Moxie means energy and pep. It’s a word that stems from the soft drink “Moxie” that reportedly outsold Coca-Cola in its 1920s’ heyday and still has a loyal following in its home base, New England.
Energy is what Chattanooga hotel developer Hiren Desai hopes his new, four-story 102-room Moxy Hotel adds to Chattanooga’s already booming Southside neighborhood.
Desai plans to break ground in March at King and Market streets for the boutique hotel brand that’s part of Mariott International. Moxy launched in 2014 in Milan, Italy, and the brand is now in a handful of German cities, in Aberdeen, Scotland, and in two U.S. cities: Tempe, Ariz., and New Orleans, La.
“It’s a big deal,” said Desai, the CEO of 3H Group Hotels. “Moxy is new to the U.S.”
Moxy Hotel is geared toward the millennial generation, he said. The emphasis is on a large, fun, communal first-floor space and smaller rooms upstairs with in-room storage for such items as bicycles.