How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

[forevadelayed]

Property: Peppers Noosa Resort & Villas
Status: Accor Gold
Room booked : One bedroom apartment
Room upgraded: Not on arrival but upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment after some feedback.
Rate: Flexible rate, room only
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Cheese board as a welcome gift, 2 drink vouchers, 1 bottle of wine and water.

This was a 6 night stay in Dec 2021.
We received a one bedroom apartment on the top floor looking out to the rainforest. It was an amazing view watching birds in the tree. We were also delighted receiving a cheese board and bottle of wine.
The team were very proactive about feedback and while we enjoyed the view of the treetops we were also working remotely during the week and the apartment didn't have two tables/areas to work at. After some feedback about a room upgrade they arranged for us to move to a 2 bed apartment with a glimpse of the sea. It was much easier to work remotely from the bigger apartment but we did miss the view of the rainforest.
While it's a hilly walk from town I enjoyed that it was 'close' but leafy and quiet. The happy hour in the bar was 4-6 and the space was very relaxing for an afternoon drink.
I really enjoyed my stay here and look forward to staying again.

 

[jase05]

Property: Sofitel Adelaide
Status: Accor Plus Diamond
Room booked : Superior Room 1 King
Room upgraded: Yes, Prestige Suite
Rate: Accor Plus Red Hot Room ($226 Friday, $260 Saturday)
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: No
Welcome Gift: Bottle of Kirrihill Shiraz, Bowl of assorted nuts and chocolates, Gold chocolate bar and welcome card.

Really hit the jackpot this time. Had a corporate box for the football Saturday so booked a Red Hot room for just Saturday originally but then added Friday night later on. Arrived at hotel and was informed they had upgraded to a suite for both nights ( I checked with a dummy booking and suites were still selling at $600-700 per night ) so absolutely rapt with that on a cheap Red hot room rate.
Staff were absolutely amazing our whole stay and noticed the difference from previous stays there. Club Millesime was reasonably busy on both days for the 5-7pm session and the staff fawned over us the whole team and ensured drinks were adequately kept full and hot snacks distributed. Had dinner at Garçon Bleu on Saturday evening and both food and service was wonderful. With the Accor plus discount we saved over $100 and that has easily paid for the membership many times over. Breakfast on Saturday at Garçon Bleu was a bit hectic and noisy with kids but decent spread and good service however on Sunday we had breakfast in the Club Millesime and although the buffet is smaller the service was much more personal and good ala carte menu aswell as preparing anything you want.
Just a real good stay and have a couple more there coming up in the next month

 

[kpro]

Property: Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour
Status: Accor Plus Diamond
Room booked: SUPERIOR ROOM, 1 King Size Bed
Room upgraded/type: Yes - LUXURY ROOM, 1 King Size Bed, Corner Room, Darling Harbour View
Rate: Accor Plus Free Night
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes - two vouchers for premium drinks.
Welcome gift: Yes - bottle of wine, two bottles of sparkling water, chocolates.
Early check in/late out: 1pm late checkout.
Overall opinion:

• Check in agent downstairs friendly, directed me to Club Millésime once looking me up on the computer.
• Club Millésime staff didn't advise of upgrade, and wouldn't consider a late check out request until the day of checkout.
• Requested 4pm checkout on the morning of check out, was denied and offered only 1pm due to 'unavailability of the room category'.
  • Checked the website - room category was still showing available to book for the check out date.
• Great corner room, great views, modern fit out. Nice plush pillows.
• Amenties have changed from Balmain to Appelles, which I much prefer.
• Lounge is now open daily. Great service, amazing views and good food selection for both evening canapés and breakfast. Particularly impressed with the coughtail selection for evening and à la carte options for breakfast.
• Pool doesnt seem to be heated and is freezing cold, espesically with the winter winds blowing.

 

[kpro]

Should have noted above that this was a one night stay, so at check in the request for a late check out was for a time less than 24 hours in the future.

 

[sudoer]

Property: Mantra MacArthur Canberra
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Studio Room
Room upgraded/type: Deluxe Studio
Rate: Accor Plus Flexible Rate ($161pn)
Free internet: No, tried to connect but it wanted to charge. Didn't enquire as I could just hotspot my phone.
Welcome drink: Yes - one voucher
Welcome gift: 600ml bottle of still water, standard Platinum welcome box (four little slices)
Early check in/late out: Not requested

My second time staying at this property - they offer rather low Accor Plus rates compared to other properties in Canberra e.g. Sebel, Peppers, Novotel, and BreakFree were all around the $230-240 mark, and Mercure was $178.

