Hahaha. This is the Standard General Template Reply from the Club Lounge Staff when you asked them whether there is any Upgrade of Room for Platinum Member.

''Mr Happy, we already upgraded your room to a Club Floor Room''.

Personally, I feel that this is not an upgrade since there is no increase in room size and that Platinum member already has Club Lounge Access, thus, Club Floor Room is our entitlement.

Furthermore, based on my experience, there is no difference between a Standard Room Vs a Club Floor Room since the Room Size and Configuration are the same (at least 80% of the time). The only difference I noticed was that Club Floor Room might provide better quality/brand of toiletries. But I don't use hotel's toiletries in general (Unless they are Bulgari or Hermes) as I always bring my own Shampoo and Shower Gel.

Well in many hotel that's the difference between standard room and club room. Higher floor and better amenities.

Like I said technically it is a one category upgrade. Personally, I think it is fine.

What I do not like when they upgrade from standard room to room with a view when there is not even much view to begin with.

During my holidays earlier this month I have stayed in France in Radisson hotels and in Mercure La Grande Motte.
With Radisson while checking in, they explain what kind of upgrade I get and they even apologies that they can’t upgrade to the best available room as it is a very busy period.

With Mercure nothing. No upgrade or even a room with a better view.

I sometimes wonder if there are so many platinum members that it is not special anymore when a platinum member from Accor comes to stay in a hotel.

no, I don't think it's anything like that, but rather a question of poor and inadequate training. I am also very often suprised witnessing how poorly many Accor hotels manage loyalty. In my experience, only 20% thanks me at check-in for my loyalty. When there is an upgrade, it is mentioned at check-in in only 1/3 of cases. For the rest, either they don't say a word apart "here's your key, you are in room #1234 and the elevators are on your right" or they speak about upgrade/non-upgrade only when you ask them the question.
This attitude is unfortunately very prominent in France and other European countries, the historical markets of Accor, where they had (and still have) very strong market shares but many hotel owners didn't see the market changes (new hotel operators, Airbnb, late emergence of loyalty programs for hotel chains, etc) and still refuse to adopt the correct attitude toward customers. This is particularly true with some franchisés in France in the Mercure and Novotel brands.

Same just happened to me too in Paris. Best part is France as the heart of Accor and they are the one that not follow the rules most but yet they want other Accor hotels around the world to stick to it. So lead by example doesn't work with them.
At one occasion I even quietly get downgraded to another category. I wouldn't hv realised should I not refer to the floor plan behind my room door.

Following on from my original post, I made a complaint to social media who then, it seems, referred it to Accor Plus China. Then, Accor Plus sent me the following forwarded e-mail from the Head of Operations (I think?) in UK and Ireland:

Hello,

My name is Luke Baker and I look after Le Club Operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

I would like to thank you contacting us over this incident however after his message on social media I had already looked into the complaint.

Yorkboy24 had booked a high room category and the only one higher was a suite that the hotel has a limited number of and the reason that due to availability was unable to upgrade the member on this occasion. In my dealings with Novotel London West they always use procedures and practices to always put our members requests first so I trust that this was the case for this member.

As you are aware that in the terms and conditions of Le Club AccorHotels that the Room Upgrade is only on availability and as such was unable to be offered.

As his e-mail was still visible, I decided to reply to him directly on 18th August, almost 6 weeks ago. I've had no acknowledgement or reply since:

Hello Luke Baker,

Cc: Accor Plus Guangzhou

Thanks for looking into the lack of Platinum treatment at Novotel London West. However, after reading the response, it appears that some vital facts are missing.

First of all, you said that I didn't receive a 1-category upgrade to the Junior Suite, however, I did.

Second, the suite was available on the day of check in because I was able to book it on the Accor app.

When the hotel refused to upgrade me claiming no suites were available, I showed the live booking for the suite on the Accor app. They then said it was hotel policy not to upgrade to suites in summer months as families booked them. I was then offered the Junior Suite but for a charge. I refused and asked for the GM.

At the point, the receptionist walked away, came back and said the GM was in a meeting. She then upgraded me to the Junior Suite.

Therefore, from the above, given that 1) I was offered the suite for an additional fee and 2) I was eventually upgraded for free, it was clear that the suite was available and that I should have simply been offered the upgrade automatically. The Accor programme's terms and conditions that upgrades are given "upon availability" were not adhered to at Novotel London West as they did everything possible to deny the upgrade, including attempting to charge me.

Moreover, there wasn't any welcome gift or letter from the hotel until after I asked them about it on the last day.

As someone who has remained loyal to Accor over many years, my purpose of bringing this up is to highlight that some hotels, particularly in Europe / UK, are not meeting Accor standards in terms of loyalty. By rectifying these, Accor members will continue to remain loyal to the brand. In contrast to my experience in London, my experience in Manila has been top notch, with upgrades confirmed in pre-arrival emails as well as a genuine welcome.

I hope you can fully investigate the case at Novotel London West as it's clear the facts haven't been disclosed.

Thanks again,

Yorkboy24


So, there we have it. It was apparently investigated and yet the person looking after UK Operations didn't even get his facts right: 1) I WAS upgraded and 2) it was after begging for it / being asked to PAY FOR THE UPGRADE.

It seems that they don't even trust my account of events and if he can't get the basic facts right, I wonder if he even investigated it at all!

I am not really expecting anything from this but it was interesting to see Accor's lack of follow-up / the way Plats are treated. all they had to do was apologise, say that they had reminded the hotel of the Accor terms and conditions and that's about all they could do. But they denied it happened and then ignored me.

Very poor complaint handling indeed. He, for sure, should have checked the facts better, but to give him a few excuses, I think he has to rely on what the hotel is saying for most of the issues you encountered. Indeed, I think Accor HQ or regional has no way to know in details past occupancy of each room type in a given property. So the delinquent hotels like this one can just keep saying “suites were booked, no upgrade possible” and other blabla those hotels always say.