hclee01

Wondering if this will materialize and impact to IHG brand and program?

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...erest-13037618

PARIS: Shares in French hotels group Accor rose 1.9 per cent in early trading on Thursday (Aug 20) after Le Figaro newspaper reported that the company had examined a potential merger with British rival InterContinental Hotels .

Le Figaro said that Accor's management board was in favour of such a deal, though Accor chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin was more cautious and no contact had been made with InterContinental Hotels.

Fims

That would mean that IHG promotions would get more complicated.. like Accor ALL ones are. But on the bright side, Platinum and higher members might get then lounge access again in CP and IC hotels, maybe.

hmv

Please no merger...if there is one hotelchain with incompetent senior management, customer unfriendly service and dodgy quality (F1 hotel..even the local jail is nicer) it is Accor.

boekel

concurr. Customers are not the priority at Accor. Successfully avoided to stay there since more than 10 years

hclee01

I actually shared the same sentiments as you. I used to be Accor Plat member many years back, and I was not that impressed with their overall offering. For late checkout, it is subject to availability and most times, they honoured the late checkout after various requests and they made it clear that I have to vacant the room by 1 or 2pm. After that, I move to IC AMB and pretty satisfied with the offering.

Admiral Ackbar

Was a Fairmont Plat and an Accor plat before their merger, you do NOT want Accor management but some of the properties are very nice with great local management eg. Fairmont Chateau Frontenac and many other Fairmonts for example.

Interesting to see how this plays out.

1353513636

I hope this doesn't mean IHG points become only redeemable for 20 Euro vouchers towards hotels.

nicolas75

Accor group is much more than hotelF1.

Accor offers indeed a wide and complementary brand portfolio: Raffles, Orient-Express, Banyan Tree, Delano, Sofitel Legend, Fairmont, SLS, SO/, Sofitel, The House of Originals, Rixos, onefinestay, Mantis, MGallery, Art Series, Mondrian, Pullman, Swissôtel, Angsana, 25hours, Hyde, Mövenpick, Grand Mercure, Peppers, The Sebel, Mantra, Novotel, Mercure, Aparthotel Adagio, Mama Shelter, Tribe, BreakFree, ibis, ibis Styles, ibis budget, JO&JOE, hotelF1, wojo, MamaWorks, Disruptive, Potel & Chabot, Paris Society, D-EDGE, Gekko, VeryChic, ResDiary, John Paul, adoria, Astore.

Design is not exactly the strength of Accor (with some exceptions), but service and food are generally excellent at Accor properties.

I do agree that Accor loyalty program is pretty poor (even if it has improved recently with the Diamond status), but the recent acquisition of luxury and design brands would an interesting addition to the IHG portfolio.

If the merge occurs and if it is managed in asmart way (keep the best of both, such as Royal Ambassador status), it could be an interesting move.

ninjalad

I have to say that doesn't sound appealing , I am not a fan of Accor even if they do have some nice restaurants in their hotels. If it were to happen then I suspect it might be the end of Ambassador/RA

nicolas75

Not quite sure.
Remember that, based on internal IHG figures (2016):

• Ambassador generates over $170M in incremental profit to InterContinental Hotels & Resorts,
• Ambassador members generate 3x more profit than IHG Rewards Club members,
• Royal Ambassadors generate $5.8K profit a year, versus $2K for Ambassadors, and just $660 for IHG Club members.

INTERCONTINENTAL AMBASSADOR

chrism20

The thought of this does not exactly excite me I have to be honest.

Accor has absolutely no clue when it comes to customer service and if anything goes wrong you are done for whilst their handling of the pandemic has been diabolical.

IMO there would only be two winners from this potential marriage - Hilton & Marriott! With Accors IT the merger of them with IHG would make the integration of Bonvoy look like a job well done.

demue

+1. IHG and its Customer Service and IT departments have their flaws, but from my (luckily limited) experience with Accor, IHG is much preferable. If there is one chain I actively avoid (select properties aside) it is Accor. YMMV.

bchandler02

+1 for not being a fan of Accor. Used to stay with them a bit outside of the USA - was never overly impressed. Primarily was at Mercure or Novatel but made the mistake of an Ibis last year in Amsterdam - never again.

IHG may not be the most exciting, especially for top tier benefits, but I find they work great for me. I can find an HI/HIX just about anywhere I need to be. IC and CP are good for business trips when I want something more premium. It's easy to earn a crap-ton of points with them and reach Spire, and I've always been treated fairly as a Plat/Spire member. Free nights are worth more than a free breakfast to me any day.

flyertalker28120

Accor has some upsides.

Occcasionally you can score great deals with Accor. Private sales (global sales) can sometimes be combined with Accor Plus as well as generous cashback via the usual portals for tremendous savings. And loyalty recognition can be good if you know where to expect recognition (Asia) and where not to (France, among others).

I think a merger is still very far off. But should a merger come to fruition, I'd expect very sweet cross-recognition of elite status for at least a year. Just take the merger of Accor with FRHI or the Starriott merger as historical examples.

If a merger is ever to take place, a major downside is going to be an IT clusterf****. Accor doesn't do technology well. Sure, IHG is not like the model new technology company, either, but Accor is pretty bad. Expect major interferences for 2-3 years should this actually become more than a rumor.

est-gratuite

The only way this could work is if IHG took over Accor (not the other way round).

Accor customer service and IT systems are a shambles, normal & bonus points don't post half the time, there are literally hundreds of accor properties that do not fully participate in the program, exceptions and variations to rules run several pages, "guaranteed" benefits at properties have to be reminded and begged for more often than not, it takes ages to get enough points for a single night, and the state of some properties (such as ibis and mercure) is still very 1980s.

The only positive that could come out of this is free breakfasts and free lounge access at IHG properties (especially in asia).