The property is about 2km from Braddon and the CBD in an area that really doesn't have much going on - but it's an easy light rail trip or quick $8 Uber ride straight down Northbourne.

The properly was very quiet, I didn't see more than one staff member on duty at any time, and 3 or 4 other guests during the entire stay.

The rooms are nothing special, but they are clean, functional and in good condition - fine for a 1-2 night stay. I received the same single category upgrade on both stays in a south facing room on the top floor - which has a decent view towards Parliament House. There is some construction work on the north side of the block which kicks off around 7-7:30am and is pretty noisy.

Service was friendly, although the young staff member I interacted with at check-in (for both stays) seemed a little inexperienced and new to customer service. The conversation was disjointed and awkward at times, and they made no mention of the upgrade or Plat breakfast arrangements and simply stated "the restaurant is closed like your previous stay" without any apology or mention of the alternative snacks available for purchase at the front desk. I noticed a breakfast menu on the counter and decided to ask whether it was complimentary for Plats when another staff member was at the front desk.

In the morning I confirmed with a different staff member at the front desk that breakfast is complimentary for Plats, pick any item from the menu, plus an espresso coffee, tea, and/or juice. I went for the toasted ham, cheese and tomato crossaint and a cappucino - which the same staff member popped over to the restaurant to make. The crossaint was better than expected and the coffee was decent.

The welcome drink voucher was redeemable for a beer, soft drink, or 500ml San Pellegrino.

There are some trade-offs to this hotel (primarily location) but they are easily outweighed by the savings and I'll stay here again in future.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Property: Novotel BNE Airport
Status: ALL Platinum
Room booked : Premier 1 King Bed
Room upgraded: No
Rate: Flexible rate
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome gift: No
Free Parking: No, but discounted from $25 p.n. to $15 p.n. after I quibbled.

Stayed last weekend; the hotel had only reopened a couple of days before after being one of Qld's last remaining COVID hotels.

Seriously a mixed experience and there were a lot of new staff who were still learning. Like the checkin guy who looked up my ALL benefits in his book (that would be a useful book to have!) when I mentioned Platinum and free parking and said yeah sure after checking his book. He chased the duty manager (?) who corrected this to "no way Jose", but offered a one off $10 a night discount as a special treat. Yeah, whetever, I didn't care that much, $25 a night before the discount wasn't an outrageous rate, and it may have had something to do with their arrangement with BNE.

Catalina restaurant is offering a fairly limited menu and the staff are really trying. The menu says due to staff shortages order at the counter (that's new!) but the staff took our order. The guy running the front of house in the bar and restaurant was a gemstone; he was there throughout quaro time and we exchanged stories of meals in a paper bag delivered to the door days, when checkin was managed by QPS. I wasn't there in those days but Qld Health is Qld Health. The lady running the restaurant at breakfast was another trainee it seems, insisted everyone filled in the "pay for breakfast" chit and refused to acknowledge that anyone was entitled to free breakfast. However the breakfast charge never made it to the bill so someone read the ALL book.

It all ended in tears when they billed me through a fast checkout and didn't credit me the ALL points I had burned on the booking. Noted this while drinking coffee and scrutinising the fast checkout receipt at DFO, after which I went back and got profuse apologies and a "we'll fix it" promise from the front desk after I presented the paper trail. Four days later it is not fixed and I have written back. This is a work in progress.

I wouldn't award this place an "avoid like the plague" rating but they have a few issues to sort yet. My experience was a long way short of that at previous stays at the BNE Novotel, and all my stays at the Ibis and Pullman. But I'll probably stick to the latter for the time being.

