Review: the Moxy Bergen hotel in Norway in a ‘Family Sleeper’ room

This is our review of the Moxy Bergen hotel in Norway.

Moxy Bergen is one of the few international chain hotels in Norway. Outside of Radisson, you’ll find Hilton, Marriott and IHG properties to be few and far between. There is just one other Marriott hotel in the entirety of Norway – another Moxy in Oslo.

I am, generally, a big fan of Moxy hotels. They are my go-to option when I need a basic hotel night, whether that’s as part of a three-day HfP national lounge tour or a weekend in New York City with friends.

In fact, I have stayed at more Moxys than any other hotel brand I can think of. This is not by design but because their rapid expansion over the past few years has meant good coverage across airports and key city centres.

Over the years, I’ve stayed at:

• Moxy Bordeaux
• Moxy Lisbon City (review)
• Moxy Chelsea New York (review)
• Moxy New York Downtown
• Moxy Manchester City (review)
• Moxy Aberdeen Airport (review)

And let me tell you: they are all the same (in a good way). In my experience, Moxy Hotels offer a more consistent product than any other chain. The hotels are virtually all brand new and feature basic, stripped-down rooms with open wardrobes and industrial-chic design. There are polaroids in lifts and inflatable pink flamingos in the lobby. The only thing that really changes is the view outside your window.

Despite my frequent visits there’s one thing that until last week I hadn’t tried: the Moxy Family Sleeper with its sofa bed.

Last weekend I had the chance to change this with a quick weekend trip to Bergen with two of my oldest friends. Whilst they initially had other plans, I thought it would be interesting to review the Family Sleeper as a three, and Marriott very kindly provided the stay.

The hotel website is here.

Where is the Moxy Bergen hotel?

The Moxy Bergen is in the Solheimsviken neighbourhood of Bergen. This is just outside the city centre, effectively Bergen’s equivalent of London’s Docklands and formerly dominated by heavy industry.

It is not a bad location. The Moxy Bergen is quayside, with views across the bay, and it is just 300m from the Florida tram stop. This gets you to the airport in 40 minutes and the city centre in under 10.

It is also an easy and scenic 30 minute walk in, especially if you walk along the Southern part of the quay towards Solheim Nord and the Småpudden footbridge, through Nygårdsparken park.

Inside the Moxy Bergen hotel

If you’ve stayed at a Moxy before you’ll know what to expect here. The lobby is the main ‘social’ space at the Moxy, and makes up for the smaller room sizes.

You check in at the bar:

As is standard at Moxys you are offered a welcome drink. I declined and said I would have it in the evening (which I did) – whilst it is alcoholic it was very sweet. Don’t expect a premium cocktail!

Whilst the rest of the space, with views through to the bay, offers a range of seating, from more casual options to a shared hot desking space.

and

Moxy always does a good job with its lobbies, which generally feel much more lively than luxury hotels where the lobby is a transitory space – more ornamental than functional. It is particularly busy in the evenings, with hotel guests and local business people popping in for a drink.

You’ll also find table football and a pingpong table:

Family Sleeper rooms at Moxy Bergen

Moxy Hotels generally feature just a couple of room types: a standard queen / king / twin, and then a larger type that can accommodate up to four. At the Moxy Bergen, they’re called a Family Sleeper.

Standard rooms are pretty small (as anyone with lots of luggage can attest) so I was curious to see whether Family Sleeper rooms, which sleep three, offered any more space.

I’m pleased to report that it exceeded my expectations. Moxy have, quite cleverly, combined both family rooms and accessible rooms into one room type. That means they are absolutely vast, taking up the footprint of two standard rooms.

There is so much space that you don’t quite know what to do with it. This is what you see when you enter:

Even if you added a second sofa bed you’d still be left with loads of room. The empty floor space is ideal for families with young kids who need lots of space to spread out and will give any children plenty of room to play. It is so big you could probably do yoga with a good 5-6 other people in it!

To the left of this you have the bathroom, which in this case is an accessible wet room:

Size-wise it is excellent, although the wet-room element means that you need to dry the shower floor after showering if you want to go to the toilet or you’ll end up with soggy socks. I don’t think the hotel could have designed this any better, given the constraints, so it is a necessary trade-off.

Toiletries are the usual pink Deep Muk brand. This comprises an all-in-one shampoo-shower gel and separate conditioner. I’m not enamoured by Deep Muk but you do at least get a conditioner, so that is something.

Back in the room you have the queen bed tucked nicely behind the bathroom, with the sofa bed along the window by the TV:

and

There are sockets for European plugs as well as USB-A. The socket appears to have a USB-C shaped hole but there don’t seem to be any electronics connected to this when I tried. There are sockets either side of the bed as well as by the TV, which is convenient for the sofa bed.

Speaking of the sofa bed, here it is:

This is where I ended up, having pulled the short straw!

It comprises a square-shaped sofa that folds out in three sections to create a single bed. For some reason we were given three double duvets – two for the queen bed and one for me.

I slept perfectly well on the sofa bed. It obviously isn’t the same as a proper mattress, but I had no problems with it, apart from that I am not used to sleeping in a single bed and almost rolled out a couple of times!

Next to the sofa bed you’ll find the large TV, plus the ‘open wardrobe’ which consists of hangars and metal frame for hanging. You also get the world’s tiniest desk and stool:

Breakfast at Moxy Bergen

When it comes to breakfast, the Moxy Bergen doesn’t push the boat out. The breakfast buffet laid out around the bar. Once you’ve registered at the bar you just take a tray and walk around. If you don’t have it included it is 199NOK (around £16) which is not terrible given how expensive Norway is.

One thing I have never noticed before is that there are pull-out tray-rests all along the buffet, which makes life much easier.

The only hot options are scrambled eggs and frankfurters – not especially inspiring:

There is a better selection of pastries, including doughnuts, croissants and bread:

…. plus a pretty good range of cereals with five different types of Kellogs and some granola – more than most hotels. I went straight for the choco shells as they remind me of my childhood holidays in France!

Then there’s a selection of yoghurts, cold cuts and fruit:

Nothing ground breaking but you should be able to cobble yourself something together and save some Krona versus having breakfast elsewhere.

Conclusion

I was surprised by the sheer amount of space that the Family Sleeper rooms afford you. Given the standard Moxy room I was expecting something considerably smaller which would a bit tight for three adults, let alone four, but this proved not to be a problem.

For an additional 300NOK (around £25) per night, you’d be silly not to upgrade to the Family Sleeper purely for the additional space you’d get. That’s about the average price of two beers in Norway!

Other than that, the Moxy Bergen is typically Moxy in every other way, down the welcome drink, decor and yes, inflatable flamingo. There’s something to be said about that – no matter which Moxy you book, you always know what you’ll get.

Rooms at the Moxy Bergen hotel generally start at just under £100 in October, rising to around £115 for the Family Sleeper. You can redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points from 16,500 points per night for a standard room. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)