How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

[gaz0303]

Property: Sofitel Darling Harbour
Status: Accor+ Gold
Room booked: 2x superior rooms
Room upgraded/type: No. but booking 2x double rooms and asking for them to be adjacent wouldn’t help.
Rate: flexible plus using points. Had to call to get family rate as it wasn’t available online for the Saturday night.
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No, but used +benefit and used an additional member for a day voucher in my wife’s name to get bigger discount.
Early check in/late out: n/a
Welcome drink: Yes x 5
Welcome gift: 2 bottles of water and a stuffed kangaroo toy.
Recommended? Very nice stay and views non-harbour are pretty good - even a bit of plane spotting. Being able to watch the DH fireworks from the pool away from the crowds was fantastic. Easy stroll to the Lyric Theatre and shops in cbd.

 

[eric2011]

In comparison to above post

Property: Sofitel Darling Harbour
Status: Platinum
Room booked: Luxury room, 1 king, corner room DH view. 2 Nights
Room upgraded/type: No.
Rate: flexible plus using 12000 points. $1404.00. 12000 points bought it down to $1008
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes, thanks to Platinum benefit, in the EL
Early check in/late out: Not required
Welcome drink: No
Welcome gift: Usual De Bortoli red plus 1 bottle sparkling water. Not replenished
Recommended? Very nice stay and views of DH and coughle bay are good from this room. Overlooking Saturday night fireworks are great with fully opening curtains

 

[Townsend]

We stayed at the Sofitel Wentworth on 13/11/24. We had an early engagement and so, when I received the email a couple of days before, I requested an early check in. We arrived at 12 noon which was the time I requested. Was told that the room was not ready and that there was no guarantee that it would have been. At 1.30pm I asked again and was told that the room wasn’t ready. I explained my timing issues and said that we would take any room. I was told that there was a room available but that it was an upgrade. I assumed that it was a platinum upgrade and so accepted it.

It was a stunning suite but I was surprised to see that I was charged an upgrade fee of $95!

 

[Daver6]

We stayed at the Sofitel Wentworth on 13/11/24. We had an early engagement and so, when I received the email a couple of days before, I requested an early check in. We arrived at 12 noon which was the time I requested. Was told that the room was not ready and that there was no guarantee that it would have been. At 1.30pm I asked again and was told that the room wasn’t ready. I explained my timing issues and said that we would take any room. I was told that there was a room available but that it was an upgrade. I assumed that it was a platinum upgrade and so accepted it.

It was a stunning suite but I was surprised to see that I was charged an upgrade fee of $95!

Did you dispute the fee?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Did you dispute the fee?

I certainly would have! Platinum is entitled to a room upgrade and early check-in. The hotel should have just done it.

 

[eric2011]

Platinum is entitled to a room upgrade and early check-in.

Only if available, 1 category from initial booking

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Only if available, 1 category from initial booking

indeed, but often can be more. A good will gesture for lack of early check-in could have been applied in this case

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Property: Sofitel Darling Harbour
Status: Accor+ Gold
Room booked: 2x superior rooms
Room upgraded/type: No. but booking 2x double rooms and asking for them to be adjacent wouldn’t help.
Rate: flexible plus using points. Had to call to get family rate as it wasn’t available online for the Saturday night.
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No, but used +benefit and used an additional member for a day voucher in my wife’s name to get bigger discount.
Early check in/late out: n/a
Welcome drink: Yes x 5
Welcome gift: 2 bottles of water and a stuffed kangaroo toy.
Recommended? Very nice stay and views non-harbour are pretty good - even a bit of plane spotting. Being able to watch the DH fireworks from the pool away from the crowds was fantastic. Easy stroll to the Lyric Theatre and shops in cbd.

It gets a heck of a lot better when you become a Platinum (see my review). When I stayed there back in February using my Accor+ free night, I was upgraded to a room with a harbour view. Oh, and got a bottle of wine, anniversary cake, and a few other goodies. Importantly, I was treated like a VIP during the stay. As a Platinum I didn't bother with the check in counter at the ground floor, I simply went up to the lounge floor and checked in there (where my partner and I were offered champagne whilst we got checked in). Lounge was great offering h'or deurves and tea in the afternoon and then again in the early evening. Breakfast was a-la carte, none of this buffet nonsense (although they did have a buffet should you be interested). Breakfast service was a little sluggish, but overall very nice:

We stayed at the Sofitel Wentworth on 13/11/24. We had an early engagement and so, when I received the email a couple of days before, I requested an early check in. We arrived at 12 noon which was the time I requested. Was told that the room was not ready and that there was no guarantee that it would have been. At 1.30pm I asked again and was told that the room wasn’t ready. I explained my timing issues and said that we would take any room. I was told that there was a room available but that it was an upgrade. I assumed that it was a platinum upgrade and so accepted it.