Cheers skip

 

[sudoer]

Property: Swissotel Sydney
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Base category, King Premier
Room upgraded/type: Swiss Executive room - educated guess
Rate: Stay Plus + Red Hot Room - $204 total for 2 nights
Free internet: Yes, usable but averaged around 10mbps
Welcome drink: Yes, two vouchers
Welcome gift: Bottle of red, fruit & nut plate
Early check in/late out: 2pm checkout by request

I stayed at the Swissotel for the past two nights as someone in my household caught covid while I was away for work. I rarely indulge in "staycations" so a hotel stay in my home city was a bit of a novelty, although the dreary weather has mostly kept me indoors and drafting this post has helped fill the time - sorry for any ramblings

The room was quite spacious and seemed to be a few cat up from the King Premier booked, although it's hard to decipher the differences between categories at this hotel. They seem very, very similar at the lower end with some rooms just getting an additional pillow, some lights turned on in the photos, and possibly a higher floor/better view.

The room I was assigned faced east and was on the top floor, which gave a good view of Centrepoint Tower, St Mary's, and a glimpse of the harbour. The bedding was to my liking - a fairly breathable quilt, high quality sheets and very soft, low pillows. The work desk and chair were good enough to use for a couple of hours with each to reach power & data ports.



The exec lounge hasn't reopened for breakfast yet so all guests are funneled into Ten Stories restaurant (ironically on the 8th story) for the buffet. On the first morning, no barista coffee was offered, but as I was getting my caffeine fix from the machine I heard a group of guests being asked for their coffee orders as they were seated.

The buffet selection was pretty good - standard hot options of bacon, scrambled eggs, chicken sausages, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, potato gems, baked beans, as well as made to order omelettes with your choice of fillings. There was also cold cuts, fruit, salad, yoghurts, juices, and various types of honey, bread, pastries, and cereals.



(Post 2 coming shortly so I can add more pics...)

 

[sudoer]

The exec lounge is one of the main reasons I decided to stay here - in fact the Swissotel was the cheapest option with an exec lounge that I could make use of as a place to work and snack. The space is open from 9am and completely dead during the day, it was a great spot to get work done with good natural light, ample power sockets, good wifi, and few visitors. There is a very small (two desks) business centre just outside the lounge so if I needed to make a long or confidential call I hopped across to that spot. The coffee machine wasn't working until afternoon tea (1pm) as it needed a clean, so the only amenities until then were the soft drink fridge and a bowl of fruit.

Afternoon tea from 1pm to 3pm consisted of self-serve sandwiches, cakes, wraps and scones - which were nothing to write home about, but unlike the adage, this was quite literally a free lunch - no complaints. There were no additional drinks offered but the coffee machine was back in service. The space was still very quiet for afternoon tea with just myself and one other group of three guests over the course of an hour.



The lounge filled up for evening drinks & canapes from 5:30pm with around 70% of tables occupied by 6pm. Wines offered were De Bortoli Legacy Cabernet Merlot (the same as my welcome gift), Thorn-Clarke Sandpiper Shiraz 2019, De Bortoli Legacy Vintage Release Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2019, and De Bortoli Legacy Brut Non Vintage. Beers offered were James Boag & Hahn Superdry, and there was a basic selection of spirits with soft drink mixers in the fridge - but notably no juices. Food options were sausage rolls, corn fritters, hard, soft and blue cheeses, cut fruit, a very sad "salad" (possibly Neil Perry inspired), dips and cold cuts.



The welcome drink vouchers were redeemable at the Cross Bar for house white/red, Heineken or Little Creatures on tap, or soft drinks. I migrated down as the exec lounge was calling last drinks at 7:30pm, along with a few other groups who appeared to do the same.

I called reception at 11pm to ask whether a late check-out the next morning would be possible. They said they could only offer 12pm and I'd need to call again in the morning to ask for any later. So I called at 8am and was once again offered 12pm, on asking whether 2pm would be possible I was told they'd check and call me back - which happened within 30 seconds to confirm the 2pm checkout.

Breakfast on the second morning was much the same, although the restaurant was at capacity so anyone arriving around 9am was seated at the adjacent Cross Bar. This time I asked whether barista coffee was available and told yes, although it ended up taking quite a while to be served which might be why it's not proactively offered to all guests.

Despite getting my key recoded for the late checkout, I wasn't able to sneak into the exec lounge at 1pm for afternoon tea on the day of checkout. I didn't bother asking the front desk.

All in all a great stay, I definitely feel I got my money's worth for the shelter and sustenance while waiting to return home. It feels unlikely I'll stay need to again, but based on my experience and the very sharp Accor Plus rates I'd happily recommend the Swissotel to others visiting Sydney.

