starflyergold

Being the ever adventurous traveller I decided to go for something different on a recent visit to Brussels and chose the Pullman Brussels Mid.



The hotel is conveniently located towering over the Midi station building. Opened last year it still in parts had that new hotel smell. Train/metro/airport connections are obviously excellent, the neighbourhood decidedly not so. Plenty of pan-handling going on and many drunks are in the immediate vicinity.

Check in:
Done at a round reception desk (odd and not convenient) the staff checked me in swiftly. Nobody asked about Le Club Accorhotels and when I inquired if an upgrade was possible I was told they don't upgrade further than deluxe rooms. I asked to speak to a manager assuming there is some confusion. Second staff member came up with another version: the only two suites are not available. Hmm great welcome! I took my key and proceeded to the room I had booked.

Room:
The room was bright and airy in a modern clean white design. Kind size bed, large seating area with table. Free mini bar with some soft-drinks and free wifi for all guests. This hotel was the first Pullman to receive the new Pullman Connectivity system which allows you to stream your personal content from mobile devices to the TV which is nifty if a bit slow. Internet speeds are 1.73Mbps. Not bad but not lightening either.



Bathroom was decent size and had a separate toilet and a tub (no separate shower).



A welcome gift of sorts was in the room but this is standard for deluxe rooms anyway. Nothing special for status customers, no personal welcome note either.

Once I logged on I did have a quick check on the Accor website if the staff were telling me the truth about upgrade availability and of course not just one but two rooms were available for sale. So they could have upgraded me after all. Armed with the information I went back to ask for the GM but he was "not available" and the front desk manager insisted the Accor website was wrong. Not impressed! I wonder what would have happened had I booked one of those rooms.

Small aside: Never ever choose black carpets for the hallways, every speck of dirt was visible and vacuuming does not seem to happen all that often.

I mentioned this nonsense to Accor via twitter and was told on the following day that someone would contact me (not the GM unfortunately).

Food/beverage:
Room service can be ordered via the Connectivity system.

Prices are not exorbitant but all orders come with a budget busting tray charge of €8.

Breakfast was nothing special: runny scrambled eggs (not cooked to order) and some cold options. On the first morning they were obviously not expecting many guests and only a section of 10 tables were available for guests which felt cramped. I asked for a newspaper which was delivered (NYT).



When leaving the restaurant the staff ran after me demanding the paper back! Incredible, a four star hotel and no free newspapers to be had anywhere. The staff attitude was akin to me stealing the family silver! I was fuming.

On return later that day a note was waiting in my room announcing that an upgrade was now possible. Normally I would not have bothered any longer after all the misinformation but as this is a new hotel my curiosity won the day.

The mini-suite is only marginally larger and obviously in 2 rooms. The bathroom was much better and had a walk in shower.

In the middle of the night the aircon started to blow only superheated air which was extremely uncomfortable. As windows cannot be opened it took quite some time to cool down again after knocking the aircon off.

Verdict:

This hotel doesn't give a damn about Le Club Accorhotel or status. Information is contradictory at best (and I'm being charitable here) and staff never once acknowledged that guests have a choice or that they value those who give Accor their business. Making a spectacle over a newspaper was just the icing on a rather crappy cake.

The hotel and rooms are fine and if you could put then in a better location and get properly trained staff I might consider it but as it stands I will never return to this property.

Epilogue:

Some FlyerTalkers may sometime get the impression I'm an apologist for Accor. This is not the case. If they get it right they can be spectacular (Sofitel Vienna for example) but boy if they get it wrong, as in this case, I really wonder why I bother. The entire stay was a disgrace and this property requires a visit from the Accor loyalty hit squad and some serious retraining.


Update 8 March 2014: The hotel has been in touch today, apologised and promised re-training and an "action plan" to address the issues raised in this review. We also agreed that the next time I'm in town we'll talk about the guest experience in greater detail. An appropriate gesture by way of compensation was also made.

Goldorak

I could not agree more with you. My last 4 stays (Pullman Montpellier Antigone, Sofitel Phnom Penh / Angkor / Saigon) were outstanding in all aspects , while the one just before (Mercure St Malo front de mer) was a complete shame for everything related to Le Club / loyalty
Inconsistency is the key problem at Accor, but as you said, when they get it right...waouhhh

BTW, thank you Starflyergold for this nice review !

nicolas75

Indeed.

Thank you for your report.

How Accor can accept such a poor implementation of the Le Club program?

starflyergold

My pleasure ^

flyertalker00143

very surprising attitude especially from a Pullman hotel

most of them are new, staff is generally well trained, they have dedicated staff that does not exist at other hotels (the welcomer)

and Le Club benefits are always well implemented with Pullman...

stayed recently in some properties including a Pullman, and i really felt pampered...

starflyergold

This was only my second stay at a Pullman, the first stay (Pullman Changwon Korea) wasn't much better.

gilbertaue

Come come... Join me at the pullman in jkt, KL, wuxi or Xiamen.. I promise better

virtualaris

Do you mean Pullman Jakarta Central Park or Pullman Jakarta Thamrin ?

I've stayed in Pullman Central Park; and all of my three rooms were upgraded one level to the Club floor; includes all club benefits. ^^^

Have u ever stayed in Pullman Thamrin ? Planning to stay there next month.

ZenWorld

Excellent review and good job on the Hotel Wiki!

I will be staying in Grand Ambassador Associated Pullman so next month, so perhaps I can report on that.

I think with the new Le Club Elite Program, there are much more things to write about, for Elites. And yes, you are spot on that when they get their Elite Recognition right, Accor is very competitive, like my experience in Sofitel So Bangkok. However, it is still hit and miss so far in Accor.

And I have yet to hear a proper explanation till today from anyone in Accor on why my Platinum Guarantee of Room availability of 48 hours (I used my Accor Platinum Status to request for the room availability more than 1 month before the arrival date!), and the hotel in question is a Sofitel, and the reason for the request is a special occasion, and the date is not a blackout date. And I have written to the hotel, Accor Concierge here, spoken to my local contact centre and Accor Advantage Plus manager, with both the Regional HQ and the Paris HQ's customer service all notified, and I have not heard an official explanation why I cannot get a room from anyone.

I good elite loyal programs need to have a strong recovery procedure as a complete system, as we will be assured in unlikely events if things go wrong, the recovery system will set things right and ensure the guests stay loyal.

camsean

Thanks for the review. The stay sounds awful.

I would have died of embarrassment if staff came running out of a restaurant screaming for their newspapaer

gilbertaue

Central Park pak.. Never stayed at the pullman thamrin and won't until the exec lounge is Ready..

IMH

Thanks for a useful if somewhat depressing report, starflyergold.

Does anyone know if they're recruiting?

JTCz

Thank you for the exhaustive review - taking the time to examine, photograph and put down everything, as well as communicate with the staff/management.

Accor does not need a "loyalty hit squad". They need to start listening to their guests and members - here and in other places online. People are not shy about sharing their experiences. One just needs to pay notice and care about it!

flyertalker00143

glad to see that the hotel reacted and corrected the issue a proper way ^

nicolas75

Concerning Platinum benefits consistency, I am afraid that the "action plan" should be global.

Which is?