I had the same problem staying 2 nights at the Wentworth during Easter, so nothing new there. It is surprising though that you told them in advance yet they still couldn't accommodate you. And look, I get it, hotels can get busy and full, sometimes it's not always possible to make that accommodation, but at a hotel like Sofitel where service is one of the key selling points, can they really not get someone checked in 90 minutes earlier than the specified check-in time, particularly if it was requested during booking?

What might make sense next time is to leave your stuff there and tell them you'll come back later to check-in. Then proceed to check-in around 8 or 9 PM. I'm a huge believer in late check-ins providing the best rooms for elites. And think about it for a moment, if you check-in at 9 PM, chances are the hotel won't be selling those suites last minute, and with everyone else settled into a room, they'll have a good idea of room inventory too. As a corollary to this theory, cheap rooms (particularly those booked last minute) beget the upgrades. The thinking here is that if you could secure a room last minute at a hotel for peanuts, demand must be low and so available inventory remains high. The more unused inventory a hotel has, the better your chances are of getting an upgrade. The only exception I can think of was when I was staying at the Hilton Durban, the hotel was oversold and they bumped me to the Presidential Suite (I didn't mind).

It was a stunning suite but I was surprised to see that I was charged an upgrade fee of $95!

Unless the agent proactively offers me the upgrade, you cannot assume it's free.

I certainly would have! Platinum is entitled to a room upgrade and early check-in. The hotel should have just done it.

Entitled is a strong word. They have access to those things if they are available, per the Accor website:

Early check-in/late check-out (subject to availability)

Upgrade to the next room category (subject to availability)

Receive an upgrade to the next room category, if available at time of check-in. Excludes villas, one-of-a-kind suites, speciality suites and presidential suites.
If unavailable, the hotel will seek to allocate you an enhanced room in your current room category i.e. a higher floor, more desirable view, corner room or better amenities.
At Fairmont, an upgrade is not applicable to Fairmont Gold Floor.
Upgrades are available up to the Junior Suite category at Raffles hotels.
This upgrade does not apply to ibis, ibis Styles, Adagio Original, Adagio Access and Adagio Premium brands or any other hotels that do not have different room types.

So if there wasn't a room available in your category when you came in, in theory they could prevent you from checking in. Ditto for late-checkout. And I say that from experience. Some hotels I've stayed at, I've had 2 PM or even 3 PM late check out no problems. Other hotels, I'm fighting just to get an extra hour checkout since what hotel specifies a 11 AM checkout? If you want guaranteed late checkout my recommendation would be looking at chains that offer that as a benefit (and yes some do). A perfect example is Marriott. If you're a Marriott Gold elite you will get a guaranteed 4 PM late checkout across the board. I used that back in February staying at the W Sydney, I simply requested it and they updated the keycards and that was it. Zero pushback, because it's a guaranteed item.

Same thing goes with upgrades, if you want it guaranteed you need to find a hotel chain that offers that perk (I'm not aware of any that provide that). In the case of Accor the only way to get a guaranteed upgrade is by applying your suite night upgrade certificates at booking at a hotel that provides suites to upgrade into (those by the way can be incredibly valuable - I used 4 of them to upgrade to a Junior Suite at the Sofitel Melbourne, saving me $1,000 over the 4 night stay). Now as a Platinum, I have been upgraded a number of times, including ibis hotels but again it's a roll of a dice. In every instance the process was the same, I checked in and they either told me I got an upgrade or I found out when I got to the room (in one instance I was upgraded to an Executive Suite at an ibis in Canberra).

If you want to talk about guarantees as a Platinum, there is only one that comes to my mind, Guaranteed room availability at an Accor hotel as an elite when booking 3 days in advance (as a Gold) or 2 days in advance (as a Platinum or higher). But even then there are caveats like designated days each hotel sets aside in a calendar year that are excluded from the guarantee.

Only if available, 1 category from initial booking

Technically you are absolutely correct here. That is what the terms and conditions say. In practice, however, hotels can be more generous than that. Two examples that stick out in my mind was last month staying at the Hotel Morris I was double upgraded to a nicer room (from the cheap $110/night room I booked) and the aforementioned upgrade to an executive suite at the ibis in Canberra.

-RooFlyer88

 

[gaz0303]

Property: Sofitel Broadbeach
Status: Accor+ Gold
Room booked: Classic room, river view
Room upgraded/type: yes, ocean view
Rate: flexible $230
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No
Early check in/late out: n/a
Welcome drink: Yes, but didn’t use. The bar doesn’t look that appealing. Free sparkling wine on arrival.
Welcome gift: 3 chocolate coated strawberries
Recommended: Yes, it’s not the casino. I’ll be back as work requires.

