Property: Sofitel Melbourne on Collins
Status: Accor+Platinum
Room booked: Junior Suite (SNUs applied to Superior Room I believe)
Room upgraded/type: Corner room on 47th floor
Rate: Accor Plus Festive Season Offer - 25% - room only, 4 nights ($266/night)
Early check in/late out: Early check-in not needed, late checkout only granted to noon
Welcome drink: Yes (2) - not used
Welcome gift: Box of cakes, bottles of water replenished every night
Had 4 suite night upgrades burning a hole in my pocket and $200 in Accor gift cards that no Accor hotel has yet to accept which I desperately wanted to use up. Also, it was my birthday and my partner's birthday during this time so decided to go ALL out and book a Sofitel rather than peddle in the ibis and ibis budget stays RooFlyer is notorious for.
As others have noted, I received a welcome email a couple of days before arriving at the hotel with details about my stay. Here's an except of that:
Checked via the executive lounge on the 35th floor and the service was impeccable. Not only were they able to check me in and explain the benefits of my stay in great detail but they also managed to redeem the $200 in Accor gift cards I had.
We then proceeded to the 47th floor which was where our Junior Suite was. I will point out that I was a bit disappointed in the room in the sense that we weren't upgraded to a higher room (given my Accor status and the fact we're staying for 4 nights). Also the Junior Suite whilst spacious technically isn't a suite in the sense that the bedroom and the living area are in the same room. Anyway, the room itself wasn't bad:
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The bathroom consisted of a separate shower and bath tub (no shub for those afraid of shubs!). The lights could all be controlled with a panel on the side of the bed. Climate control was good and bed was comfy.
As a Platinum I am eligible for lounge access and free breakfast at this property. Breakfast can either be had at the lounge or at the adjacent No35 restaurant on the 35th floor. The benefit of the lounge breakfast is it is more quiet than breakfast at the No35 restaurant. Additionally a-la carte ordering off the menu is possible in addition to the small buffet they provide. The downside to having breakfast at the lounge is the buffet selection isn't as large as the restaurant. Breakfast was served from 6:30 to 10:30 AM
Speaking of lounge, the Executive Lounge is open until 8 PM and hosts a number of culinary experiences throughout the day such as canapés and high tea. We stopped in a couple of times to enjoy these experiences:
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The hotel also has a couple of restaurants. There is the aforementioned No35 restaurant on the 35th floor, the atrium on the 35th floor and I think also a restaurant on the ground level. Importantly, the No35 restaurant offers the usual Accor+ dining discounts on everyday except holidays and exclusion days. I decided to book dinner for my partner and I on her birthday, making the reservation at the lounge. When we arrived at the restaurant and were seated the host asked if it was a special occassion and I mentioned it was my partners birthday. The restaurant itself has a two course ($90) or three course ($110) prix-fixe menu, along with small sides that can be purchased for a nominal fee and a decent wine and booze menu. We settled on the two course menu along with a side of potato wedges and it was good. Afterwards, the waiter came by with a present:
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After the Accor+ discount the total cost of the dinner was $106 for both of us.
Some other thoughts: the hotel has a gym on the 36th floor which has a number of bikes including pelotons, a variety of strength training machines, weights, and most importantly two massage chairs of decent quality.
On the night before checkout I headed to the lobby to see if I could be granted late checkout. Reception offered standard complimentary check out of noon. Ordinarily I would argue with reception on this but thought better of it, particularly if we manage to get Qantas to switch us onto QF9 (in which case we'd want to be at the airport earlier anyway).
Overall, a good stay and certainly well worth the money spent.
-RooFlyer88