wkndtraveler

Thanks @cocoleolol. I've missed your reviews. I would love to read a full review with photos. Would you mind?

I'm considering to stay here instead of Sofitel Singapore City Centre but after reading this I'm not so convinced. How does the lounge food compare to the Club Millesime offerings? And no champagne at Swissôtel I guess?

ContinentalVoyager7

I will be doing a review soon. But I have been packed lately, planning to publish the major reviews by next weekend when I find time. Heck, I haven't even done the TripAdvisor review. Hahahaha

But in all honesty, I personally feel that Club Millesime is better, the Swiss Lounge advantage is the huge lounge size, recently renovated, good views and larger buffet and cocktail offerings. However, do note that since its a large hotel, once the Exec lounge is running full operations, it might get crowded. Additionally, the Swiss Exec Lounge only offers 1 red and white wine, but perhaps that was due to Soft opening. They used the Cheap LA MInga wines while Sofitel has superior Wines and even Champagne.

If you ask me overall, I would pick Sofitel due to service and smaller hotel size. Being in a 200+ room hotel compared to 1000+ room hotel will have its advantages and disadvantages. Both are located above an MRT Station and Swissotel will have the advantage as it has a fully packed shopping mall below. But my heart will still stick to Sofitel for their elegantly designed rooms and decor and the beautiful Swimming pool. If you have not stayed here before, its worth giving it a try just for the amazing view, but remember to book a Harbour View room. Other than that, I will stick to Sofitel.


View from my Balcony, Room 6017


.

sycokid

- Name of the hotel:Mercure Central Sydney

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

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

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
2 Standard Rooms . 1 upgraded

- How are the rooms?
Rooms are good. Well kept and clean. They were of typical design.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Location was good,

-Price was awesome over Australia day weekend

- Booke 2 rooms and BOTH were given free breakfast due to me being Platinum

- Service at the hotel was excellent

- Welcome amenity was nice although no welcome letter

Bad:
-
Like a zoo at breakfast times due to full house
- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
No access

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Voucher for 4 drink sat the bar and both rooms received a glass of fizzy wine with chocolate and strawberries

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Without hesitation

kaizen7

- Name of the hotel:
Mercure Sapporo


- What is your Le Club status?
Gold


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

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked :Standard Double
Received : Privilege Double

- How are the rooms?
Similar to Superior room but with extra amenities.


- What was good and what was bad?

Good:

Location was good
LCAH recognition.
Very polite and helpful staff

Bad:
None

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
N/a
- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Got welcome drinks for both rooms

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

nrouxel

testman

- Name of the hotel:
Ibis Styles Gniezno Stare Miasto (Poland)

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes and no

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: Standard Double Room
got: a larger Double Room with a Sofa (aka Family Room)

- How are the rooms?
The family room had a kitchen corner (rather useless, cf. below), a living area with a small desk/table and a sofa, and a sleeping area. Big bathroom next to the bedroom.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
* still a new hotel
* location (a few minutes from the railway station and the main square)
* friendly staff (both reception and breakfast room)
* spacious room
* breakfast was included in the rate (and much better than the photos on TripAdvisor suggest!)
* you get a kettle with some tea/coffee + 2 bottles of water

Bad:
* lots of design flaws, e.g. just one socket next to the desk (either for the lamp or your laptop); toilet paper holder too low on the wall (exactly where your leg should be); no bin in the room (just a tiny bin in the bathroom)
* there's a kind of kitchenette in the room, consisting of a huge sink (but you have nothing to wash there and nothing to wash with) and a kettle with two cups; the design of the cupboard suggests there should be a minibar/minifridge, but it was not there
* very plasticky shower
* we only got one duvet (150 cm wide) for a double bed (160 cm); the receptionist gave me another duvet from a different room

