How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

Property: Pullman Sydney Airport
Status: Accor Plus Diamond
Room booked: 2x Superior with King rooms
Room upgraded/type: Yes - both to Deluxe Executive rooms
Rate: Accor+ Advance saver rate
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes
Early check in/late out: Early check-in not needed. Late check out offered to 2pm but not required.
Welcome amenity: Both rooms received a bottle of bubbly and a snack pack of nuts, choccies and dried fruit
Originally had this booked 3 months ago as a 1 night stay for Mrs Jase and I as we had an early flight out to HTI. About 8 weeks ago I received a phone call from my parents who told me they were flying out to the UK on QR Saturday night and wanted to catch up so I booked an extra room and changed ours to a 2 night stay. At the time I cheekily asked if an upgrade to room 1118 was available and at checkin we found that our wish was granted and that the other room also received a nice upgrade and view. Staff were a bit overwhelmed at times it seems and the property was very busy.
Room 1118 is a corner room with fantastic views over SYD and spent several hours on both days savouring the views. EL is still not open which is a pain as everyone gets shunted down to a roped off part in the restaurant and seats were hard to find. Thankfully as Diamonds we were assured we would get seats guaranteed.
The old EL still had a fridge with soft drink and water available 24hrs and was a nice quiet place to relax and watch TV. Breakfast at Mobius was the usual assortment but the coffee was pretty average IMO. Dinner at Mobius one night and was pretty decent and hit the spot with the Accor plus discount proactively offered.
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Related question - I'll be staying at the Novotel Sydney International in a couple of weeks and am curious which room provides the best views for plane cough? ( I understand that the Pullman is better but I got an 11 AM flight with AY up to SIN and don't want to schlep my luggage to the international terminal).

-RooFlyer88
 
Property: Sofitel Adelaide
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Luxury Room King
Room upgraded/type: Prestige Suite
Rate: Accor Plus Members $354 p/n - 3 nights (paid w/ 22K reward points + cash)
Lounge: Yes - Club Millésime
Early check in/late out: Yes/Yes - 12:00PM check-in / 1PM check-out
Welcome drink: Didn't ask / need
Welcome amenity: Bottle of Clare Valley Shiraz (Kirrihill), block of local 'Yours Truly' chocolate (roast coffee & coconut), multiple bottles of Apani water

Very nice property, and a good base for this 3-day boys weekend, visiting various brewery taprooms and brewpubs around Adelaide and beyond. Arrived quite a bit earlier than standard check-in at around 12PM after a 2-leg DSC CR run from SYD, but my room - or rather, my suite - was ready to go, and so a great start to the visit. Upgraded from the Luxury King - as booked - to a Prestige Suite, which is really just one category (excusing the 'club access' room type), but still a very nice and quite large 'junior' suite. Access to Club Millésime provided by way of status.

Breakfast at Garçon Bleu on the first morning was very good; though service a little slow, given it was almost empty when there... lounge was not open for breakfast during the week. Opted to eat in the lounge on the following two mornings (Sat/Sun), which suited me well, with only a couple of items missing that I would have maybe picked up, had I been downstairs. I didn't visit the lounge at any other time so can't comment on afternoon service or coughtail hours.

Only one criticism of the stay was that like the other 2 Accor 5-star properties I have stayed with since switching to the chain last month, they don't readily or easily allow devices to cast to their TVs. They did have something advertised that was within the hotel AV platform (VuCaster), but for the life of me (a very AV / IT&T savvy person); I just could not get it to hook up! :D Thankfully, they did have good on-demand content via Foxtel, and I wasn't in the suite that much, but I do wish every property would just let people plug-in or cast through an open platform. It's not like anyone pays a hotel for movies anymore!

Would definitely stay again if in Adelaide.

Here's some pics:
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Cheers,
Matt.
 
Property: Sofitel Broadbeach, Gold Coast
Status: Accor Plus
Room booked: Ocean View room
Room upgraded/type: No (but got higher level)
Rate: Free Stay (via Accor Plus)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No
Early check in/late out: Early check-in not needed. Late check out offered to 12pm on request. Normally 11am
Welcome amenity: Free strawberries + madeleines
 
Property: Sebel Coolangatta
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: King Suite
Room upgraded/type: None.
Rate: $276/night via Amex GBT
Lounge: N/A
Early check in/late out: Not requested.
Welcome drink: None.
Welcome amenity: Two bottles of water + local cheese and biscuits box (seemed a local promo) arrived a few hours after check-in by the apologetic/stressed shift manager.

