaped suspiciously like a beehive. Naturally, we spent the next hour convinced the hotel was running some sort of experimental urban apiary experience and that we would be stung by bees in our sleep.
For this reason, we were fully prepared to leave a 1-star review.
HOWEVER.
Everything changed when we discovered that our floor — being one of the elite odd-numbered floors — had an ice machine directly around the corner. Not just any ice machine either. A SPA312-161.
What are the odds??
At that point we realized this was no ordinary hotel stay. This was destiny.
The relief, the convenience, the perfectly cubed ice… it transformed the entire experience. Suddenly the possible bee situation felt insignificant.
Final verdict:
Bees or no bees, 10/10 stay.
Would absolutely risk hypothetical stings again.
See more reviews → 
