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.

 

[ejb_nz]

Sorry if I am not following the thread rules.

I am currently at The Sebel Manakau.

Received a room upgrade, complimentary cheese platter in the room upon arrival.

Welcome drinks as per Gold level.

I have always found Accor Gold to be worth maintaining.

 

[ayebee]

Just discovered this thread.
Used to be higher status in biz travel days, but only recently requalified as lowly silver.

Property: Ibis Broken Hill
Status: Lowly silver
Room booked: Superior queen
Rate: Accor Saver 2 nights $406
Room Upgrade: no, I don't think they had anything else
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No, chose a rate including breakfast - see below
Early check in / late out: never an issue.
Welcome drink: No, never mentioned though Accor / All benefits promo poster beside check-in.
Welcome Gift: no, but doubt applicable for silver
Recommend: Maybe

This Ibis is more like a pleasant motel with a restaurant onsite.
The room, bed etc was fine.
The restaurant itself was OK for dinner, but my main gripe was having paid a "breakfast included" rate, that just meant 1 item from the alacarte menu at the restaurant.
Other Ibis I have stayed at usually have quite a reasonable buffet with cereal, continental bakery items, cold and hot options, plus the ability to have a juice, coffee / tea and fruit. This one had none of that.
The most expensive option on the menu was less than the value built into the "included" rate.
My wife just wanted toast and coffee one morning, so that meant the $8 toast and jam counted as the chosen item, plus $5 more for a coffee. No juice or that was another $5.
I usually just ignore the post departure requests for reviews, and I usually ignore but in this case I put one in along the lines above, and interestingly it does not seem to have been published.
The "maybe" on recommend ? The room is ok, just use the room only rate and then decide on what to do for breakfast. The motel is close to main street, and there are several nice cafes down the street.

 

[Lemon_Party]

Property: Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour
Status: Platinum plus
Room booked: Superior King - base
Rate: $315 - possibly RHR otherwise Accor + member rate
Room Upgrade: Yes, Jones bay view high floor
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes - advised could choose either or both of lounge or restaurant
Early check in / late out: not offered but didn’t need either.
Welcome drink: In app vouchers - good choice and could redeem lounge, restaurant or any bar
Welcome Gift: Usual $3 Accor cooking wine and a bottle of sparkling water
Recommend: Yes

Lovely hotel. Amazing views from executive lounge. Check in at the lounge starts with sparkling wine, the apero chic evening canapés and wine is very polished (lobster spring rolls were incredible along with an excellent sashimi tuna and ponzu sauce) and the rooms are spacious and well appointed.
Breakfast in the executive lounge also great, high class buffet, excellent service and a good menu of made to order options - I tried the smoked salmon okonomiyaki which was very tasty if a little small.
If you book online in advance the darling quarter car park is a 5 minute walk away and is unlimited entry and exits in a 24 hour period for $35 which I didn’t think was bad.
Will definitely try to stay here again. The welcome gift is a little derisory but also not required with a lounge that good.

 

[DJTravels]

Property: Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour
Status: Platinum Plus
Room booked: Superior Room King
Rate: Stay Plus + 1 night Accor Plus rate $283
Room Upgrade: Yes, darling harbour view room
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes, lounge or restaurant
Early check in / late out: Asked for 2pm out on a Friday, was told room type fully booked but 12pm offered.
Welcome drink: Yes, voucher can be redeemed for good range of alcohol. Could redeem at lobby bar, champagne lounge, restaurant or club lounge (when outside of evening complimentary alcohol hours)
Welcome Gift: Bottle of the usual shiraz. Did not touch it.
Recommend: Yes, especially for stay plus.

Very similar thoughts to @Lemon_Party . One of, if not the best ALL property in Australia, and especially great if you are Platinum with access to the lounge. There were queues on check-in and out in the main lobby, but straight to the club to skip the Riff-raff.

Food and drinks were generous in the club. All high quality. Tuna sashimi and the quality cold cuts were my favourite. A lovely place to go before seeing a show or heading out for the night. Tried breakfast in both the club and the restaurant. Club service and food was awesome, with a much superior a la carte menu, but a more limited buffet. Restaurant has a good selection for buffet with some more (average) asian options, but service and layout left a bit to be desired. After seeing the lovely views and quiet tranquility of the lounge, the restaurant feels like a food court, and service felt rushed.