 

[sudoer]

A few hours after leaving the Swissotel this arvo, I had a look at the PDF folio and saw I'd been charged $53 for my Stay Plus night!



There was no additional cost mentioned on the ALL booking engine or in my reservation confirmation email. I didn't pick it up when checking out as they simply asked "did you want to charge the accommodation to the card on file?" to which I said yes.

Called the hotel immediately and they acknowledged it was a mistake and they'd process a refund straight away. I asked for an amended folio to be emailed but haven't received yet. I will give them a couple of days but suspect this might need a follow-up phone call..

 

[oz_mark]

On the plus side, it may make.it eligible to get the night to count on your ALL account!

 

[sudoer]

On the plus side, it may make.it eligible to get the night to count on your ALL account!

The Stay Plus night always counts towards status nights if it's used in conjunction with a revenue night or if there are any incidentals charged to the room. Tested and confirmed earlier this year at SO Singapore

 

[ellen10]

The Stay Plus night always counts towards status nights if it's used in conjunction with a revenue night or if there are any incidentals charged to the room. Tested and confirmed earlier this year at SO Singapore

Yes agree ours also counted towards status as we stayed a revenue night as well

 

[Captain Halliday]

Property: Novotel Sydney Central
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked : Executive King
Room upgraded: Yes, King Suite
Rate: Corporate rate
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes, one voucher.
Welcome gift: Cheese plate, bottle of red wine

This property appears to be getting its act together post covid. My feedback after two poor stays in June may also have helped.

Check-in was seamless, and one of the front office staff addressed me by name without reference to the computer. Either my feedback has me flagged or I simply spend too much time at this property, or both.

I was spared the speech about hotel services and facilities, other than confirmation breakfast was included and a reminder of the service times.

Upgrade to a King Suite which was very spacious.





Welcome gift:


Room view:


Housekeeping is back to daily, though I suspect this may just be the executive floors at this stage.

My only complaint was a loose shower fitting which meant a droopy shower head. As a result I was about 30cm too tall for the lower shower position.

Breakfast buffet was consistent with what you’d expect at a Novotel. Low occupancy means the only egg option on the buffet was scrambled, but poached, fried, or omelette are available on request (no surcharge).

They’ve also ironed out the issues re: barista coffee for Platinums and above so I can confirm it’s included and no surcharge.

I have two further stays scheduled in August, so we’ll see if this was just a result of my feedback or if things are actually improving.

 

[SYD]

Property: Fairmont Singapore
Status: ALL Accor Gold
Room booked : Fairmont King
Room upgraded: Yes, Superior King
Rate: ASIA LIKE NEVER BFR, BED AND BREAKFAST
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes, one voucher.
Welcome gift: No (unless, the PT gear and shoes to use counts?)
Late checkout: 2pm

First time at the Fairmont. A bit beyond my usual travel budget but it was actually slightly cheaper than the Stamford on a like for like room basis. Although, you’re more likely to get a room with a view from the Stamford. My last stay in SIN (pre Covid) was at the Stamford, but it was a bit manic (being such a large hotel).

I ended up with two rooms. The first, the AC only had one mode - permafrost. The walk-in shower tiles sloped the wrong way - self cleaning bathroom. And the safe thought it was already locked and wouldn’t let me enter a new code. The next morning I was reallocated the room immediately above and that was fine.

The view overlooking Raffles is about as close as I will come to staying there. Just out of shot is a new Mercure hotel opening near Bugis. I actually booked the Ibis Bencoolen at the same time (both fully flex). Coin toss and Fairmont won but also the convenience of sitting on top of City Hall MRT. In all the years coming to SIN, I’d never got the MRT to/from Changi. Easy as!

 

[jpp42]

A few hours after leaving the Swissotel this arvo, I had a look at the PDF folio and saw I'd been charged $53 for my Stay Plus night!

View attachment 285525

There was no additional cost mentioned on the ALL booking engine or in my reservation confirmation email. I didn't pick it up when checking out as they simply asked "did you want to charge the accommodation to the card on file?" to which I said yes.

Called the hotel immediately and they acknowledged it was a mistake and they'd process a refund straight away. I asked for an amended folio to be emailed but haven't received yet. I will give them a couple of days but suspect this might need a follow-up phone call..