- 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 given at check-in. You can get a small beer, a glass or wine, a soft drink or tea/coffee.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
This is probably the most expensive hotel in Gniezno (there are just around 15 accommodation options in the whole town). I paid around 55 EUR for 1 night. The family room are about 70 EUR most of the time.
In my opinion, the rate is rather high for this location and the services offers, but it usually includes breakfast, which makes it a bit better.
I paid for my stay mostly with points and it was OK. If I had to pay with real money, I'd probably choose a non-Accor hotel.

testman

- Name of the hotel:
Mercure Berlin Wittenbergplatz

- 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 Double Room (queen bed)
Technically, we didn't get an upgrade. Still, we were given a corner room (probably the biggest room in the hotel) on the top floor plus extra amenities (bathrobes, slippers etc.)

- How are the rooms?
Our room was veeeery spacious. There was a large comfortable bed, a decent sofa and an armchair with a footrest.
Kettle with tea, coffee and cocoa. (No coffee machine though.)
Standard bathroom with a shower.
Plenty of light, as there were 4 large slanting windows (almost floor to ceiling)

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
* good location (next to a metro stop, walking distance to Berlin Zoo train station, EDEKA supermarket in front of the hotel)
* we liked the view of rooftops from the room
* modern design (more up-to-date than other Mercure hotels in Berlin), comfortable bed
* good shower - even though there's no door, it doesn't flood the bathroom door. Loved it.

Bad:
* we didn't get a proper upgrade to a privilege room
* no real desk/table, but you get a small table that you can put next to the sofa. You can regulate its height, so it's OK both for a laptop and glasses
* to use the WIFi, you need to log in with a user and a password. It's rather annoying
* the welcome gift was average
* breakfast is 19 EUR per person

- 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 given at check-in. You got two large beers. Also good for wine.
High speed WiFi connection offered for free.
On arrival, we found two bottles of rhubarb/apple drink. (It might be an acquired taste, but we didn't enjoy the gift much.)

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
We booked the room during the 3for2 special sale, paying just above 60 EUR per night. Great value for money.
We would be happy to return.

Goldorak

Name of the hotel: Ibis Style Saint Malo port (France)
This was my 2nd time in this hotel (1st time was 3 years before). First stay was very good. It was a one-night only stay before heading to Mercure St Malo Balmoral.

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes. This is a solid and relatively inexpensive hotel

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive ?
Booked Standard room and I received that (I don’t think they have different categories anyway).

- How are the rooms?
Large enough (don’t feel cramped), good soundproofing. Modern style. Comfy bed

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:

• nice staff
• free breakfast
• pleasant atmosphere and rooms
• good rate

Bad:

• location is not the best in town, but if you have a car, you are in the best parts of St Malo in 5-10 min. Don’t stay there if you don’t have a car.
• Nothing bad to mention TBH

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

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks :
Only LCAH perk is drink voucher. No welcome gift, as usual in France in those hotels

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Yes. This is not my 1st choice of Accor hotels in St Malo, but a perfect back up choice.

Goldorak

Name of the hotel: Mercure Nelspruit (South Africa)
I made a short review of a relatively bad stay in this hotel in Nov 2016 (link below)
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27444303-post358.html

I was very reluctant to go back there but finally booked again for a brief 1 night stay because it was very cheap and, in Nelspruit, most hotels are average AFAIK. This new stay was so-so again. Nothing terribly bad but...
We had 2 rooms booked (2 different LCAH accounts).

What has not changed:
- the rooms have not been renovated, but at least the rooms were in better conditions than the one I showed in my 2016 review.
- the safety boxes are still not working (in both rooms)
- the AC system is prehistorical (but at least it worked and I am glad it worked as it was very hot)
- nice staff
- the emptiness feeling in the huge lobby/bar area. This hotel has some potential but they just don't know how to use it.