As an earlier post flagged, the front desk staff seemed overwhelmed and keen to just hand out keys - the only thing she said or shrieked was "it says you need to pay" with horror on her face, which was weird as I was totally expecting it.

Breakfast is via a voucher (which I had to remind her for), which is just ok, didn't bother with the Coffee (tax) and instead went across the road to a local coffee shop for the morning pick-me-up.
 
Property: Novotel Sunshine Coast (Twin Water)
Status: Accor Plus
Room booked: Executive Double bed (Garden View)
Room upgraded/type: Yes (Lagoon View)
Rate: Free Stay (via Accor Plus)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No
Early check in/late out: No (fully booked out)
Welcome amenity: 2 x bottles of water + 2 x Welcome drink (Accor Plus)

Noted that there were numerous conflicting advice amongst staff on how Accor Plus Dinning benefit can be used. After using it across the hotel, this is my experience.

Deli does not accept Accor Plus Dining benefit. Sola gives 50% off every 2 ala carte ordered per Accor Plus membership per meal(Breakfast/lunch/Dinner). Not applicable to kids meal. So unlike the usual discount based on the number of paxs dinning, this venue is by number of ala carte items ordered and only 2 per meal period (Breakfast/lunch/Dinner). Example:
chips= 1 ala carte item = 25% discount
chips + pizza = 2 ala carte items = 50% discount
chips + pizza + dessert = 3 ala carte items = 33% discount?
chips + pizza + pasta + dessert = 4 ala carte items = 25% discount

Accor Plus applicable to buffet breakfast (50% for 2 adults) + 1 child between 5- 12 dine free.
Example:
2 adult + 1 child = $37 (2 x adult x 50% + 1 child) = $37
2 adult + 2 children = $37 (2 x adult x 50% + 1 child) + 1 child = $37 + $20 = $57
*Prices correct as at 25/09/2023
 
Property: Sebel Coolangatta
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Twin bedded
Room upgraded/type: None.
Rate: Approx 200pn -part of Accor Summer package linked to the hotel with a $60F&B voucher for Twin Towns for a three night stay. Booked in on Tuesday and out on Friday.
Early check in/late out: Not requested.
Welcome drink: None.
Welcome amenity: Two bottles of water + two cans of non-alcoholic drink plus a local cheese and biscuits box

On arrival we were actually given a choice of three rooms we could choose from as we wanted an ocean view and there were no clean ocean view rooms available. Did not like any of the other rooms so went for lunch whilst one was being cleaned. Also had to remind receptionist for the food vouchers (as Plat). I have stayed there four times this year and the last three had no welcome amenity, despite on two occasions reminding reception, however they still did not eventuate. I did not bother this time and lo and behold....there was one. Pleasantly surprised. Overall a very nice stay.
 

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Property: Pullman Hyde Park
Status: All Platinum
Room booked: Superior room, 1 King bed, Hyde Park View
Room upgraded/type: Junior Suite - more on upgrade below.
Rate: Approx 225 per night - booked 4 rooms in total
Early check in/late out: Not requested.
Welcome drink: one voucher.
Welcome amenity: None

Arrived at the hotel alone as the other guest were flying in overseas, got no upgrade during check in.
Went to the room and also found no welcome amenities. Was a bit irritated, as normally status recognition is quite good in APAC region.
Went down to reception and asked regarding the amenity and inquired regarding a room upgrade.
Upgrade was approved for one room in the booking to a junior suite. Nevertheless, never received any welcome amenity :)
However, I believe the room upgrade is better value than a bottle of water and some sweets.

Suite itself is well spaced incl. Nespresso coffee machine, large living room and bathroom with spa bath
Breakfast area is small and was very crowded, especially during the weekend.
Decent selection of hot and cold food and barista coffee only.

Parking is quite expensive and also no discount offered for high status tier.
 
Property: Movenpick Hobart
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Superior King
Room upgraded/type: Superior King
Rate: Red Hot Room (avg $157pn)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes
Early check in/late out: Neither requested
Welcome drink: Yes, two vouchers - but had to ask for them
Welcome amenity: Chocolate plate, bottle of still water

Two night stay over the NSW long weekend. Wasn't surprised about the lack of upgrade - there were no higher categories bookable and the hotel seemed quite busy.

The room was very comfortable, it was great to have a full size bath. Only criticism was how dry it got overnight even with the AC turned off for our entire stay.

