Moxy Lower East Side
Located where the Lower East Side meets SoHo, Moxy Lower East Side is the fourth Moxy hotel in New York City developed by Lightstone and is part of Marriott International’s experiential Moxy Hotels brand.
Designed with the intent that guests will discover varying aspects of the city’s cosmopolitanism on every floor, from the catwalk entrance on the corner of Bowery and Broome Street to five new dining and drinking venues by Tao Group Hospitality.
With interiors by Michaelis Boyd and Rockwell Group and architecture by Stonehill Taylor, the hotel’s design ‘feeds the curiosity and dazzles the eye’, layering references to the Lower East Side’s eclectic social history with the vibrancy of today.
Cleverly designed bedrooms with tech-savvy amenities provide playful havens, while co-working spaces and flexible meeting studios that seamlessly transition from business to pleasure meet the needs of today’s plugged-in travellers.
“The Lower East Side has always been iconic and cool and we saw it as the next logical frontier for Moxy.
“By providing a stunning variety of venues and concepts under a single roof, the hotel really embodies the diversity of the Lower East Side.
“People come to the neighbourhood to indulge their thirst for discovery, and they’ll get that at the Moxy too — and we’ve made it accessible rather than exclusive.”
Mitchell Hochberg, President of Lightstone.
In the hotel’s interior courtyard hangs a large, provocative work by English urban artist D*Face, acclaimed for his vivid, subversive murals inspired by the Pop Art movement.
Interior Design
The architecture and design of Moxy Lower East Side embody the neighbourhood’s devotion to the pursuit of pleasure and innovation.
Michaelis Boyd and Rockwell Group took inspiration from the Bowery’s history as a hub of entertainment — from the Vauxhall Gardens and German Winter Garden of the 1800s to the vaudeville theatres and burlesque houses of last century — while channelling the neighbourhood’s present-day DNA and maintaining Moxy’s trademark whimsy.
Layer upon layer of cultural references reflect the melting-pot cosmopolitanism of New York City and create a funhouse vibe for guests.
The flow of the building, from the catwalk entrance to venues tucked away on the roof and below ground, encourages further exploration.
Inspired by the circuses and old-time menageries that once lined the Bowery, the 303 bold, playful bedrooms at Moxy Lower East Side are spirited havens with symmetrical shapes, bright hues, and clever space-saving solutions.
Rooms range from 165-195 square-feet, including Kings, Executive Kings, Double Doubles, and Quads. Bathrooms feature rain showers with coloured glass doors, lava stone sinks, and mirrors lined with theatrical dressing room-style lighting.
The Factory Loft, a hospitality suite, is the ultimate spot for parties, events, meetings, and social gatherings. Named after Andy Warhol’s legendary Factory studio, the suite features double-height windows and a huge outdoor terrace.
Michaelis Boyd designed the first-floor lobby as a multipurpose work and amusement space with a relaxed ambience.
The lobby area is centred around The Fix, a bar and all-day café where a variety of seating arrangements — sofas and armchairs, high-tops and café tables — foster socializing, co-working, and everything in between.
In one corner, a hanging birdcage seat invites playful poses.
In the café area, marble-topped tables have brass tic tac toe inserts, so guests can play a game while they sip cappuccinos.
Anthropomorphic tables feature sculptures of hipster animals, like a rock & roll sloth in a leather vest, while nearby a seven-foot bear holds a hula hoop.
An adjacent table-height shuffleboard game uses pucks shaped like illicit pills.
Overhead, 3D-printed pin-up girls dangle from the chandeliers in cheeky, burlesque-inspired poses.
Contactless check-in is available at self-service kiosks, while a staffed reception desk accommodates travellers who prefer more assistance.
Drinking and Dining
Inspired by the pleasure gardens and entertainment palaces that populated the Bowery in centuries past, Moxy Lower East Side’s five drinking and dining establishments were developed by Tao Group Hospitality, New York’s leading dining and nightlife operator, in partnership with Lightstone.
“New York City is experiencing a huge renaissance right now, with locals and visitors coming to experience the city in waves,” says Noah Tepperberg, Co-CEO of Tao Group Hospitality.
“With a sophisticated but approachable piano lounge, a pulsating subterranean club, a modern Japanese restaurant with a festive atmosphere, and a rooftop bar with a big glam factor, Moxy Lower East Side will be ready to rock.”
The lobby-adjacent, Silver Lining is a subdued and sultry piano lounge whose sensuous décor invites chance encounters.
The intimate and dreamlike space designed by Michaelis Boyd, features blue velvet banquettes, creative cocktails, and live performances by a rotating mix of piano players and vocalists.
A shimmering wallcovering depicts objects associated with the history of the Bowery and specifically with Warhol’s life and career — the banana from the Velvet Underground & Nico album cover, the face of one of his muses, and lines from a poem he wrote.
One flight down, beneath the dramatic entry catwalk, guests enter modern Japanese restaurant Sake No Hana via two dramatically curved staircases of metal, glass, and leather flanked by large kimono-inspired tapestries.
Rockwell Group took inspiration from New York’s 1980s punk scene and Japanese street culture for the design, invigorating traditional izakaya comfort dishes with a New York attitude.
Subterranean in both location and spirit, Rockwell Group-designed Loosie’s is an edgy club beneath Moxy Lower East Side with a killer sound system and no-attitude dance floor.
Guests reach Loosie’s by heading down a mysterious alley behind the hotel, lined with graffiti by the late NYC street artist Lance de los Reyes (aka Rambo), then descending several flights on a staircase.
Inside, tufted banquettes, an “exploded” disco ball chandelier, and a cage-like bar cast a decadent spell.
Tepperberg partnered with Dylan Hales and Ronnie Flynn, the co-founders of Lower East Side hot spot The Flower Shop, as creative directors for both Loosie’s and Silver Lining.
“The Flower Shop has become a neighbourhood fixture, and Dylan and Ronnie are really plugged into the local nightlife culture.” says Tepperberg.
“At both venues, they’ll help curate the music and the atmosphere to appeal to the downtown crowd.”
Up on the 16th floor and a world away, The Highlight Room, designed by Michaelis Boyd, is a glamorous rooftop bar that evokes a 19th-century pleasure garden with foliage swaying from the ceiling and a majestic palm tree spreading its branches across the room.
The real showstopper is the spectacular view of the city through a glass wall that spans the entire width of the room and folds back to allow access to the planted, Eden-like, outdoor terrace.
From there, guests can lift a cocktail to the expansive views — north to the Empire State Building, south to the Freedom Tower.
Moxy Lower East Side features over 13,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, aiming to become one of downtown’s most coveted destinations for events, social gatherings, and meetings.
The hotel’s three flexible Meeting Studios feature versatile and modular furniture that can be easily reconfigured to transform the space into a lounge by night.
“People flock to the Lower East Side to discover what’s new and interesting,” says Mitchell Hochberg.
“We’ve not only created a base camp for visitors to explore the Lower East Side, but we’ve brought the neighbourhood, and all its dazzling moments of discovery, into the hotel.”