starflyergold

That's extremely disappointing and not really acceptable. Next time request a chat with the GM. I found him very approachable.

stuart_f

- Name of the hotel: Novotel London West

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? No, it was terrible. There were no redeeming features whatsoever.

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Booked Superior got the same.

- How are the rooms? Dated and tiny. Wood chip wallpaper and artex ceilings was OK in the 80s, why do they still exist in hotels today? This hotel is badly in need of renovation. No welcome gift and the only thing in the mini bar was 4 bottles of water which they wanted £3 each for.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good: This section is intentionally blank!

Bad: The car park is under the hotel and has quite a low entry barrier at 1.8m, beside it there is a sign saying that some of the pipes in the car park are lower than the entry barrier - errr... that's helpful.

we parked and followed the 'Hotel Entrance' signs to find out that the lift from the car park was out of order with an arrow pointing in the vague direction of the 'alternative entrance'. This turns out to be 3 flights of stairs to reach reception (reception isn't on the ground floor in this hotel). Would it have killed them to put the sign saying the car park lift was broken before we drove in? Then we could have unloaded the luggage by the main entrance and used a working lift rather then driving it into the basement to be forced to carry it all back up the stairs?!

Check-in was really odd. The man on the desk kept running into the back room to ask a more senior colleague about things. No recognition of status, not even a 'thank you for being Platinum'. No upgrade offered despite everything being available on the NOR1 email offer the day before. I asked about it and was curtly told, "we're full."

First room allocated turned out to be on the lowest guest floor and directly between the lift shafts. My Accor preferences are set to high floor, away from lift so I'm not disturbed by all the movement in the evening. Back to reception to ask for a better room. Check-in guy did another vanishing act and eventually came back with a room on the 8th floor.

Second room stank. I mean really stank. It was as if someone had been smoking in the room and tried to cover it up by sprinkling cheap perfume all over the carpet. Back to reception again. Check-in guy did yet another vanishing act (by this point don't you think the senior person might come out to see what's going on?) and eventually a third room was offered.

Check-in guy followed us to the third room and hovered in the doorway. Third room was OK but there was a pile of dirty sheets and a bulging, smelly bin bag outside the door. No problem I thought, perhaps room service had been called to quickly prepare this room after the issues with the first two. We accepted the room and started to settle in. Then we discovered the TV didn't work and the room began to get hotter and hotter. Air con was on max and nothing even resembling cool air was forthcoming. We didn't bother to complain, by this point we were done with this hotel. 3 hours later when we went to dinner the bin bag and pile of dirty sheets were were both still outside the door.

The following morning when we came to check-out there were 4 staff on duty clustered around the same desk. One was standing on the customer side using the phone and the other three were chatting amongst themselves, ignoring myself and another gent who wanted to leave. Normally I'd have just dropped the keys and gone but you need to get your car park ticket validated in order to get the guest rate so I waited. Eventually their conversation died off and one came to help me. I handed the keys back and was asked for my email address for the electronic receipt. I thought that was a very strange request, I've never been asked for that before - it's on my profile after all.

With the car park ticket finally validated, the lady sternly warned me I had to leave the car park within 15 minutes or I'd be charged again. So it was off down the 3 flights of stairs at breakneck speed, luggage in tow, to reach the car, dodge the low-hanging pipework and out of the barrier with seconds to spare. The elderly or the less able are never going to be able to make that dash in the time given.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? No lounge

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Drinks voucher for 2.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Never again!

Goldorak

That's a stay
I hope you will officially complain. This is truly unacceptable.

stuart_f

The really annoying thing is that this is off the back of possibly the best Novotel experience I ever had the week before. In that case I received a feedback questionnaire 48 hours after the stay where I was able wax lyrical about the fantastic staff and lovely hotel. Even got a personal email from the 'Rooms Division Manager' thanking me for the comments.

Somehow I suspect they may omit to send the same survey this time.

I should have searched. This hotel now has 3 reviews and all are overwhelmingly negative. My own stupid fault for booking it at all. It must do enough business from conferences alone that actually trying to make guests happy is too much effort.

Wozza2404

Perhaps not the right thread for this, but is there any Novotel hotel chain that has better amenities for Plats than the one on Clarke Quay in Singapore?

Wozza2404

Actually one of the best Plat recognition I had was at the Novotel at CDG. Even to the point of waiving a (c€50) bar bill we racked up whilst waiting for a room to be available.

gilbertaue

Are you referring to another Novotel in Singapore? There isn't one.

If you are comparing, I would say properties like the Novotel Ploenchit in BKK or the Novotel Century HK offer better amenities and service.

Goldorak

This is something I have suspected several times as well and I have reported my suspicions here. I almost never receive anymore the satisfaction survey when you had a stay with issues that were reported to staff/management.