Could not fault the property, but probably wouldn't choose to stay in darling harbour unless needing to attend ICC/work nearby. It was not inconvenient, but I missed being able to step out right in to the heart of it a la Sofitel Wentworth or Swissotel. Excellent use of stay plus, and a much stronger case to stay here if you are a Platinum. I feel it shields you from a lot of the inconveniences in such a large property.

 

[DejaBrew]

Property: Swissôtel Sydney
Status: Gold Plus
Room booked: Swiss Executive King Room w/ Exec Lounge Access, High Floor
Rate: Hotel Escape Sale - 3 nights, $912.80
Room Upgrade: No, more on this below
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes, lounge or restaurant
Early check in / late out: Asked for latest possible checkout on a Saturday, was offered 1pm and gladly accepted.
Welcome drink: Yes x 2
Welcome Gift: Box of chocolates
Recommend: Yes, but not as wholeheartedly as I'd like to.

My first time staying at the hotel since they completed the renovations. Didn't get off to the most positive start. Arrived shortly before 4pm to be told by hotel reception that my room (2524) was not ready. I was initially asked to go to the exec lounge, but then she thought better of it and made a call to find out how long it would be before the room was ready. After hearing it would be at least another half hour, she arranged an alternate room for me (2425) and advised that "amenities" (which I assumed to have been the welcome gift) were in my original room and she'd have them delivered to the new room.

No idea if my originally-assigned room was an upgrade or not, but I ended up with the room category as per what I'd booked. I waited for over an hour for the "amenities" to be delivered, but eventually gave up and headed down to the lounge for drinks and canapés. For a self-proclaimed 5-star hotel, I think the canapés leave a bit to be desired. A small selection of cold meats, a couple of buffet salads, 3 cheeses with sides and a couple of cakes are all de rigueur, but party pies and chicken nuggies do not a 5-star hotel make IMHO. Overheard another guest lamenting how the lounge fare has gone significantly downhill since 2020. In their words, "...we used to get pieces of fish and other substantial offerings, but now? Now we've been reduced to party pies." I've also never seen the alcoholic drinks removed so quickly and precisely on the stroke of 6:30pm as in this hotel. I saw no evidence of anyone going nuts on the (limited) open self-pour drinks offerings, but you'd think they were protecting against a horde of raging alcoholics! At least this time they had the decency to advise guests that they were closing everything in 10 minutes' time (given the last time I stayed with lounge access, everything was secretly and speedily whipped away).

Arrived back in the room to discover hotel staff had entered in my absence and delivered my "amenities" (which consisted of a small box of chocolates). Can't say I was impressed about this (as I had a laptop and a couple of other items in plain view), but decided not to say anything after a subsequent check of the room and belongings confirmed nothing amiss.

Breakfast in the lounge the next morning was pleasant - certainly quieter than the main restaurant - with a reasonable selection of items available from the buffet. My main criticism here is that across all 3 days and subsequent 3 breakfasts, none of the staff enquired or offered anything from the main restaurant below. You could ask for something - and it was efficiently organised for you - but unless you saw someone else doing it or took the initiative to request it yourself, you'd have no idea that it was even an option. I was really unimpressed that they were like seagulls onto a sick prawn in terms of validating that you were actually entitled to be in the lounge, but couldn't even offer a simple mention that if there was anything you wanted/needed from the main buffet downstairs that you could let them know and they'd arrange it.

After the first night, DejaBrew+1 decided she needed a blanket, so upon arriving back to the hotel on night 2, she rang down and requested one. After waiting for over 30 minutes, she gave up and met me down in the lounge for drinks/canapés. A while later, she briefly returned to the room to discover that once again, hotel staff had let themselves in and dropped off a blanket. This, despite the DND lamp being on. We had a bunch of things open and unsecured in the room, so she rang down to complain about it. Was given a spiel about how "...our manual dictates that we don't enter a room when the DND light is on." She advised them that clearly someone hasn't followed the process because they did indeed enter the room. For reference, the DND had been on all day and housekeeping had slipped the usual note under the door at 12:08pm advising that they were skipping our room out of respect for our request for privacy. Person on the other end of the phone said they'd discuss with the manager, but that was the last we heard of it.