 

[Townsend]

I certainly would have! Platinum is entitled to a room upgrade and early check-in. The hotel should have just done it.

I am afraid I didn’t. I was just glad that we had access to a room.

 

[ric_melb]

I see kangarooflyer88 has repeated the incorrect information he gave previously. Marriott Gold does not entitle you to a guaranteed late check out of 4pm. In the past if you were Starwood Gold you did get a guaranteed late checkout as Gold, of 4pm, and I believe as a Marriott Gold that may also have been the case. However when the two chains merged their schemes in August 2018 the level of Marriott Gold only offered members late checkout of 2pm, subject to availability. So the late checkout time became 2pm subject to availability, and no longer guaranteed.

 

[oz_mark]

I see kangarooflyer88 has repeated the incorrect information he gave previously. Marriott Gold does not entitle you to a guaranteed late check out of 4pm. In the past if you were Starwood Gold you did get a guaranteed late checkout as Gold, of 4pm, and I believe as a Marriott Gold that may also have been the case. However when the two chains merged their schemes in August 2018 the level of Marriott Gold only offered members late checkout of 2pm, subject to availability. So the late checkout time became 2pm subject to availability, and no longer guaranteed.

This is correct.

It is Platinum (and higher) that get a 4pm checkout (subject to availability)

 

[kangarooflyer88]

This is correct.

It is Platinum (and higher) that get a 4pm checkout (subject to availability)

I stand corrected. But I think my point still stands which is that some hotels do guarantee those benefits, particularly for their higher level elites.

-RooFlyer88

 

[DC3]

I stand corrected. But I think my point still stands which is that some hotels do guarantee those benefits, particularly for their higher level elites.

-RooFlyer88

I may have to get a list of those hotels from you

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I may have to get a list of those hotels from you

Another example is the Intercontinental hotel and their ambassador program which again offers a guaranteed 4 PM checkout:
https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/content/us/en/loyalty

 

[oz_mark]

I stand corrected. But I think my point still stands which is that some hotels do guarantee those benefits, particularly for their higher level elites.

Well, nothing stops hotels going above and beyond, but that does not make it an entitlement under the program.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Getting back to the topic at hand...

Property: Mercure Nadi
Status: Accor+ Platinum
Room booked: Standard room, 1 Queen bed and 1 single bed
Room upgraded/type: Yes, deluxe room, 1 king bed
Rate: End of Year Offer - Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa ($167 FJD/night = $113 AUD)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes
Early check in/late out: 1 PM late check out requested and received
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome gift: 1 plate of fresh fruit and bottle of water

Had to leave Australia for visa reasons (my student visa expires on December 1 so needed to get an ETA to continue staying for the couple of months I am here finalizing the thesis, ETA was the cheapest option with flight + hotel costing me $600 out of pocket versus the $1600+ I'd have to spend on getting a new student visa).

The hotel itself is located about 15 minutes away from the airport. In theory it is walkable if you are young, but it's probably best to get a taxi. The taxi cost $20 FJD from the airport and $15 FJD to the airport. Cabs only accept cash, which made my situation a bit precarious, as my debit card didn't work at the ATMs in Fiji (all for the better I suppose). Luckily, I had $25 AUD which I converted over to $35 FJD at the airport (not the best rate, but a steal compared to the $15 FJD the ATM was going to charge my in transaction fees just for withdrawing money).

In terms of location, it's not too bad if you want to stay near Fiji. There's a number of restaurants nearby which provide a selection of food. Additionally, the hotel has a restaurant which accepts Accor+ discounts, so something else to consider as well.

As for the hotel, it's what you would expect from a Mercure, a bit dated but comfortable. Check-in was prompt, and I was given a drink voucher without having to ask (always nice). Although the agent didn't indicate that I got an upgrade, I realized that I did get an upgrade as I was assigned a room number that is associated with a Deluxe room :


Those with a shub phobia, please avert your eyes:


The welcome gift was laying on the counter of my room and was better than the usual box of cakes or bottle of wine I'd receive as a Platinum:


Breakfast itself was served in the restaurant between 6 AM to 10 AM everyday. The buffet consisted of a selection of hot items (potatoes, eggs, baked beans, sausage, pancakes) and cold items (cereal, yogurt, fruits). There is a coffee machine, although it only makes American style drip coffee (read normal coffee people should be drinking). Additionally, there was a stand with a chef making various egg based breakfast items fresh (including omelettes). Overall, I'd put this slightly above what I'd expect for a Mercure breakfast:


Speaking of food & beverage, I ended up using my voucher on an iced coffee:


Other points: the hotel has a pool (although it is somewhat small and dated):


The hotel has other amenities like a spa and tennis courts.