That was probably a charge that was meant to go to ALL instead of your account, but they mistakenly charged to your folio instead of however they are supposed to send it to ALL. Since most hotels are operated by franchisees, not the corporate Accor entity, this is how the franchisee gets reimbursed for the cost of the stay when you redeem points or other corporate-subsidised deals. I've had this happen before at an IHG property - it's interesting to note how little the franchisee makes from the free nights compared to the list price; in my case it was only $35 for a Holiday Inn Express that sold for around $150.

 

[austgap]

Property: Pullman Adelaide
Status: Accor Silver
Room booked : Deluxe room, 2 double beds
Room upgraded: Yes, Deluxe room, king bed (nothing said at check-in)
Rate: Stay longer and save ($252 Wed, $234 Thr)
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome Gift: Bottle of water

Property: Novotel Christchurch Airport
Status: Accor Silver
Room booked : Executive Twin room
Room upgraded: Yes, Executive Twin King
Rate: Flexible room only rate $286AUD
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome Gift: 2x bottle of water + card

Property: Movenpick Auckland
Status: Accor Silver
Room booked : Superior 1 Queen bed
Room upgraded: Yes, Junior suite (nothing said at all at check-in other then system is being slow)
Rate: Flexible room only rate $299 NZD
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: No
Welcome Gift: No

 

[cdp88]

Property: Melbourne Sofitel on Collins
Status: Accor Plus Gold
Room booked : Club room
Room upgraded: Yes, Club Room Bay view (not a category you can book but would be an upgrade compared to standard room)
Rate: Stay plus night and one paid flexible night
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes, voucher for two. Didn’t use due to having club lounge access.
Welcome gift: Yes, small bar of chocolate
Early/Late checkout: arrived early due to flight being brought forward. Room was prioritised and was ready by just before 2pm. No late checkout required.

Club lounge was excellent and made for a very enjoyable stay. Reasonable selection of drinks of an evening and some coughtails (aperol spritz, negroni and old fashioned). Good buffet options and excellent views.

Welcome gift probably on the small side but I didn’t really need anything else given we could access club lounge.

 

[PineappleSkip]

[Novotel BNE airport] billed me through a fast checkout and didn't credit me the ALL points I had burned on the booking. Noted this while drinking coffee and scrutinising the fast checkout receipt at DFO, after which I went back and got profuse apologies and a "we'll fix it" promise from the front desk after I presented the paper trail. Four days later it is not fixed and I have written back. This is a work in progress.

After a couple of days they refunded the points I'd burned as "cancelled stay". I then queried what happened with my points and room nights for the stay. A few days later I got a further email about refund, money this time, of overfcharged breakfast (The breakfasts weren't overcharged), which happened to be the points value. Got the impression it was too hard for them to unwnd the mess I'd created and this was a sort of consolation prize. Still don't have my points and room nights credited but I have given up at this stage.

Cheers skip

 

[Matt_01]

I don’t really look at this thread much as I normally do not stay at Accor properties, I am silver which I think was provided by an Amex card I no longer have. With the current QF offer if I stay 1 night at an Accor property I will get Platinum status, I needed to travel and rather than book the Melbourne Hilton I booked into the Sebel Melbourne Docklands. It seems to be an apartment complex with parts managed/ owned by Sebel and others being owner occupied or renters. It is in the old part of the Docklands so on a Wednesday night not much is open however there are places near by to eat or get provisions and use the kitchen in the apartment. On check in I mentioned I had not stayed here before and was doing so to get the Platinum status at which point the checkin staff promptly took away a piccolo and gave me a full size bottle of wine. Some photos of a standard room.

 

[Daver6]

Property: Novoel Langley Perth
Status: Accor Plus Gold
Room booked : Standard room (free). Manager promised a free night due to poorly handled Covid cancellation.
Room upgraded: At time of booking paid $100 to upgrade to junior suite. Given deluxe suite.
Rate: free + $100
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes, voucher for two.
Welcome gift: Yes, delicious chocolate
Early/Late checkout: proactively offered a late checkout. I suggest midday and receptionist pushed it to 1pm.

Room is very spacious. As you'd expect from an aging 4* hotel. I wouldn't actively seek this hotel out, but if you need a large room on a budget, this could be the way to go. Note that the spa and gym are closed for renovation and there is no pool. The Irish pub downstairs is where one redeems for the drink vouchers and is a decent enough pub for the style.