On the second full day of our stay, we requested room cleaning and replacement of towels. This was all good, except that one of our towels was not replaced. DejaBrew+1 phoned down and the requisite towel arrived in 5 minutes flat. So a bit strange that a towel could be delivered in 5 minutes, whilst a blanket and a little box of chocolates needed over half an hour and an hour (respectively) in addition to hotel staff gaining access to the room in our absence (including whilst the DND light was on).

Requested a late checkout at the front desk as I was heading out to a dinner engagement the night prior to checkout and was offered 1pm, which I gladly accepted.

Above-mentioned grumbles aside, the stay was generally enjoyable, the room nice and spacious and most staff friendly and courteous. I left with mixed feelings in that a lovely stay was otherwise let down by some episodes of slow/no service and unexpected - and IMHO, completely unnecessary - room intrusions.

On a final note, I'm waiting to see how things pan out with the charge for the stay because as of right now, I have 3 separate charges on my AMEX, none of which add up to the expected cost of the stay (regardless of whether or not you factor in a $50 pre-auth for in-stay expenses).

 

[Daver6]

Property: Swissôtel Sydney
Status: Gold Plus
Room booked: Swiss Executive King Room w/ Exec Lounge Access, High Floor
Rate: Hotel Escape Sale - 3 nights, $912.80
Room Upgrade: No, more on this below
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: Yes, lounge or restaurant
Early check in / late out: Asked for latest possible checkout on a Saturday, was offered 1pm and gladly accepted.
Welcome drink: Yes x 2
Welcome Gift: Box of chocolates
Recommend: Yes, but not as wholeheartedly as I'd like to.

My first time staying at the hotel since they completed the renovations. Didn't get off to the most positive start. Arrived shortly before 4pm to be told by hotel reception that my room (2524) was not ready. I was initially asked to go to the exec lounge, but then she thought better of it and made a call to find out how long it would be before the room was ready. After hearing it would be at least another half hour, she arranged an alternate room for me (2425) and advised that "amenities" (which I assumed to have been the welcome gift) were in my original room and she'd have them delivered to the new room.

No idea if my originally-assigned room was an upgrade or not, but I ended up with the room category as per what I'd booked. I waited for over an hour for the "amenities" to be delivered, but eventually gave up and headed down to the lounge for drinks and canapés. For a self-proclaimed 5-star hotel, I think the canapés leave a bit to be desired. A small selection of cold meats, a couple of buffet salads, 3 cheeses with sides and a couple of cakes are all de rigueur, but party pies and chicken nuggies do not a 5-star hotel make IMHO. Overheard another guest lamenting how the lounge fare has gone significantly downhill since 2020. In their words, "...we used to get pieces of fish and other substantial offerings, but now? Now we've been reduced to party pies." I've also never seen the alcoholic drinks removed so quickly and precisely on the stroke of 6:30pm as in this hotel. I saw no evidence of anyone going nuts on the (limited) open self-pour drinks offerings, but you'd think they were protecting against a horde of raging alcoholics! At least this time they had the decency to advise guests that they were closing everything in 10 minutes' time (given the last time I stayed with lounge access, everything was secretly and speedily whipped away).

Arrived back in the room to discover hotel staff had entered in my absence and delivered my "amenities" (which consisted of a small box of chocolates). Can't say I was impressed about this (as I had a laptop and a couple of other items in plain view), but decided not to say anything after a subsequent check of the room and belongings confirmed nothing amiss.

Breakfast in the lounge the next morning was pleasant - certainly quieter than the main restaurant - with a reasonable selection of items available from the buffet. My main criticism here is that across all 3 days and subsequent 3 breakfasts, none of the staff enquired or offered anything from the main restaurant below. You could ask for something - and it was efficiently organised for you - but unless you saw someone else doing it or took the initiative to request it yourself, you'd have no idea that it was even an option. I was really unimpressed that they were like seagulls onto a sick prawn in terms of validating that you were actually entitled to be in the lounge, but couldn't even offer a simple mention that if there was anything you wanted/needed from the main buffet downstairs that you could let them know and they'd arrange it.

