How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

[SnowGoose]

Property: Fairmont Doha
Status: Diamond
Room booked: Fairmont King city view
Room upgraded/type: Same room but with balcony... which was closed for maintenance
Rate: Flexi $340
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: As diamond
Early check in/late out: Early check in not required. Offered 2pm check out, pushed for 3pm and granted
Welcome drink: In app, not used

A very average stay. The person at check in rushed through the whole process and it was only once i'd reached my room that i realised he hadn't mentioned breakfast details, or any of the other various 'lay of the land' formalities for that matter. Not that i would have heard him anyway, since there was a shameless shouting match going on right next to me between a disgruntled guest and who i can only assume was the duty manager. Perhaps he also hadn't had breakfast explained to him. The rooms are extravagant, however i found myself spending as much time figuring out all the bells and whistles as i did actually enjoying them. Same goes for the facilities. I got lost on several occasions, trying to find the indoor pool, and then on my way out finding the lifts again. Breakfast is as you'd imagine... extravagant, and probably the highlight.

During check in, i was presented with a waiver to sign for use of my balcony. Oh great, i thought, at least it's some indication of an upgrade. But then upon entering my room...



Not that anyone would wish to spend any time on a balcony at this time of year in Doha.

The next morning i woke to find my CC i'd used to guarantee the booking had been charged overnight, meaning i'd been charged twice over 2 different cards. When i approached the front desk to address the situation i was told they were aware of it and had already issued a refund, which would take up to 2 weeks to reflect. No explanation, no apologies.

Lucky it was only a 1 night stay. Next time i think i will try the Mondrian.

 

[jase05]

Property: Fairmont Doha
Status: Diamond
Room booked: Fairmont King city view
Room upgraded/type: Same room but with balcony... which was closed for maintenance
Rate: Flexi $340
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: As diamond
Early check in/late out: Early check in not required. Offered 2pm check out, pushed for 3pm and granted
Welcome drink: In app, not used

A very average stay. The person at check in rushed through the whole process and it was only once i'd reached my room that i realised he hadn't mentioned breakfast details, or any of the other various 'lay of the land' formalities for that matter. Not that i would have heard him anyway, since there was a shameless shouting match going on right next to me between a disgruntled guest and who i can only assume was the duty manager. Perhaps he also hadn't had breakfast explained to him. The rooms are extravagant, however i found myself spending as much time figuring out all the bells and whistles as i did actually enjoying them. Same goes for the facilities. I got lost on several occasions, trying to find the indoor pool, and then on my way out finding the lifts again. Breakfast is as you'd imagine... extravagant, and probably the highlight.

During check in, i was presented with a waiver to sign for use of my balcony. Oh great, i thought, at least it's some indication of an upgrade. But then upon entering my room...

View attachment 463705

Not that anyone would wish to spend any time on a balcony at this time of year in Doha.

The next morning i woke to find my CC i'd used to guarantee the booking had been charged overnight, meaning i'd been charged twice over 2 different cards. When i approached the front desk to address the situation i was told they were aware of it and had already issued a refund, which would take up to 2 weeks to reflect. No explanation, no apologies.

Lucky it was only a 1 night stay. Next time i think i will try the Mondrian.

That’s sounds really poor. We have stayed there a couple of times and was told at check in the first time that Diamonds get automatic upgrades to a suite on the Gold level and both times this did happen as promised. The Gold lounge has has some great food and beverages. We spent most of our time at the Gold pool and there was only ever a couple o people using it whereas the normal pool got quite busy at times. Sounds like a real poor experience as you should get a dedicated concierge who will walk you around the property and show you everything whilst your bags are being taken up. Even though we had stayed previously she still insisted that some things may have changed and walked us through it all again. Even though our preference is the Raffles I still couldn’t really fault much at our Fairmont stays but disappointing to hear of your experience nonetheless

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Property: ibis Styles Frankfurt City
Status: Accor+Platinum
Room booked: Standard Room with One Double Bed
Room upgraded/type: Not Applicable
Rate: STAY LONGER AND SAVE RATE (61 EUR/night incl city tax)
Free internet: Yes (albeit very spotty)
Free Breakfast: No (we're in Europe)
Early check in/late out: No problems checking in at 2:30 PM the day of and was granted late check out of 2 PM on the day of checkout without any pushback.
Welcome drink: Paper voucher used in bar on last day for two drinks.

As some of you are probably aware this Kangaroo has recently received an offer to do a PostDoc in Germany, and so my partner and I flew over to Frankfurt ahead of the start to get everything setup (i.e. apartments, bank accounts, etc.)

Since we didn't have an apartment when arriving in Germany, we chose to stay at inexpensive Accor properties near Frankfurt Hbf as some of the properties were charging as little as 50 EUR/night which is a great deal for stays longer than a couple of days. For the first 5 days we chose to stay at the ibis Styles Frankfurt City as it was the cheapest option available at time of booking (literally a week before we were supposed to fly over).