Would I stay here again? At this price? Absolutely! Yes the facilities aren't top notch but at this price it's a bargain. With that being said, if I was on vacation, I would most likely try the Novotel instead. Being closer to the airport (and hills for hiking) would make the trip more enjoyable. Also, I suspect the Novotel will have better quality facilities. It would have saved me the $25 AUD (and hassle) of getting a taxi, as it's a short 30 minute walk to the hotel from the airport. Indeed the price differential of $80 AUD between the Novotel and Mercure becomes quite marginal for even the thriftiest of travellers.

-RooFlyer88

 

[markis10]

Also, I suspect the Novotel will have better quality facilities.

It’s actually slightly older than the Mercure and was an All Seasons, rooms are dated, aircon is a lottery as are the beds. You made the right choice.

 

[djchuckles]

Getting back to the topic at hand...

Property: Mercure Nadi
Status: Accor+ Platinum
Room booked: Standard room, 1 Queen bed and 1 single bed
Room upgraded/type: Yes, deluxe room, 1 king bed
Rate: End of Year Offer - Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa ($167 FJD/night = $113 AUD)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes
Early check in/late out: 1 PM late check out requested and received
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome gift: 1 plate of fresh fruit and bottle of water

Had to leave Australia for visa reasons (my student visa expires on December 1 so needed to get an ETA to continue staying for the couple of months I am here finalizing the thesis, ETA was the cheapest option with flight + hotel costing me $600 out of pocket versus the $1600+ I'd have to spend on getting a new student visa).

The hotel itself is located about 15 minutes away from the airport. In theory it is walkable if you are young, but it's probably best to get a taxi. The taxi cost $20 FJD from the airport and $15 FJD to the airport. Cabs only accept cash, which made my situation a bit precarious, as my debit card didn't work at the ATMs in Fiji (all for the better I suppose). Luckily, I had $25 AUD which I converted over to $35 FJD at the airport (not the best rate, but a steal compared to the $15 FJD the ATM was going to charge my in transaction fees just for withdrawing money).

In terms of location, it's not too bad if you want to stay near Fiji. There's a number of restaurants nearby which provide a selection of food. Additionally, the hotel has a restaurant which accepts Accor+ discounts, so something else to consider as well.

As for the hotel, it's what you would expect from a Mercure, a bit dated but comfortable. Check-in was prompt, and I was given a drink voucher without having to ask (always nice). Although the agent didn't indicate that I got an upgrade, I realized that I did get an upgrade as I was assigned a room number that is associated with a Deluxe room :
View attachment 416527

Those with a shub phobia, please avert your eyes:
View attachment 416528

The welcome gift was laying on the counter of my room and was better than the usual box of cakes or bottle of wine I'd receive as a Platinum:
View attachment 416529

Breakfast itself was served in the restaurant between 6 AM to 10 AM everyday. The buffet consisted of a selection of hot items (potatoes, eggs, baked beans, sausage, pancakes) and cold items (cereal, yogurt, fruits). There is a coffee machine, although it only makes American style drip coffee (read normal coffee people should be drinking). Additionally, there was a stand with a chef making various egg based breakfast items fresh (including omelettes). Overall, I'd put this slightly above what I'd expect for a Mercure breakfast:
View attachment 416530

Speaking of food & beverage, I ended up using my voucher on an iced coffee:
View attachment 416532

Other points: the hotel has a pool (although it is somewhat small and dated):
View attachment 416531

The hotel has other amenities like a spa and tennis courts.

Would I stay here again? At this price? Absolutely! Yes the facilities aren't top notch but at this price it's a bargain. With that being said, if I was on vacation, I would most likely try the Novotel instead. Being closer to the airport (and hills for hiking) would make the trip more enjoyable. Also, I suspect the Novotel will have better quality facilities. It would have saved me the $25 AUD (and hassle) of getting a taxi, as it's a short 30 minute walk to the hotel from the airport. Indeed the price differential of $80 AUD between the Novotel and Mercure becomes quite marginal for even the thriftiest of travellers.

-RooFlyer88

I certainly would have! Platinum is entitled to a room upgrade and early check-in. The hotel should have just done it.

Thanks - for comparison we just got back from Sofitel Fiji - whilst it was lovely - at FJ$690 a night, I’d argue it’s not 4x better than Mercure, depending on whether you want just a base or want to stay and enjoy the resort facilities. We travelled with kids - so for us it was worth the money to be at the Sofitel, but the Mercure looks decent enough for the money