After the first night, DejaBrew+1 decided she needed a blanket, so upon arriving back to the hotel on night 2, she rang down and requested one. After waiting for over 30 minutes, she gave up and met me down in the lounge for drinks/canapés. A while later, she briefly returned to the room to discover that once again, hotel staff had let themselves in and dropped off a blanket. This, despite the DND lamp being on. We had a bunch of things open and unsecured in the room, so she rang down to complain about it. Was given a spiel about how "...our manual dictates that we don't enter a room when the DND light is on." She advised them that clearly someone hasn't followed the process because they did indeed enter the room. For reference, the DND had been on all day and housekeeping had slipped the usual note under the door at 12:08pm advising that they were skipping our room out of respect for our request for privacy. Person on the other end of the phone said they'd discuss with the manager, but that was the last we heard of it.

On the second full day of our stay, we requested room cleaning and replacement of towels. This was all good, except that one of our towels was not replaced. DejaBrew+1 phoned down and the requisite towel arrived in 5 minutes flat. So a bit strange that a towel could be delivered in 5 minutes, whilst a blanket and a little box of chocolates needed over half an hour and an hour (respectively) in addition to hotel staff gaining access to the room in our absence (including whilst the DND light was on).

Requested a late checkout at the front desk as I was heading out to a dinner engagement the night prior to checkout and was offered 1pm, which I gladly accepted.

Above-mentioned grumbles aside, the stay was generally enjoyable, the room nice and spacious and most staff friendly and courteous. I left with mixed feelings in that a lovely stay was otherwise let down by some episodes of slow/no service and unexpected - and IMHO, completely unnecessary - room intrusions.

On a final note, I'm waiting to see how things pan out with the charge for the stay because as of right now, I have 3 separate charges on my AMEX, none of which add up to the expected cost of the stay (regardless of whether or not you factor in a $50 pre-auth for in-stay expenses).

Your lounge experience mimics my thoughts from a stay there last year. I had no idea you could order breakfast items from the restaurant below. That would have made a huge difference to what I thought was a pretty average breakfast.

 

[RooFlyer]

Property: Novotel CDG (Roissypole)
Status: Accor Plus Plat
Room booked: Executive
Rate: Various, flexible
Room Upgrade: No.
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: No
Early check in / late out: Not requested
Welcome drink: Yes
Welcome Gift: Ha ha ha.
Recommend: Yes, for the purpose

I'm just completing my 5th stay here over the past 5 weeks (I'm using CDG as a hub), so I think I can speak pretty authoritatively about it.

Big attraction for me is that its connected to the atrium of the RER B 'CDG 1' station (45-55 mins to central Paris) and the T3 CGDVal train shuttle to terminals 1 and 2. That's very convenient; straight off the CDGVal and at reception in under 5 minutes. I used all 3 terminals in the course of my month here. CDGVal shuttles at least every 15 mins, probably 10. The TGV station is at T2

There is a supermarket at the station selling pre-prepared meals, snacks, pasties etc etc etc and even fresh-squeezed orange juice that you can take away in a 30, 50 or 100cl supplied bottles. I catered myself in-room a couple of times when I couldn't be bothered with the restaurant. Also a coffee shop at the station.

This is what my Executive room looked like on 4/5 stays - on the 6th (top) floor, overlooking the RER atrium, not the runways. It was quiet.





The loo is in a separate very small space, off where you enter from the corridor. Then there is a door between the entry space and the main room, so this extra door I think keeps corridor noise out. USB-A plugs and European power plugs scattered round the room, incl at the desk. The aircon works reasonably well (it was hot while I was in Paris). A complimentary mini bar of juice, coke and sprite (and bottled water).

Keycard is used to turn on power and aircon-but any old Accor card seems to do it, so can keep it on all day of needs be.

On my final (current stay), my preferred RER-facing 6th floor exec rooms weren't available as I arrived late, so I was assigned an exec room on the 5th floor. Strangely it didn't have a desk and was right next to the lifts, so I downgraded myself to a standard room, and its almost identical, except for no minibar and a chair rather than a lounge - but it has a desk!!

A really good thing is that they are happy to store bags for extended periods if you are returning. They offered 10 days at one time that I didn't use, but did storm my large bag there for 5 days when I went away again.

Negatives: No Plat recognition - not even a 'thank you for your loyalty' at check-in 3 or 4 of the times. Check-in staff inexperienced half the time - but no disasters. Waits to check-in can be a queue of 2-3 people deep and might take a while. The restaurant can get very busy and one time I was asked to wait 10 mins due to lack of staff. I didn't wait.

There is a Pullman and an Ibis Styles the other side of the RER station, maybe 5 mins walk. That's probably a better option, but not quite as convenient and of course more expensive.