For an ibis Styles, I must stay it's a very decent (albeit basic) hotel with plenty of room to store the 4 large checked bags we had plus our various carry on bags. The room had a desk & chair, which I should note many ibis properties don't:



The aforementioned desk with the various instant coffee and teas available:


The shower itself whilst basic wasn't the worst ibis shub I've encountered:




Not pictured here was the metallic shutters which could be activated through a lever on the side wall which shut out all light - an unexpected benefit.

Would I stay at this Accor property again? At this price? Absolutely! It's located very close to the Hbf (main train station) which makes it easy to get to the various places we need for an apartment search.

-RooFlyer88

 

[SnowGoose]

That’s sounds really poor. We have stayed there a couple of times and was told at check in the first time that Diamonds get automatic upgrades to a suite on the Gold level and both times this did happen as promised. The Gold lounge has has some great food and beverages. We spent most of our time at the Gold pool and there was only ever a couple o people using it whereas the normal pool got quite busy at times. Sounds like a real poor experience as you should get a dedicated concierge who will walk you around the property and show you everything whilst your bags are being taken up. Even though we had stayed previously she still insisted that some things may have changed and walked us through it all again. Even though our preference is the Raffles I still couldn’t really fault much at our Fairmont stays but disappointing to hear of your experience nonetheless

Damn, seems i caught them on a very bad day. I did check out the Gold pool and it was a nice space but just unbearably hot, even in the small amount of shade. I'm sure it would be enjoyable in the cooler months.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Property: Fairmont Doha
Status: Diamond
Room booked: Fairmont King city view
Room upgraded/type: Same room but with balcony... which was closed for maintenance
Rate: Flexi $340
Free internet: Yes
Free Breakfast: As diamond
Early check in/late out: Early check in not required. Offered 2pm check out, pushed for 3pm and granted
Welcome drink: In app, not used

A very average stay. The person at check in rushed through the whole process and it was only once i'd reached my room that i realised he hadn't mentioned breakfast details, or any of the other various 'lay of the land' formalities for that matter. Not that i would have heard him anyway, since there was a shameless shouting match going on right next to me between a disgruntled guest and who i can only assume was the duty manager. Perhaps he also hadn't had breakfast explained to him. The rooms are extravagant, however i found myself spending as much time figuring out all the bells and whistles as i did actually enjoying them. Same goes for the facilities. I got lost on several occasions, trying to find the indoor pool, and then on my way out finding the lifts again. Breakfast is as you'd imagine... extravagant, and probably the highlight.

During check in, i was presented with a waiver to sign for use of my balcony. Oh great, i thought, at least it's some indication of an upgrade. But then upon entering my room...

View attachment 463705

Not that anyone would wish to spend any time on a balcony at this time of year in Doha.

The next morning i woke to find my CC i'd used to guarantee the booking had been charged overnight, meaning i'd been charged twice over 2 different cards. When i approached the front desk to address the situation i was told they were aware of it and had already issued a refund, which would take up to 2 weeks to reflect. No explanation, no apologies.

Lucky it was only a 1 night stay. Next time i think i will try the Mondrian.

If this is the treatment a Diamond gets I’d hate to hear what Limitless members get. But overall that does seem like a suboptimal experience.

I think some might be curious to see what the lounge and room look like, particularly if one wants to “roll the dice” and stay here

-RooFlyer88

 

[DejaBrew]

Property: Ibis Sydney World Square
Status: Accor Plus Gold
Room booked: Superior Room (1 King Bed)
Rate: Accor Plus Stay Longer & Save Rate ($693 for 3 nights)
Room upgraded/type: No
Free internet: Yes
Free breakfast: No
Early check in/late out: Yes, late checkout requested and offered till midday.
Welcome drink: Yes, via app.
Welcome amenity: Yes, 2 complimentary Sydney Brewery Dark Lagers in the mini fridge.
Parking: None on-site, however there is parking at nearby World Square at a cost of $55 for a 24 hour pass (limited to one entry/exit only).
Recommend: Yes, if you're after a basic and cheap(er) stay in the CBD.

Second time staying at this hotel. Far from my first choice, but the price was hard to argue given I needed to stay in the CBD for 3 nights and all other CBD-located Accor properties were almost twice the price for the same dates. Hotel is 2 blocks from the Bathurst Street entrance to Gadigal Metro Station and 1 block away from the Chinatown Light Rail stop. Staff were friendly, but there was no recognition of status or membership to ALL+ at the front desk. There was a note on the desk and some complimentary beers in the fridge, but I didn't actually notice the note until the day I was checking out and therefore didn't realise until that point that the beers were complimentary. Stayed in room 1603 (which I'm pretty sure is the exact same room I had for my previous stay).

Pros:

• Clean room with all the basics (i.e. typical Ibis)
• Decent Wi-Fi
• In-room microwave
• Proper shower

Cons:

• Walls are thin so it's not unusual to hear noise from adjoining rooms or the hallway
• A/C was locked and I couldn't work out the override. Was stuck at 23 degrees for the first couple of days, but on the day of checkout, decided to lock itself to 29 degrees
• Hotel only supplies bath towels, bath mat and face washers, but no hand towels
• Shower was tiny and leaked courtesy of the shower door not closing properly.