How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

[eric2011]

You'd think Accor would be all over New Caledonia given the French connection.

Nothing in Vanuatu either and that is also French orientated

 

[Lynda2475]

You'd think Accor would be all over New Caledonia given the French connection.

Exactly, thought for sure there would be a Sofitel, but no. Hilton and Sheraton group hotels seem to be the only ones, and some independents.

 

[eric2011]

I last stayed at the Hilton pre covid. Was ok but wouldn't rush back to the island

 

[jase05]

Exactly, thought for sure there would be a Sofitel, but no. Hilton and Sheraton group hotels seem to be the only ones, and some independents.

IHG were supposedly going to open 3 or 4 last year but haven’t heard about any progress. I think a couple of HI’s and a IC for memory

 

[Lynda2475]

I last stayed at the Hilton pre covid. Was ok but wouldn't rush back to the island

Went for Doubletree.

I am trying to not do too many programs so can maximise status, but makes it hard when no choice.

 

[eric2011]

Went for Doubletree.

I am trying to not do too many programs so can maximise status, but makes it hard when no choice.

Had a look at the property and looks nice. That wasn't an option when I was looking.

 

[SYD]

Went for Doubletree.

I am trying to not do too many programs so can maximise status, but makes it hard when no choice.

Stayed there in late Sep/early Oct last year. The overwater rooms look quite good (we just had a garden room - there wasn’t much to choose from). Make sure you prebook your boat transfer.

The food options were dreadful. Comp breakfast buffet is ok but dinner is a choice of overpriced buffets and limited lunch options.

The shuttle boat is free to go back and fourth to the harbour (up in the main town area away from the more touristy hotels and restaurants).

We stayed at Le Meridien first since the SB flight lands quite late and didn’t want to stuff around with a bus and boat transfer. In hindsight, would have been nicer to spend more time at Le Meridien and maybe one night out at the DT.

The Hilton has big rooms with kitchens, so lends itself for basic self catering. It’s set back from the water - so no direct beach access (if that’s a factor) but otherwise functional and decent views.

 

[Lynda2475]

The overwater rooms look quite good (we just had a garden room - there wasn’t much to choose from). Make sure you prebook your boat transfer.

We also have a garden room as all the over water rooms were booked. Apart from arrival night, we plan to eat elsewhere.

How do we pre-book the arrival boat transfer? Do they email you a week out or something - I booked direct via Hilton Honours.

 

[SYD]

How do we pre-book the arrival boat transfer? Do they email you a week out or something - I booked direct via Hilton Honours.

There should be contact info on the hotel website but try this.
[email protected]

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Property: The Playford Hotel Adelaide (MGallery)
Room booked: Classic Guest Room
Room Rate: Flexible rate, room only
Status: Gold
Room upgrade: Yes, Deluxe room
Early check in: N/A
Late checkout: N/A
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Voucher for beer, wine or coffee (redeemed for a coffee in the morning)
Welcome amenity: Breakfast bars and snacks from The Unexpected Guest and a bottle of Santa Vittoria

This property actually blew me away. Room had a limited view but was huge, recently renovated and done very tastefully so. Staff were really helpful, especially the barista who saw I was in a bit of a hurry and expedited my coffee ahead of some office workers from a building nearby. Gym was old but well equipped, basement pool is a bit of interesting one though. For the rate/location and rooms I would certainly stay here again and recommend this property!

 

[Stewey]

Exactly, thought for sure there would be a Sofitel, but no. Hilton and Sheraton group hotels seem to be the only ones, and some independents.

There is a Le Meridien Hotel in Anse Vata with a Casino

 

[sudoer]

Property: Mercure Canberra
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Queen room (bottom category)
Room upgraded/type: Deluxe loft (top category)
Rate: Flexible rate $187pn
Free internet: Yes, but unusable for video calls
Free Breakfast: Yes, buffet
Early check in/late out: Arrived at 10:45am to drop bag and given early check-in
Welcome drink: Yes, one voucher for use at Olims Bistro
Welcome gift: Bottle of wine, was asked at check-in if I prefer red or white

An interesting stay. Booked through corporate TA, where my ALL number is rarely attached to the booking when it reaches the property's reservations system. This time I thought it was connected - I received a reminder email about the stay to the personal email and also a push notification on the ALL app, but when I arrived at the hotel, the ALL number wasn't showing on their system

They manually keyed it in, and once they could see the Plat they immediately mentioned the upgrade to a loft room and early check-in - which was a great help. They also asked if I preferred white or red wine, which was delivered a few hours later. I had to chuckle at the same wine ($8-10 at a bottle shop) going for $45 on the minibar price list.