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Convenient location in Hobart CBD but the lack of parking could be a challenge. This wasn't a problem at night - there's ample untimed street parking nearby between 6pm and 8:30am - but during the day we opted for the nearby Argyle St Car Park when returning to the hotel for a few hours during the day (which also has free EV charging spots that were always available when we parked)

We had dinner at Tesoro on the first night which was excellent value at $57 after Accor Plus discount. The focaccia was a stand out, it's baked in house daily - and you would hope so at $15 full price! The pasta had a very healthy portion of seafood which was well cooked.

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Garlic & rosemary focaccia: secret recipe garlic, rosemary, Tasman Sea salt, olive oil & white balsamic reduction

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Green beans, mustard dressing, basil, radish, almonds

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Squid ink orecchiette, prawn, octopus, vegetable & tomato bisque

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Grilled fish of the day (barramundi), gremolata & lemon

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Welcome drink voucher menu
 
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(2nd post to get around 10 pic limit - hope the auto-merge works!)

Breakfast menu below - pick one dish, and have access to the (fairly limited) continental breakfast buffet.

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In addition to the below buffet pics, there was a bread station with some pastries and different loaves, a DIY fresh juice station with carrot, apple, celery, ginger, and cucumber, and a Nespresso/tea station.

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Barista coffee was offered complimentary when we were seated, with the waiter mentioning elite status. I'm assuming that anyone who paid for the breakfast buffet or was on a breakfast room package would have paid $5.50 for coffee. (Movenpick Melbourne does the same thing)

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Sauteed mushrooms and warm quinoa salad, goat cheese, red onion, poached egg, toasted seeds and crispy kale (sans goat cheese, poached eggs requested on the side)

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Smashed avocado, balsamic, whipped fetta, Imago Bakery black bread, heirloom tomato, basil
 
Property: Pullman Hyde Park
Status: Accor Plus Gold
Room booked: Classic room, King bed
Room upgraded/type: Deluxe room
Rate: Averaged 280 per night
Early check in/late out: Early check in was offered
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome amenity: Two cans of water (yes, cans) + a box of three chocolates

Arrived mid-morning to drop bags, as expected room was not yet ready however we were told we could come back and get our room keys after 12:30pm. We had a full day planned so didn't end up taking advantage of the early check-in but it was offered nonetheless.

No upgrade was mentioned however we clearly received an upgrade on the base level room I'd booked. From website photos I believe we jumped two categories to a Deluxe Room which was a good size with a very generous bathroom. Everything in the room seemed good quality and reasonably new, even had a stocked minibar which is less common these days. Aircon was a little weak and we left the blackout curtains closed during the day to keep the room cool. We were offered 500 Accor points to forego housekeeping on our stay which seemed a reasonable tradeoff given we were only there two nights.

As mentioned above a couple of cans of water were waiting on arrival (I guess these are more environmentally friendly than plastic bottles but they still seemed weird), as well as a few small chocolates. I enjoy the surprise of the welcome gifts but this one was just OK.

The breakfast restaurant accepted our Accor Plus discount without issue, usual price is $38 if it isn't included in the room rate. The spread was good with fresh poached/fried eggs or omelettes available on request. It was a busy morning but the staff kept up with demand well. Barista coffee included which was a pleasant bonus, more hotels need to do this.

As a side note the bar staff was not too picky with how we used our drink vouchers which I also appreciated.

Overall happy with our choice of hotel, a reasonable value stay particularly given the long weekend.
 
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Wrt canned water, I'd prefer that over having to go get water from a fountain as some hotels are doing now.

Aluminium definitely gets recycled back into cans, it s much better than plastic bottles which aren't always recycled and when they are it's not back into bottles. Aluminium better for the environment and keeps drinks nice and cool.
 
Wrt canned water, I'd prefer that over having to go get water from a fountain as some hotels are doing now.
I liked the Sofitel in Singapore where they had a water purifier with cold, room temp and hot water in the bathroom.
Aluminium definitely gets recycled back into cans, it s much better than plastic bottles which aren't always recycled and when they are it's not back into bottles. Aluminium better for the environment and keeps drinks nice and cool.
I think you'll find that plastic is a much better insulator than aluminium for keeping a drink cold.
 
I wouldn't use that (ick factor of being in same room as toilet), prefer sparkling bottled/canned water which has always been available in the Sofitels I've stayed at.
 
