How does Accor treat you as an Elite guest?

[jase05]

Property: Pullman Adelaide
Status: All Accor Explorer Diamond
Room booked: Superior King
Room upgraded/type: Yes, Junior Suite
Rate: RHR $169/night
Early check in/late out: 12pm checkin, 3pm checkout
Free internet: Yes
Free breakfast: Yes, standard spread
Welcome drink: 2x spirits at bar
Welcome amenity: Small bottle of Pinot Grigio and delicious chocolate cake.
Recommend: Yes, don’t mind it there.

Finished 2025 and started 2026 with a 2 night stay at the Pullman. Have stayed here many times and done many reviews but it’s one of those places that whilst not the best property in town it’s comfortable, staff are great and you know what you are going to get. Just a solid option and pretty well priced.
Arrived at around 12 and we’re just going to drop off our stuff, head to lunch and then check in later but were told we had received the usual upgrade to a junior suite and that it was ready now which was great. Room is clean and comfortable although I do think calling it a suite is a bit of a long bow. Nicely located on the corner with a small balcony but was very windy at the time. Bed is comfortable and room temperature settings importantly are easy and efficient.
First night we had dinner at Parc restaurant, food and service was good plus Accor plus discount proactively applied. EL is pretty small and only has a few basic dishes but staff are great and drinks proactively topped up and orders taken and served quickly. Lounge did get quite full but still fine. Weekends breakfast can also be had in the EL as well as Parc but as it was midweek then the restaurant was the only option. A slight change from previous visits where this time we received breakfast cards marked “Diamond” that are presented at the restaurant. I did question what the Diamond benefits were as I thought maybe it was Barista coffees or something but was told it was purely for seating purposes. The breakfast area can be a bit of a zoo and sometimes I’ve seen patrons told to wait 5-10 minutes for a free table but apparently they had some complaints and they now keep some tables clear for Diamonds so no queuing is required. On New Year’s Day the restaurant was packed but we were seating immediately. Staff are great throughout the property and whilst the hotel is not as good as the Sofitel I think the staff are far better.
We normally have about a dozen or so nights per year there and it’s still as solid as ever

 

[Captain Halliday]

Property: Fairmont YVR
Status: All Accor Explorer Platinum
Room booked: 2 Queen
Room upgraded/type: Yes, Deluxe 2 Queen with breakfast.
Rate: Member rate prepaid (about a week out, cancelling higher priced flex rate) CAD366.
Early check in/late out: Early check-in not required. 5pm checkout.
Free internet: Yes
Free breakfast: No. see notes
Welcome drink: one per guest.
Welcome amenity: Fruit plate.
Recommend: Only if you’re prepared to pay the premium for the only hotel actually at the airport.

Mixed views on this stay.

Upgrade showed in app ~24 hours before checkin and request for runway views was granted. Upgrade was a higher floor and Nespresso machine.

Staff member checking me in didn’t seem on the ball. No explanation of hotel facilities, nor time and place for breakfast. Therefore I didn’t ask about late checkout.

Returned later and requested late checkout. Was asked my flight time (8pm) and was granted 2pm checkout. Also told to check again the next morning “being Christmas Day it’s not busy. I’m sure we can bump it out a bit further.”

Next morning was granted 5PM checkout.

Plane spotting guide in the room was a nice touch.

Welcome drinks were valid for any item on the bar menu except double-pours and full bottles of wine . Three glasses of the top shelf champagne which was listed as CAD45 seemed like good value.

Being Christmas Eve the restaurant was not doing a la carte. After tax would have been ~600 for the three of us. Pass.

Dinner menu in the bar looked pretty good and we selected items that were in highlighted boxes. Only after requesting them were we told they were unavailable because the kitchen was doing a buffet. Plan B was to share a couple of entrees with Mrs H. Miss H had a burger.

The hotel only does a la carte breakfast and it turned out that the breakfast included with the room was actually a CAD90 credit. Not a lot for 3 guests when most items were ~CAD28, juice was CAD8 and coffee CAD7. Plus tax. Servings were small and the “bacon” was just warmed ham. Pretty poor overall.

Unlike AU properties which generally take a small deposit then full payment at checkout, this property took full payment plus CAD100 at checkin. Then, other charges hit my credit card after dinner and breakfast (amounts beyond the deposit). At checkout I was then charged the whole folio amount a second time. The charges in excess of the deposit are still showing as “pending” on my card a week after checking. Fingers crossed it doesn’t become a drama.

Overall: Spending the day in Vancouver didn’t seem viable because it was Christmas Day and everything was closed. In this context the 5pm checkout was a huge benefit. The drink voucher was also generous, but everything else seemed pretty lacklustre, especially for a Fairmont.