The room was very tired and a bit of a timewarp, except the bathroom which looked to have been renovated in the last 5 years. Coasters in the bathroom were straight out of the bistro/pub attached to the Mercure - advertising a service to drive you home when drunk.



Internet worked fine for browsing, and speed test showed 12mbps down/5mbps when sitting right next to the in-room access point. But despite the adequate bandwidth and ~15ms latency to Google, I'm guessing they were shaping or de-prioritising video traffic as both Zoom and Meet were completely unusable.

The welcome drink was redeemable for any beer or house wine at the bistro, which was a pretty average pub with TAB screens etc. They had a few Sydney Brewery beers on tap - a little more interesting than the usual New/Great North/150 Lashes. They were closing up at 9pm so get in early.



Breakfast was roughly as expected for a Mercure, the usual western cooked options, some yoghurts/cereals and basic breads with spreads. Coffee from the automatic machine was undrinkable, went for a juice instead. Just as I was getting up to leave I heard a staff member ask another group if they wanted any made-to-order eggs - which wasn't offered to me.



While the upgrade and early check-in was much appreciated, I'll probably avoid staying here again except when the Sebel/Novotel/Peppers/Mantra are silly expensive (as they were for this stay, all being $260+)

 

[jakeseven7]

I would also classify Mercure and Novotel as mid-range hotels. Ibis is a budget offering.

This to me seems to be an accurate depiction of the target market for Accor brands.
View attachment 315262

I think some of their 'luxury / upscale' bucket is a little 'ambitious', relative to rest of market ;-)

 

[sudoer]

Property: Movenpick Melbourne
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: Superior Twin (couldn't see King/Queen availability for some reason)
Room upgraded/type: N/A
Rate: Corporate rate
Free internet: Yes, quick and reliable
Free Breakfast: Yes, buffet at Miss Mi
Early check in/late out: Neither required
Welcome drink: Yes, two vouchers for use at Miss Mi
Welcome gift: Nothing...

8th stay / 18th night at this hotel and probably the least memorable. I won't bore with pics of the room - have posted plenty of those before. There was a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert on at Docklands so leisure traveller occupancy was quite high for a weeknight, which might explain the lack of upgrade. I was a little disappointed to not receive any welcome gift/note though, as the hotel is usually pretty good on that front.

Dinner at Miss Mi was excellent, as you would expect for a hatted restaurant. They've further expanded the bar menu..


and the a la carte dining menu.


I've dined several times and am always impressed at the quality of the food, and the variety/change on the menu. I went for the Saigon Clams & Pipis, Taiwanese style chicken ribs, and wok fried veges. Total cost $39 after Accor Plus 25% discount which I thought was good value. Would be a steal if you have two diners for 50% off.



I also popped down for a quick breakfast, and noticed the addition of a dumpling & congee station stocked with condiments like lao gan ma (chilli crisp), shallots and fried onion flakes. The dining room was about 50% full at 7:50am. No barista coffee offered this time, but I was in a rush anyway so wouldn't have ordered one.

 

[Muppet501st]

Property: Sofitel Brisbane
Room booked: King
Room Rate: Accor + free night
Status: Diamond +
Room upgraded/type: Yes, i think, luxury king room
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes, bottle of wine and birthday cake for the wife
VIP treatment: N/A
Access to executive lounge (if existing): Yes

We park in the carpark across the road, $5 a day on weekends!! parking at hotel $50 i believe.
Checked in right on 2pm, and was served a glass of wine by a robot!
Nice room and welcome gift- for the birthday girl.
Had afternoon tea in the lounge, did go back in the evening but was a zoo. Just had 1 drink and then down to the bar where there were less people, but the foyer was full of high school formal kids.
Had a lovely meal in Suzettes and breakfast there the following morning.

