jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Ibis London Elstree Borehamwood

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Standard (all they have)

- How are the rooms? Normal Ibis type room, comfy enough and plenty of room. Bathrooms as normal the size of a toilet on a train but do the job.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:Convenient, decent and clean

Bad: No status recognition

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes, used points plus top up cash for the two nights. Have paid as little as Ł25 here a night.

jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Mercure Tunbridge Wells

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Classic, no upgrade.

- How are the rooms? Fine

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:Check-in and out was quick. Bar manager very pleasant and good at his job (assume he is manager). Free drink due to long delay in food coming out.

Bad: This time no status recognition, no upgrade or free drink. Free drink given by bar for delay appeared on bill but receptionist on check-out was same as night before and she remembered and took it straight off (so that should appear in the good bit).

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes, very convenient to one of my work sites. Not cheap but not much is in the area.

jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Ibis Reading

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes apart from being ignored later on (see bad)

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Standard (only type)

- How are the rooms? Fine, normal Ibis type in good order and clean.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:Status recognition with a drinks voucher. Quick check-n and out.

Bad:Being ignored at bar for ten minutes (only using free drinks voucher) while 3 members of staff checking in 2 people. Did receive an apology from the staff and also the manager on my tripadvisor review so happy with the reactions to that.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes, one of the cheaper options in the area though i would attempt to get in the Novotel next door or the Mercure round the corner price permitting.

Additional - no parking but check for overnight parking at multi-storeys. Used one 5 mins walk away for about Ł3.50 for overnight so not too bad.

jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Mercure Cardiff Centre

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes, for the price

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Classic (only one type)

- How are the rooms? Fine, large enough, better than an Ibis but not quite as good as a Mercure room should be. Decent bathrooms.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good: Status recognition with a free drink voucher. 10 min walk from central cardiff (though a pain in the .... getting across the main road when busy). Staff have improved greatly here, as in the past had been surly and rude.

Bad: Quality of breakfast isn't very good and more Ibis than Mercure.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes

jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Ibis Plymouth

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Standard (no others)

- How are the rooms? Hotel has separate reception/restaurant from the actual bedroom building. Chalet type rooms on two floors with individual doors either opening onto an external balcony walkway or onto the car park (if ground floor car park side). Very dated rooms and bathrooms.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good: Staff are very good, food was pretty good for an Ibis and also received a free drinks voucher.

Bad: Apart from rooms nothing although finding the place was difficult with sat-nav as it tries to take you down the road the hotel is from the east which is closed off for roadworks so as long as you go back on main road and head west for one junction and head towards retail park it is easily found.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes, if my normal Best Western options in the area aren't available or too expensive, although for the price i paid which i thought was quite expensive i would consider staying elsewhere if i could.

jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Mercure Hatfield Oak

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Standard and upgraded to Executive (only tow types i think)

- How are the rooms? In good order and the bedroom itself very large with seating area.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good: Status recognition with the upgrade and a free drinks voucher. Bowl of fruit in room. Very good staff on reception and bar.

Bad: N/A

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Regularly stay here with work on half board deal which can be very good value for money. On this occasion was pre flight from Stansted and used 2000 points and paid a massive Ł8.95 in addition. The free glass of wine almost covered the price i paid.

jonhall

- Name of the hotel:Ibis Styles London Leyton

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Standard (only Standard) though this was better quality than this hotels normal rooms as i think they have started updating the rooms a bit?

- How are the rooms? Fine, looked reasonably new and modern.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:Free drinks voucher, decent wi-fi and helpful and polite staff.

Bad: Now charging for parking. Breakfast is free but very limited. Could do with a proper bar not just a fridge for drinks. No food in evening so if you aren't going into central London you have to go out though enough choice in the immediate area to go to.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Decent price for London but not for the quality of the hotel but yes i would return as it is a very convenient 5 min drive to my local depot.

Additional - hotel is split into two buildings either side of road, which can be very busy. They do have a car park for each building so at least you can park in whichever side you get allocated.

jonhall

- Name of the hotel: Novotel Coventry (M6 - just off the M6 motorway)

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Standard and received Standard (they do have Superior)

- How are the rooms? Fine but a little outdated. Normal layout with bathroom and toilet separate.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good: Free drinks voucher, good staff, not being charged for the car park even though it says you do pay (maybe recognition of status?). Food was decent quality.

Bad: Worlds noisiest and slowest lift?

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes, but usually stay more in Central Birmingham but is an option for the future (first time here)

jonhall

Fully up to date on visits - phew.