What has changed (for good)
- Internet is now unlimited and worked well (the former internet policy was totally ridiculous and is detailed in my 1st review)

For the anecdote about the drink vouchers...As I said above, we had 2 rooms booked (2 different LCAH accounts, one Platinum, One Gold). One room was single occupancy and the other one was double occupancy. At check-in, only one drink voucher was given. So I asked why only one as the 2 bookings were done independently and with 2 different LCAH accounts. After a few arguments, we got the 2nd one with a remark of the attendant saying while smiling "But you want to kill me" (financially he meant)
And of course, when we used them at the bar, the one for the double room was for one person only and we had to pay for the other drink. Laughable, really

Overall OK for the kind of one night stay when you arrive around 6 pm and leave the following morning, but I wouldn't stay longer. Too depressing (as is Nelspruit city).

testman

- Name of the hotel:
Berlin Ibis Styles Mitte

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

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

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room with a double bed
Got a bigger room with a queen-size bed on the top floor

- How are the rooms?
* We got a room on the top (7th) floor. The room was huge (Accor says 30 sq m), but had an unusual shape, so some of its parts were not very useful.
* The washbasin is just next to the bed. The shower and the toilet are together, separated from the sleeping part with red, plastic walls. The shower has no curtain so every time you use it, you flood the toiler floor too. The toilet doesn´t give you much privacy as there´s a 1 cm gap between the door and the door frame.
* If you need to work, there´s a small table and one chair.
* The TV is in the middle of the room, blocking the great view of Berlin from the bed.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
* good location - next to a metro stop and tram stops (direct line taking you to the main railway station); plenty of restaurants in the neighbourhood
* we liked the view of rooftops from the room
* room was ready around 12h (official check-in starts at 15h)
* breakfast included in the room rate - reasonable quality and variety for an ibis (the pancake machine was out of order)
* free tea/coffee offered in the lobby between noon and 10 pm (tea was OK, haven´t tried coffee)

Bad:
* the shower+toilet box is just wrong for a number of reasons
* the trams might be an issue for light sleepers (not for us)

- 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 given at check-in. We got two small beers (bottled). Also good for wine and soft drinks.
Early check-in was possible.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Quite good value for money. Room with breakfast for 2 was just over 60 EUR per night and I was able to pay partly in points.
I might return if there are no good offers/sales at Mercure hotels in Berlin.
If I do return, I´ll definitely check out the rooms on the 6th floor to see if they offer a more standard bathroom/toilet.

cwl

- Name of the hotel: Novotel Nottingham/Derby

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

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

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Superior Premium received Superior Premium. No upgrade offered, knowing all room types still being sold online, queried, informed all Executive room "allocated". Hotel continued to sell Executive rooms for rest of day and the following day during a two night stay.

- How are the rooms? Older Novotel but all room have recently been renovated. Renovated bathroom was good rest of room in accordance with Novotel standards

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:
Recently renovated rooms including bathrooms

Bad:

Poor status recognition
Breakfast requiires eggs to order which the hotel then forgets who they were for so not provided until reminded despite only 10 guests having breakfast.

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

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Welcome drink voucher provided. No welcome amenity or other recognition of status. Only Le club benefit provided was welcome drink voucher applicable for silver status upwards.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Standard Novotel so won't purposely avoid but would look at other options in area instead.

cwl

- Name of the hotel: Fairmont Jakarta

- 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 Fairmont Gold Room received Fairmont Gold 1 bedroom suite

- How are the rooms? As you would expect from Fairmont.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:

Attentive service.
Comfortable nights sleep

Bad:

Hotel public areas grand but a little soulless.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? Gold room booked, escorted to Gold floor in arrival for check in, Usual evening canapés and drinks. Choice of breakfast in lounge or main restaurant. opted for lounge option which was quiet, buffet options plus hot items to order.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Welcome drink voucher provided good for any outlet. Welcome letter and amenity of plate of 3 chocolates. Premium WIFI

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

cwl

- Name of the hotel: Fairmont Boston

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes although status benefits poor.