ContinentalVoyager7

Are you sure you are taking about Novotel Clarke Quay having the best amenities for Plats? Last time I was there (which was about 4-5 months ago) I didn't even receive a single welcome fruit platter or welcome letter from the GM or etc.

patrickw

Long time reader but first time poster, just would like to share some experience for my stays so far this year
All my stays are leisure so generally booking the cheapest room type@:-)

Name of the hotel: Sofitel Macau At Ponte 16

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Not exactly

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Superior Room with City Views (1 double & 1 twin), both upgraded 1 category to Luxury Room with River Views

- How are the rooms? Quite nice and spacious

- What was good and what was bad?
Good: The room

Bad:
- This was a family trip and they are staying with Accor for the first time. Unfortunately the check-in experience was the worst I had so far at any Accor hotels (most of my stays were at Mercure/ Novotel). I mentioned in the booking via website to request early check-in, arrived at just before noon and there is a long queue for pre-check in (all the formalities are done at this time except room keys). There are some staff around asking people in the queue and they are holding a small note with them regarding members' booking so when you tell your name they know you are a le club member. I was identified by one of the staff but told priority check in is unavailable because of the long queue at the check out side. It wasn't a big deal as we were not in rush and it's quite understandable given it was Easter holiday and the long queue is obviously visible. At check in, I was told that the room is not ready yet and was asked to come back at about 13:30 when at least one of the rooms would be ready so that we can settle. However, when we are back again at 14:30 after lunch we were told both rooms were still not ready and asked to come back at 15:00 when they start to hand out keys for everyone.

- The shuttle service to the ferry terminal (for ferry to and from Hong Kong) wasn't quite sufficient during holiday period. On the way to hotel, we were taught by the staff at the ferry terminal to take another hotel's shuttle and walk from there as it was full. On the way back we waited for 3 shuttles before we can get on and it was like every 20mins while other hotels in macau are offering much more frequent service.

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

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Voucher for 2 welcome drinks given, as well as a box of chocolate and some fruits to the room

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Given there are so many hotels in Macau with similar price, I think I might choose others next time.

starflyergold

Welcome to FT and the Accorhotels forum patrickw ^

patrickw

Name of the hotel: Novotel Shanghai Atlantis

- 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? Booked Standard Room and got Superior Room

- How are the rooms? Typical Novotel room, but the view is very nice

- What was good and what was bad?
Good: The room has the view to all the famous buildings in Shanghai, the night view is amazing

Bad: Nothing particularly bad about the hotel as I remember, the only thing I would mention is that there seems to be some big constructions going on at the road to/ from the metro station so you are basically walking at the same space as cars, and it is quite dark at night, but it isn't something controllable by the hotel

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

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Nothing was received, but I didn't ask anyway

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

Ikaz

Welcome to the forum patrickw, and its a shame to read your review on the Sofitel Macau.
As a platinum member I had such a great experience earlier this year, the check-in process was simplified by escorting us to the lounge and offering us afternoon tea whilst they were doing the paperwork for the previous guests then for us, and we had no issues with the shuttle (but it wasn't any sort of peak time). I am actually looking forward to returning to this property if possible whilst I am still platinum.

patrickw

Name of the hotel: Mercure Budapest Buda

- 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? Booked Standard Room and got Privilege room

- How are the rooms? It was quite small (ok as I stayed alone, might feel a little cramped if otherwise)

- What was good and what was bad?

Good: The staff are friendly and efficient

Bad: The room was a little small as mentioned

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

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? 1 welcome drink voucher was given (since I stayed alone)

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Given I only booked 2 weeks ahead, I think the price is quite good

Ikaz

Quite a different experience from stuart_f of a different Novotel on London reviewed above, I will share my experience of the Novotel London Paddington

- Name of the hotel: Novotel London Paddington

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

- 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? Booked superior room, received an upgrade to executive room without asking and the hotel was sold out

- How are the rooms? Decent and seems quite modern, free minibar (one bottle of still water and one bottle of sparkling water) although there was a price list. A Nespresso machine and a kettle with tea and coffee. A comfy bed and a decent bathroom.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:
-The swimming pool (there was a Sauna and steam room there too) open from 06:00 to 22:00
-Status recognition and proactiveness: I didn't mention my status and the key was ready with 2 drink vouchers and a room upgrade already processed.

Bad:
A couple of small things:
-The check-in process was very slow, it took me 10 minutes to queue and check-in, and I have no idea how I was supposed to use the priority check-in desk as there was just one queue for everybody
-The state of the curtains was bad, holes in the main "blackout" curtain and the white one underneath was very stained all over
-The soap holder in the shower was broken, so it wasn't possible to put anything on it without it falling. It seems so simple to fix I don't understand why it wasn't done (I reported it at check-out, and they didn't seem all that interested)
-The clock in the swimming pool wasn't changed the day of the time change, which was confusing but not an issue)

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? No lounge

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Drinks voucher for 2 and room upgrade. Didn't need early check-in or late check out.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Extremely good value, I paid £60 on happy monday and needed to be in that area. I would return

The hotel is not that close to the train station, it is round the back at the "paddington waterside", which it turning into a nice developement.

It is possibly interesting to note there is construction work going on around the hotel so it doesn't look great at the moment (but I wouldn't expect noise issues and the hotel is well isolated, with 2 sets of double glazing windows in our room), but once it is finished it seems like the area will be a nice place to be, they are building gardens and public areas just in front of the hotel.