Maelstrom

The Accor welcome drink is actually a benefit that is extended to silver members (and above), rather than being a plat-exclusive benefit. Unfortunately, some properties are more generous with this benefit than others (some will only permit soft drinks, while others allow cocktails or spirits). Other properties have separate welcome drinks lists for each tier, but this is rare, in my experiences.

from my reading of the experiences of many FPC members, it is disappointing, and surprising, to hear that the quality of service at these Fairmont properties appears to have dropped post-acquisition. As a Le Club member, I've never had someone say they will give me a late check out as a "one time" occurrence, but I have only stayed at Fairmont once and usually stay at Sofitel, Pullman and Novotel hotels. Are these hotels treating the (lacklustre) "subject to availability" late check out as a massive inconvenience to provide, even if occupancy levels mean that late checkout is available?

I just find the lower standard of service being offered perplexing, because (as a former Accor employee myself) I know that the Accor culture and training is very people-focussed, at least at the properties I have previously worked at.

rfrost

optimas

Have a Fairmont stay in March, for the first time will be seeing what the upgrade at time of check-in will do for me. I really miss the guaranteed upgrade (especially the suites!). I have my room booked at friends and family rate, any idea whether that will affect me getting an upgrade at check-in? If they deny me an upgrade based on availability, is there any point in mentioning that higher room classes are still available to be booked online (if that is indeed the case when I check in)?

nock

rfrost

While my stay several weeks ago at the Savoy, described above, was indeed lovely, my stay this week was not.
I'd requested (via Moncton, when I applied my last room upgrade cert) early checkin. The room was not ready when I arrived shortly after noon (well, it's not guaranteed, right?); the receptionist offered to "prioritize" housekeeping (with a request on file, shouldn't it already have been prioritized?), but I told her not to bother, as I had to be somewhere around 2 pm, and figured I might as well go to lunch then, but that I'd be back sometime between 4:30-5. I requested that my bags, which I left, be placed in the room when it was ready. I returned to the hotel in that timeframe, picked up my keys from the receptionist, who assured me, in response to my query, that the bags had been delivered to the room, declined her offer to accompany me, as I do know my way around the hotel, and went upstairs. No bags anywhere to be seen.
That set the tone for the stay--wrong toiletries in the room until they were partially replaced my second day, non-working electrical outlet in the room (one of the only 2 reachable without climbing behind the furniture) and a 40-minute checkout (matching my 40-minute checkin the one time I stayed at an Ibis courtesy of BA)--charged for a breakfast that I didn't eat, missing credit for a positive balance in my account from a gift card I had used on my last stay (for some years I'd been just allowing anything left on a gift card to be held in my account for the next stay, as it took them forever to issue a new gift card, which the first receptionist wrongfully claimed been credited to my CC, during which the second receptionist told me that it was an Accor rule that gift cards had to be entirely consumed during that stay, which of course was utter nonsense, as a week earlier I'd used only a portion of a gift card at the Scottsdale Princess and was directly contradictory of my discussion upon checking out from that prior stay).
To be sure, I experienced the occasional Fairmont service blip over the years, but taken in the aggregate, these were more than disappointing, and certainly, more fitting for a low-end Hilton or Four Points than for the Savoy. I had purchased several GCs in the last 2 sales, thinking that I would use them at the Savoy, which has been my favorite London hotel for years (I don't think it's the best, but the history, location, and thoughtful service I received there as a frequent guest made it a no-brainer choice for me). Even with an ideal location for someone like me who spends half her London time at the Royal Opera House, I am not interested in staying at an Ibis d/b/a The Savoy. I don't have any plans to be anywhere else near a Fairmont in the foreseeable future, so am not quite sure what to do now...