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Booked Signature room, received Signature Room

- How are the rooms? Large room overlooking Copley Plaza, two walk in wardrobes, small but nicely appointed bathroom with shower/bath combo although bath tub small even by US standards.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:

Great location in Back Bay
Gold lounge staff

Bad:

Poor status recognition

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? Gold room booked. Evening canapés varied each evening. Honour Bar available if required. Limited but good breakfast in lounge, 3 hot dishes each morning also varied each morning.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Drink voucher issued at checking for soft drinks only due to state law. Voucher for one drink only despite two guests. Informed voucher only issued for card holder. Challenged and referred to Le club standards. Staff said they had been instructed to issue for card holder only but would extend to both guests and escalate my observation to management. Welcome amenity of plate of cheeses, grapes, biscuits and chutney. Received email two day prior to arrival advising as platinum eligible for complimentary Premium WIFI, early check in / late check out etc. On arrival informed $25 per day facility fee applicable to cover "Premium WIFI, evening turndown, free local calls, complimentary bicycle use and a single $25 F & B credit per stay (3 day stay so $75 charge). Discussed with Gold staff that all items in "Facility Fee" were Platinum or Gold benefits so $75 fee was for a $25 F & B credit. Staff said they agreed 100% with my observation but it was hotel policy. On check out the Gold level manager informed me she would waive the $75 facility fee and she hoped the hotel would shortly stop charging it for loyal guess staying on the Gold floor as it was a fee providing items which should be complimentary on gold floor for platinum guests.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Yes, enjoyed the stay, Status recognition poor, staff conceded it was poor and made appropriate corrections. Hopefully hotel will make appropriate corrections in first instance for future guests.

Goldorak

testman

- Name of the hotel:
Novotel Gdańsk Centrum, Poland

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
No. Probably the worst Novotel I have ever stayed at.

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
I booked a standard twin room and got this type of room.
Upgrade was not possible, as all executive rooms feature a double bed and I needed two single beds.
As a Gold member, I got "compensation": two sets of slippers.

- How are the rooms?
Rather small.
A very old room, with two small beds. Very old matresses.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
* Location: close to the Old Town
* Early check-in and late check-out possible.

Bad:
* An old building with dark corridors (only every 3rd lamp switched on in the corridors) and cracked walls
* Noisy area - a lot of construction sites around
* Small, old bed -- the mattresses were really really bad. (Only the pillows were OK - standard Novotel pillows).
* A small shower cabin, old shower head; sink partly clogged; some tiles almost falling down from the wall.
* Not enough sockets (one next to one of the beds; one behing the TV; one very low on the wall, next to the toilet door)
* It's really difficult to use the desk, as there's very little space between the desk and the bed right behind it
* It seemed somewhat dirty. The space under the beds hasn't been hoovered in a while. The glasses next to the minibar were dirty.
* Limited choice of tea/coffee - fewer bags than at other Novotels in Poland.
* Breakfast wasn't particularly exciting. Fewer choices than e.g. at Mercure Gdynia. A few products (e.g. pancakes, yogurt, pain au chocolat) not edible. Cheese pancakes served in the same container as fried sausage.

- 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 given at check-in. We got two large bottles (0.5 litres). They have a decent selection of Polish beer. Also good for wine and soft drinks.
Early check-in was possible (around 11h). Late check-out granted till 15h.
Pieces of fresh fruit were delivered to the room while we were away.
We also got slippers.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
I paid about 45-50 EUR per night (low season, mid-week stay). It was possible to pay with points. Breakfast was included in this rate.
I wouldn't return. Bad value for money given the condition of the building and the room.
If I need to return to Gdańsk, I'll stay at either Ibis Gdańsk Stare Miasto or Mercure Gdańsk Stare Miasto. The Ibis is a new hotel, located in a nice new building, with comfortable beds etc. It was about 8-10 EUR cheaper than the Novotel. The Mercure is located in an old building, but I think the rooms have been renovated. It's a 4-star property (Novotel has 3 stars). The price was about 8 EUR more per night than the Novotel.