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Property: The Mitchelton Hotel Nagambie - MGallery by Sofitel
Status: ALL Platinum
Room booked: DELUXE SUITE, 1 King Size Bed, River Or Vineyard View
Room upgraded/type: highest category, room was booked with suite upgrade
Rate: Averaged 470 per night
Early check in/late out: Not required
Welcome drink: Yes, but forgot to redeem voucher
Welcome amenity: a box of four chocolates

What a lovely hotel and great weekend getaway.
Beautiful, modern and spacious suite, great restaurant for dinner on site and really tasty a la carte brekkie ( 1 main, 1 barista coffee, 1 juice and 1 side included)
Forgot to take a picture of the card, but whoever is interested can google it.

Great cellar door with delicious wine and some good deals as well.
There is also an art gallery on site, so they got you covered.
Do not want to forget the friendly and competent staff.
If you are looking for a stay in a bit different Accor property or you are just in the area, definitely give this hotel a go.
 

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Property: Mercure Singapore Bugis
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Signature Room with Queen Bed
Room upgraded/type: Signature Loft Room with Queen Bed
Rate: Accor Plus Red Hot Rooms $197.92 SGD/night
Lounge: Yes - Prestige Lounge
Early check in/late out: Yes/Yes - 12:00PM check-in / 1PM check-out
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes
Early check in/late out: Late check out of 12 provided (but not needed)
Welcome drink: Yes, one voucher
Welcome amenity: Nothing

Booked this hotel about a day out after Qantas notified me that one of the legs I have with them for my return trip (SIN >SYD) was delayed by over 14 hours necessitating an overnight. I looked at transit hotels at Changi but couldn't seem to find any and thought I may as well go into the city and stay at a proper hotel, especially since Qantas must pick up the tab for transport to/from the hotel per EU261 rules. The hotel itself is about a 20 minute cab ride from the airport, and I reckon if I got in a bit earlier I would've done a bit of exploring around Singapore.

Check-in was quick with the agent providing me with a drink voucher, explaining how breakfast and lounges work and informing me of an upgrade to the loft room (more on that later).

The room itself was located on the top (14th) floor of the hotel and is a two storey loft configuration (the first such room I've stayed at). On the lower level there is the restroom and living room area and on the upper floor is the bedroom:

Living Area
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Bed Room:IMG_1894.jpeg

Shower and toilet were their own separate stalls with glass doors:IMG_1897.jpeg

The restaurant and executive lounge are both located on the third floor. The lounge was open from 6 AM to 10 PM IIRC with there being a happy hour from 6 to 8 PM with booze and appetizers. The food at the lounge wasn't substantial, and the beverage selection was limited mostly to a handful of popular soft drinks like Coke and Sprite. There is a coffee machine in the lounge but it was out of service. The lounge itself wasn't huge but could probably host about 16 guests comfortably I'd reckon. Here was my "haul" from the lounge when I arrived at 8:30 PM:

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Breakfast is served in the morning at the restaurant also on the third floor. It is a buffet style breakfast, not particularly large but there is a chef station that makes omelettes:IMG_1904.jpeg

A couple other points about the hotel that I liked. The hotel has a roof top terrace, sadly I didn't have much time to explore that aspect since I had a flight to catch the next day. The room had a filtered drinking water tap, something I haven't seen at other hotels:IMG_1901.jpeg

Overall, it was a decent hotel. Not the nicest Accor I have stayed at in the region, but for the price and given this was literally a last minute booking I cannot complain. With that being said, if I was paying for this out of my own wallet, I probably would stick to an ibis for less money. Yes it may not be as fancy as this hotel but you can easily save $100/night and get similar perks (i.e. free breakfast) (For those curious, yes Qantas will have to reimburse me for the cost of this hotel and thought I'd be modest with the hotel selection since it is unclear how much Qantas will reimburse above the $250 AUD suggested amount - and I say suggested since EU261 makes it crystal clear that they must provide me with a hotel and since Qantas sent me an email telling me to book my own hotel, they are on the hook for that. For those wondering why EU261 applies for this flight, well the trip started in Frankfurt, Germany so the legislation applies for the entirety of the trip all the way to the final destination of Sydney).

-RooFlyer88
 
The room had a filtered drinking water tap,

I still think they should put the drinking water taps in the bar area of the room near the fridge not in a bathroom. It is weird, i know cheaper due to plumbing but I think even in the hallway near the ice machine is better than a bathroom.
 

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