How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

[PineappleSkip]

Property: Mercura Bologna Centro
Status: Platinum A+
Room booked: Superior double
Rate: member flexible €157.
Room Upgrade: Renovated privelege room, 2 m2 extra, fluffy bathrobes, nespresso machine etc.
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Not applicable, €12 p.p.
Early check in / late out: not sought
Welcome drink: Yes, prosecco and a huge bowl of crisps. Offered nuts but passed. Didn't try for champagne
Welcome Gift: bottle of ragu sauce, very Bolognese!
Recommend: Yes, if you get a room overlooking the pleasant garden, rather than the very noisy street. The upside of that is if you want to catch a train or are getting off one, the station is the other side of said very noisy street. Staff very nice, albeit no checkin fanfare and announcement about upgrade; suspect she didn't know as the invoice showed the upgraded room type against the original rate. There's no restaurant for dinner but if you can't get a good meal in Bologna you're not trying. Ok, there's bar snacks if you don't have a life.

 

[Mort]

Property: Mercure Sydney Macquarie Park
Status: Platinum A+
Room booked: Standard queen room
Rate: A+ SAVER RATE ~ $145 AUD
Room Upgrade: maybe to ??? (top floor, 3 corner room)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes, room rate/platinum benefit
Early check in / late out: not required
Welcome drink: Yes x 2 in app, redeemed for couple of beers
Welcome Gift: fruit, wine, chocolate and cheese
Recommend: if the location suits.

Had an event in Cheltenham and this appears to be the closest Accor property.

Arrived about 6 and a bus load of people had arrived before me, the entry is a bit of a
Mess, did not even realise it was the foyer and that it was self check-in so many people crowded, wandered around a bit lost until I went to the cafe/bar and they pointed at the scrum of people around the kiosk.

To be honest, was a bit ridiculous, such a poor intro in comparison to recent stays.

Eventually checked myself in, no option to ask about room upgrades. I am not a fan of kiosks in this instance.

Went to the cafe/bar and collected a couple of beers for my welcome drinks. And ask which direction my room is in.

Off to the room it’s on the 3rd floor and in an angled bend so kind of like a corner room, appears bigger than the standard room, so maybe it’s a deluxe, definitely happy with the space . But otherwise pretty standard Mercure room.

They do very well with the welcome gifts.

Only issue is I could not get the heating to work properly Seemed to just blow cold, and noisy so just left it off.

Breakfast was a simple selection of western options but freshly cooked, and a small congee station.

I would probably stay again as it’s convenient for a couple of locations I visit. Unless better/cheaper options on the metro pop up.

 

[sudoer]

What sort of late check-out was offered? I've actually got a booking here for next year. I have a flight leaving the next day at 1:20am and wondering I need to book two night or whether they've be generous enough with an incredibly late checkout.

As mentioned above, I'd book a day rate to complement your one night stay. You can stretch the day rate a bit, or at the very least, I reckon you could hang around the exec lounge past 8pm. (pending lounge closure time)

There's also a decent outdoor rooftop bar above the exec lounge with views of the runway. You can use your drink vouchers here on anything on the menu.

 

[Daver6]

As mentioned above, I'd book a day rate to complement your one night stay. You can stretch the day rate a bit, or at the very least, I reckon you could hang around the exec lounge past 8pm. (pending lounge closure time)

There's also a decent outdoor rooftop bar above the exec lounge with views of the runway. You can use your drink vouchers here on anything on the menu.

I think I'll still book the second night. Plan is to actually hit the sack really early and trip kip for a few hours. It's a domestic flights departing at 1:20am and just on four hours. So I can't see much more than an hour or two of poor sleep on the flight.

 

[markis10]

Off to the room it’s on the 3rd floor and in an angled bend so kind of like a corner room, appears bigger than the standard room, so maybe it’s a deluxe, definitely happy with the space . But otherwise pretty standard Mercure room.

There is no real standard Mercure room, they vary considerably, especially when they rebrand from another chain, in this case Travelodge.

 

[Seat0B]

Property: Pullman Melbourne City Centre
Status: Platinum Accor+
Room booked: Superior room with 1 king bed
Rate: Accor Saver Rate three nights for $637
Room Upgrade: yes to Premium Executive Room on 13th floor (several categories up)
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes, platinum benefit
Early check in / late out: Late check-out 1pm requested and granted.
Welcome drink: Yes x 2 in app, but I did not use them.
Welcome Gift: chocolates, and a 4 pack of slices (choc cherry and lemon coconut), plus a bottle of DeBortolli Legacy sparkling wine on ice (I had told them it was Mr Seat 0A's birthday)
Recommend: Yes

I've read a lot of mixed feedback about this hotel, but our experience was really good. The upgrade was extremely nice - several categories above what I booked, and on a high floor with a nice view too. Check in was fast and friendly, and late check out was requested. They offered 1 pm, and I accepted that.


Some of you will have read my previous comments about problems when trying to take a bath and the bolt down amenities. That was not an issue here. They had bolt down bottles in the shower, but free standing bottles near the sink and also provided a couple of single use amenities specifically for the bath - heaven!!



Plus the welcome amenities were appreciated.



We also got good use out of the Executive Lounge on 15th floor. They had drinks and canapes each evening 1700-1900, no photos, but there was a good selection of hot bar snacks, as well as dips and veggies and a lavish charcuterie and cheese platter. These were topped up regularly. Self pour wines and bubbles (de Bortolli) as well as bottled beers, ciders and soft drinks. We had dinner there 2 of the 3 nights we were there. It was not overly crowded, although it was clearly popular, and the comfy chairs near the fireplace were lovely.




We had breakfast there each morning. I asked if we could have breakfast in the main dining room, but was told no, it had to be in the lounge. No real issue with that, again it was busy enough but never over crowded, and there was a nice buffet spread, regularly topped up, as well as a choice of hot dish from a menu. here are some photos of the buffet, and they had real champagne at breakfast, compared to the De Bortolli bubbles available for happy hour.




Here's the menu for the hot dishes, but these were a bit disappointing. I had eggs benedict, Zucchini fritters and omelette du fromage. They looked good, but lacked in the eating. The zucchini fritters for example were soggy, and the other dishes were not as hot as they could have been. And I have just about despaired of sourdough toast as served by airlines and hotels. It is always hard as a rock and defeats the cutlery they supply, every single time.



The only thing that was just weird was the way the lights were set up in the suite. The LED strip lighting around the TV in the bedroom and on the bed head was connected to the master light switch so that when I turned off the lights to go to sleep, Mr Seat 0A who was working at the table in the sitting room, was plunged into total darkness. I reported it the next day, and they said they looked into it and found that this is how the lights were wired. Apparently no one has ever mentioned it before. I feel like they did listen, as the Bell Captain came up to the rook with me to see the exact problem, and I received a typed note later in the day explaining what they had done to investigate. However, I feel a bit like a trouble magnet at the moment.

They also had a really well equipped gym. Smelled strongly of rubber floor mats and had no natural light, but it was super well equipped for a solid work out with free weights (dumb bells and kettle bells) as well as machines, cardio machines (elliptical, stepper and bikes) and some other nice items like a bosu and some slam balls. No photos, forgot.

I would definitely stay here again, based on this experience. The location is superlative - right in the centre of the shopping area and China Town, super convenient. The staff were attentive and the club lounge was a really pleasant experience. I forgot to mention that they did barista coffee to order at any time of the day, no charge. There was a commercial sized nespresso machine in the lounge, but the staff quickly intercepted anyone who headed that way and got them a real coffee.