 

[Daver6]

Property: Sofitel Brisbane
Room booked: King
Room Rate: Accor + free night
Status: Diamond +
Room upgraded/type: Yes, i think, luxury king room
Free internet: Yes
Welcome drink: Yes, bottle of wine and birthday cake for the wife
VIP treatment: N/A
Access to executive lounge (if existing): Yes

We park in the carpark across the road, $5 a day on weekends!! parking at hotel $50 i believe.
Checked in right on 2pm, and was served a glass of wine by a robot!
Nice room and welcome gift- for the birthday girl.
Had afternoon tea in the lounge, did go back in the evening but was a zoo. Just had 1 drink and then down to the bar where there were less people, but the foyer was full of high school formal kids.
Had a lovely meal in Suzettes and breakfast there the following morning. View attachment 316339View attachment 316340View attachment 316341View attachment 316342View attachment 316343View attachment 316344View attachment 316345

That room looks a little disappointing. Not sure if it's just the lack of anything hanging on the wall perhaps? Also, why do hotels only have one comfortable sitting chair in rooms designed for two people? That really annoys me.

 

[PineappleSkip]

+1 a lot of inexpensive country motels get you a couch these days, and not just the hokey Novotel chaise longue.

 

[jase05]

Property: Sofitel Queenstown
Status: Accor Plus Diamond
Room booked: Superior Room was all that was available at the time
Room upgraded/type: Yes, Junior Suite
Rate: Accor Plus rate $680 for 1x night and used my Accor Plus free night for 1x night ($740)
Free internet: Yes, decent enough
Free Breakfast: Yes, buffet and a la carte at Left bank bistro
Early check in/late out: Was offered late check out but not required
Welcome drink: Yes, two vouchers for use at bar
Welcome gift: Bottle of bubbly, 2x beers and a fruit platter with note

Originally booked 4 nights which included my free Accor Plus night and hotel was chockers when I booked so only 1 room type available. I called up to cancel two of the nights about 3 weeks ago and to my surprise my free night stayed on the booking so only up for 1 night. Rooms were over $700/night for the standard room and on checking in I was informed that Queenstown was packed due to few events including a concert with ZZ Top, Pat Benatar and a few others. On hearing that I was pleasantly surprised to be told we had been upgraded to a Junior Suite for the 2 nights. Staff were great once again and even though the rooms are starting to show their age it was another pleasant stay. The room looked absolutely identical to our last stay 4 years ago and by identical I mean same pillow covers and throw overs etc, it was like I stepped back in time
Small EL but decent enough wine selection and small assortment of nibbles. Breakfast was decent at the bistro with a small but nice enough buffet complimented by the a la carte menu which had some very nice selections. The French toast and pancakes were both very good. Barista coffee was quite decent too. Will most likely head back to NZ in 2024 and no doubt stay there again.

 

[austgap]

Property: Mantra Southport Sharks
Status: Accor Platinum
Room booked: Compact Queen
Room upgraded/type: Yes, King Suite
Rate: Advance Saver - $151.05/night
Free internet: Yes, not great and very slow
Free Breakfast: Yes, a la carte at the Sharks Leagues Club (quite a novel experience)
Early check in/late out: Room ready at Midday. No late checkout required.
Welcome drink: Yes, two vouchers - not used, assumed could be used at the Leagues Club
Welcome gift: Box of slices (had them on QF Domestic Y multiple times), 1x carton of water, 1x bottle of Red Wine.

Hotel was quiet, even though I did a phone call on my drive from Brisbane saying that'd be busy so needed to process the payment on my card before my arrival. Hotel is modern and bright but everything (hallways, carpet in bedroom, couch) seem stained and looking a bit beaten up. Very good value if you don't need to be on the beach.

 

[austgap]

Property: Movenpick Melbourne
Status: Accor Platinum
Room booked: Classic King Room
Room upgraded/type: Yes, Deluxe King Room
Rate: $245-$229 (daily amount varied over 3 days)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes. Coffee tax on day two, however never made the final bill.
Early check in/late out: N/A
Welcome drink: Yes, two vouchers
Welcome gift: Box of rocky road, 2x bottles of water, 1x bottle of Red Wine.

Yes another AFF member has been staying here recently! All fine, not a great deal more to add vs others above. Staff made a super big point at check-in about repeat stay vs loyalty tier.

Only comment - was not aware about the RHCP concert going on last week, however the lack of sound proofing on the Collins Street side rooms meant two very interrupted evenings. Very annoying.