Goldorak

- Name of the hotel: Novotel Paris 17 (porte d'Asničres)

- What is your Le Club status?
Platinum

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
globally no, but they have some excuses (hotel under complete renovation).
I live in Paris, so it's only in "extraordinary" circumstances that I have to stay in a hotel in Paris. I needed one night in a hotel and the fares were extremely high in Paris for everything upper than Ibis. So I choose the Novotel Porte d'Asničres, which was one of the "cheapest" (but still 170 Euros) and was convenient for me in term of location (please note that this hotel is only an option if you have a car or if you want to use taxis as it is located in one of the very rare place of Paris very far from any metro station). When I booked on Accor web site, from all the list of proposed hotels, I accessed directly the type of rooms available and booked my room. I didn't see that the hotel was starting a complete renovation, otherwise I would have never booked it because it means degraded conditions. I discovered the renovation arriving at the hotel. I checked thereafter on the hotel page info on Accor web site, and the renovation was clearly mentioned, so they are not hiding it at all. But, again, when you book without going to the detailed hotel info, there is never any mention of that kind.
I was informed of the renovation by the checkin agent. Check-in was very rapid. She explained me that all bar/restaurant were transferred in a temporary place on the 1st floor. I was given the drink voucher without needing to ask.

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked classic room and that's what I received. A dummy booking on arrival showed that the hotel was fully booked (for what it means when only a certain number of rooms is left available for booking during a renovation).

- How are the rooms?
Classic Novotel-style room but a bit bigger than what I was used for at Novotel. Separate toilets

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- typical Novotel room that you expect
- very nice, efficient and professional staff (at check-in/out, bar, room service)
- very rapid delivery of room service
- the drink voucher allows you full bar selection, including Champagne
- underground parking is free for guests

Bad:
- hotel in complete renovation and so with all what's bad with it when the hotel remains open : temporary bar & restaurant, limited menu at restaurant and was the same for room service.
- old shower curtain, very dirty (yellowish/orange) in the lower part. Not very pleasant.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Not applicable

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Again, living in Paris, no chance that I return there. Otherwise, I would say that after a complete renovation, this hotel will surely be nice. As said before, the staff was really good.
I filled the satisfaction survey that you receive by e-mail after the stay. I received a few days later a response from the GM apologizing for the inconveniences. He was saying that they subcontract housekeeping to an external company and that they were happy of their services but, seeing my remark about the bathroom, they still have some progress to make.

IMH

Grand Mercure Bowral (Accor Vacation Club Apartments), Bowral, NSW, Australia

The property consists of 26 apartments, spread over two levels, at one end of “Heritage Park”. Heritage Park’s other buildings are a mix of “villas” and apartments, some owner-occupied and some managed as part of timeshare schemes. The Mercure/AVC units appear to be in the early stages of rebranding as the “Sebel Bowral Heritage Park”.

What is your Le Club status?
Platinum.

Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
We booked and got a “studio apartment” with king bed.

How are the rooms?
The studio apartments are the smallest units but still offer plenty of space. Furniture included a simple dining table with two chairs and a coffee table with two easy chairs. The kitchen had a kettle, fridge, sink, dishwasher and combination oven/microwave. There were (just) enough glasses, crockery and cutlery, as well as dishes for salads etc..

What was good and what was bad?
Good: Laundry room at the end of the block with washing machine and tumble dryer. Free to use; detergent also available free of charge. (Larger apartments come with their own washers and dryers.)
Decent TV with good range of Australian channels including some in HD – the set had a standard satellite or cable feed rather than a proprietary hotel system.

Less good: The property does not have a bar or restaurant, so cannot offer drinks vouchers or dining discounts.

Value for money? Would you return?
Reasonable value (229 AUD per night on our dates in July 2014). Significantly better in every way than the tiny, cold room (without a wardrobe or single drawer that we spent a night in at “Biota” across the road. We’d return if we had a reason to be back in this area.

IMH

Sofitel Melbourne on Collins

What is your Le Club status?
Platinum.

Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
We were content with almost everything except the lounge policy. But no more than content.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a “classic” king and received a corner “luxury” room on floor 36.

How are the rooms?
Our room was pleasant with lots of natural light (facing more or less north, with windows on two sides). The room itself was large enough but there was very little storage space: nowhere for shoes and nowhere to store suitcases. The (small) wardrobe only had room for two or three jackets/shirts because it was already rather full (ironing board, towelling bathrobes, micro-safe).

What was good and what was bad?

Good: We were given a small plate of fruit on the evening of day 1.
Less good: The fruit plate was removed on day 2 before we had time to finish it.

Bad: No lounge access. Very flaky WLAN, completely unusable from our room. Decent HD TV being fed a poor quality, low definition signal (impossible to identify players or read their shirt numbers).

Did you get lounge access?
No. At the time we booked, Accor had started promoting lounge access as a new Platinum benefit and the Melbourne Sofitel had nothing on its website to indicate that it would not be following the new policy. Advising the hotel of this in advance didn’t cut any ice and an online message to Accor produced two contradictory and unhelpful responses (Response 1: the hotel is part of Le Club and grants all Platinum benefits; response 2: no club access in Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney).

