Brisbane - Sofitel or Pullman

[kremin]

Hi all, quick question.

Which would you pick ? The prices are pretty similar

arriving late on a Monday night from HKG before flylng back to SYD on a wednesday afternoon.

Primarily looking for platinum recognition and the best breakfast as will book the cheapest room of the day

I am normally a Pullman fan but seeing mixed reviews. There is also McGallery but I have never stayed in one of those

Thanks!
K

 

[RooFlyer]

Stay at the Pullman ... because I've done the Sofitel a couple of times and been disappointed (doesn't seem Sofitel standard, overall) and would like to know about the Pullman

 

[brown891]

Haven't stayed at either so can't help ya there, but have eaten at each respective restaurants, Thyme 2 for Sofitel and Bistro Allure for Pullman, both fantastic. Depending on whats included in your hotel deal (breakfast/dinner) perhaps could eat at both, stay pullman for example w/ breakfast included, and jump on to Dimmi.com.au via the app store or online and I believe if you book between now and the 30th you get 50% off your meal for selected restaurants. Thyme 2 is included in the deal so you could go eat at the buffet at Sofitel for $35 instead of $70. They have fantastic seafood, roast and dessert (chocolate mousse and butterscotch pudding if available is ridiculous!).

Here's the link for half price dining.
https://www.dimmi.com.au/blog/brisbane/2016/september/brisbane-restaurant-week-half-price-dining

 

[OzEire]

The Accor offerings in Bris are all fairly mediocre. I have stayed at all of the city properties and never really come away impressed by the hard or soft product, apart from the occasional individual staff member doing a great job (usually against a tight Accor policy or local manager).

See my recent post on my stay at the Pullman Bris KGS, I couldn't recommend it if you desire elite treatment and the uninspiring rooms won't make up for this either.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[puppysparkes]

I've stayed at both. Better WP recognition at the Pullman as they usually upgrade the room and send a bottle of red or white to the room (your preference). However the breakfast at the Sofitel is far better. You can access the Sofitel using the airport train and head upstairs which is also convenient. You might want to check if the Sofitel exec lounge had reopened too. The Pullman exec lounge is nothing fancy but does the job.

To answer the question, Sofitel.

 

[feezable]

I will be at the Sofitel on 24 September and will report back (only Gold though)

 

[sycokid]

Swings and roundabouts for me at both hotels Lounge facilities are better at the Sofitel (options and views ) along with breakfasts whilst i found Allure restaurant in Pullman superior to Thyme 2 in Sofitel for evening dinner which i certainly wasn't expecting. Platinum recognition is good at both but staff service at Pullman usually outweighs that of Sofitel although i have stayed more at the Pullman so am now recognized by a lot of the staff. Incidentally if i was to choose Pullman i would then opt for Mercure side of hotel instead as apart from the rooms being better in Pullman all the other services including breakfast, dinner, restaurant and executive lounge are shared between the 2 hotels only Mercure is usually 1/2 to 2/3 rds the price of Pullman

 

[sycokid]

I've stayed at both. Better WP recognition at the Pullman as they usually upgrade the room and send a bottle of red or white to the room (your preference). However the breakfast at the Sofitel is far better. You can access the Sofitel using the airport train and head upstairs which is also convenient. You might want to check if the Sofitel exec lounge had reopened too. The Pullman exec lounge is nothing fancy but does the job.

To answer the question, Sofitel.

Sofitel exec lounge was open a couple of week ago !

 

[puppysparkes]

Sofitel exec lounge was open a couple of week ago !

I heard it was closed for renovations. Did you notice any changes at all?

 

[eric2011]

I heard it was closed for renovations. Did you notice any changes at all?

More perches for the seagulls to sit and wait before swooping in on any new food being bought out.

 

[sycokid]

More perches for the seagulls to sit and wait before swooping in on any new food being bought out.

Usually the same ones at that :shock: I think they should build a sushi type railway around the food plinth so some of them don't get too tired walking backward and forward for 2 hours ! One table of 2 people on my last visit had as much food as they could carry, 1 red wine each, 1 white wine each ,1 mixer drink and a beer each into the bargain !!:shock::shock:

 

[sycokid]

I heard it was closed for renovations. Did you notice any changes at all?

Wouldn't like to say as its about 5 months since my last visit and i have enough trouble remembering what happened 5 minutes ago let alone months
What i do remember is though there were 3 staff in the lounge who were indeed super efficient with everything !
Alas at the Pullman recently (where i have stayed twice in the last month at weekends when Brisbane has held major events ) the self service style pouring of mixer drinks ie vodka, gin etc has now ceased and there has only been 1 staff on hand to pour requested drinks and replenish food items glasses etc which has led to queues all round unfortunately I did address the situation with a couple of front line managers via both in person and the surveys which are issued later and apparently there are going to be changes made regarding drinks menus. Whatever that means is anybody's guess but without the staff present i can't see much improvement . Let's hope it does though

 

[puppysparkes]

Thyme2 have a 50% off promo through Dimmi at the moment too.

https://www.dimmi.com.au/blog/brisbane/2016/september/brisbane-restaurant-week-half-price-dining

 

[kremin]

Thanks all for the comments.

I've decided Sofitel based on the better brekkie feedback.

I'll let you know what I think in the main 'How does..' thread

K

 

[Ewing]

Sofitel is my pick. I stay there rather regularly and they always treat me well (last stayed there Monday night). The convenience of the train directly to the airport (it's directly above Central and can be accessed without leaving the building) is hard to beat.

The executive lounge is lovely (after the renovation) and the staff are wonderful.

I had three rooms booked there over Christmas to treat my family. All three were upgraded to Club with full privileges, and one of the rooms (which I claimed for myself) was upgraded to a suite.

A bit of a review that I put together back in May: https://www.techtraveller.com.au/sofitel-brisbane-review/

I've also stayed at the Pullman a number of times. It doesn't do anything for me I'm afraid.

 

[Shano]

I like the M Gallery (New Inchcolm) but admittedly doesn't have an exec lounge and doesn't do a comprehensive buffet breakfast - continental buffet breakfast or a la carte for hot food.

Platinum recognition has always been consistently good and F&B for dinner is excellent. It is a relatively limited menu by comparison to the others, but the quality of the food is superb.

 

[kremin]

Thanks all. I enjoyed the Sofitel and pleased I picked it after all your comments. Met what I wanted. Short review in the 'How do..' thread

K