Therein's the rub. Programs (plural).

With perhaps an exception here or there, every Accor chain seems to have its own program, and how they work vary widely from each other.

I only have experience with dumpy Red Roof's RediCard, and it's not much: You get nothing if you don't stay 10+ times within the required period (a year or two or something like that), and then you only get a night at another dumpy Red Roof or a teeny weeny amount of miles with one airline (Delta) only.

If I stay at a Red Roof, then a Motel 6, then a Sofitel, then an Ibis, then a Mercure, then a Novotel, then a Studio 6, it's all for nought, as each one will have a separate program (if any) and I won't get enough in any one program for it to do any good at all.

With programs that I can't stay in often enough, I only consider them if I can earn miles DIRECTLY on one stay. Then I earn miles and forget about the rest of the program.

(From an EARNING perspective, you can apparently earn miles directly at both Sofitel and Novotel. But from a PERKS perspective, you apparently have to do lots of stays at Sofitel and Sofitel alone to get there, and it's no good at Novotel since it doesn't have the same loyalty program.)

Otherwise, I might as well not care whether I choose a property that has a program versus one that doesn't. (Properties without programs are often cheaper in many locations, tho of course if it's a business trip that may not be your personal concern .) You need to consider the cost of "upgrading yourself" (by reserving a better room) at a less expensive non-affliated property versus the cost of getting an upgradeable room at an affiliated property.