Value for money? Would you return
Value was reasonable at around 225 AUD, but bear in mind that this was a non-refundable rate booked several months in advance. Would we return to a Sofitel that does not grant full Platinum benefits? No. Especially not in a city with so many other options.

IMH

Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

What is your Le Club status?
Platinum.

Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
No. This is a Sofitel that definitely doesn’t deserve the “luxury hotel” label that the brand claims for itself.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a “classic” room and received a “luxury” room on a high floor, but this is one of those properties where you need to read the room descriptions to find out what the (minimal) differences between room categories are.

How are the rooms?
On the small side. Tired. Our room didn’t get any sun at any time of the day.

What was good and what was bad?
Good: Front desk staff were friendly and efficient.

Bad:

• No lounge access.
• High def television being fed with a distinctly low def signal.
• The safe door was slow to open/close and didn’t always make it. Despite two reports and one set of new batteries the problem continued.
• Housekeeping tried too hard to ‘restore order’. (No, we’re not going to buy your $9 bottled water -- so please don’t put it back on my bedside table every day!)

Did you get lounge access?
No. At the time we booked, Accor had started promoting lounge access as a Platinum benefit and the Sofitel Sydney had nothing on its website to say it would not be following the new policy. Advising the hotel of this in advance didn’t cut any ice and an online message to Accor produced contradictory and unhelpful responses.

Value for money? Would you return
We paid nightly rates between 212 and 228 AUD for a non-refundable stay booked months in advance. That was okay. We would not return, partly because of the lounge access issue but mainly because it just isn’t a particularly good hotel. We liked the Mercure on George Street, where we stayed the following week, much better -- which isn't something one should really be able to say about a Sofitel.

IMH

Mercure Sydney, 818-820 George St.

What is your Le Club status?
Platinum.

Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes, very.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a “superior city view” room and got a one-level upgrade to a “privilege” room –basically the same thing but on a high floor (13) and with a pod espresso machine.

How are the rooms?
Larger than expected. Ours got sunlight and was pleasantly bright -- but had excellent blinds to block out direct sun when necessary and black out the room at night.

What was good and what was bad?

Good:

• Friendly and efficient front desk.
• Upgrade and drinks voucher provided without needing to ask.
• Newspaper delivered as promised every morning. (I know, I know... it’s the little things.)
• The fridge had space for a bottle or two of wine in addition to the minibar items.
• The downstairs bar: friendly staff and a decent range of draft beers.

Bad Nothing.

Value for money? Would you return?
This is a conveniently located hotel that does what it says on the packet. We’d happily return.

jamar

- Name of the hotel: Novotel Koshien Osaka West

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

- Were you happy with the hotel/stay?

We were OK with it, but not happy. Not as nice as other Novotels I've stayed at.

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?

Booked a "Moderate Triple" and that was exactly what we got.

- How are the rooms?

Functional and clean, but a bit neglected.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:

Very spacious compared to the average Japanese hotel room

All three beds were double-size and comfortable

Rail station only three minutes' walk from the hotel, roughly 15 minutes to Osaka main station if you catch an express train

Bad:

The lobby had a sign stating a WiFi SSID and password. Apparently this is only for the lobby, since we had no signal after we left it. There is one LAN jack and cord in the room, so I had to set up my laptop as a hotspot for my sister's laptop, my iPad, etc.

Only three open AC outlets in the whole room (that I could find) including the razor outlet in the bathroom, and not including the outlet the tea kettle is attached to. Not enough for three people's phones, laptops, and an iPad

The corners of the carpet were coming up in places. Not in places anyone could've tripped on, thankfully, but places like near the nightstand, where it was pulled up to plug in lights into AC outlets located in the floor, which kinda ties into the above problem.

Room looked and felt like a cheap-ish motel room. Kind of hard to describe, just a general "outdated" feel about the place.

Language barrier at check-in, lack of perks. The person working the desk barely spoke English, and when I presented my Platinum card and asked about a possible room upgrade or other perks, I was told "points only" until I tried asking him again with some rather broken, Google Translate-y Japanese, which resulted in welcome drink vouchers but nothing else. I would've assumed it was a lack of space in upgraded rooms and some other issue preventing late check-out were it not for the earlier "points only" comment.

Breakfast selection looked quite limited. There was probably half or two-thirds of what I found at other Novotels, and when we went in to look at 9AM we were told that whatever we saw was all there would be because they weren't going to replenish anything "so close to closing". For 2k yen we didn't go for it.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? N/A

I don't think they have one, but I'm not entirely sure.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?

Not entirely sure it was worth it. I'd do it again during a point bonus event if I needed a triple room as well as points accumulation/elite qualification, but my mom (the trip to Osaka was intended as a birthday gift to her) and sister certainly didn't think it was worth the 16k yen/night it cost.