Tag: Accor Hotels
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The World's Second Sofitel SO is Getting So Close in Bangkok
Every day this month has brought worse and worse news regarding the flooding of the Chao Phraya River around Bangkok. They're not out of danger yet, and we're lucky to have just returned from Thailand at the very start of the serious flooding much further out.
When this rainy season has passed and clean up is complete, focus will again turn to the progress of the massive metropolis of Bangkok. We've already discussed the nearly complete W Bangkok, due to open in 2012, but what about the other major property not very far down the street—the Sofitel SO Bangkok?
Joining the W in a 2012 debut, the Sofitel SO Bangkok sits on the edge of Lumphini Park (green space!), and will boast a rooftop bar, something that's always popular in steamy Bangkok. This is no business-strict hotel like some Sofitels, either. The new SO brand is like the fashionable sister of the regular Sofitel, with far more design consciousness and modern tech features. The architect of the 30 stories is Thai, the interior designer of the 238 rooms is the French couture fashion designer Christian Lacroix, and each room will have a theme based on one of the five elements (water, earth, wood, metal and fire).
MGallery Hotels / London Hotels / Accor Hotels / Kristin Scott Thomas / Celebrity Scoop / Hotel Experiences / → All Tags
Kristin Scott Thomas Talks 'Memorable Moments' with MGallery Hotels
As we told you last week, St. Ermin's Hotel in London is Accor Hotel's first UK property belonging to its revamped MGallery Collection. At the opening, a new logo - a stylized M with "Memorable Hotels by Accor" beneath - was introduced.
The new logo is a big improvement from its predecessor , which took the "M" that we know from Mercure, Accor's mid-market brand. The new "M" fits the upscale segment and focus on individuality and design much better in our opinion.
Positioned as they are as memorable hotels, each MGallery property offers a distinct "Memorable Moment", like learning about Balinese art and cuisine at The Royal Beach Hotel Seminyak or touring Prague in a classic car at the Hotel Century Old Town. Memorable moments can be arranged through the concierge at each property with 24 hour notice; rates vary based on the experience and the number of people participating.
London Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / MGallery Hotels / Accor Hotels / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Inside St. Ermin's Hotel in London, Now an MGallery Hotel
On Friday we asked you to guess the hotel that looked like a Kimpton but isn't and only one of you dared to try. Alas, lsuguy101 it is not the Avo Hotel but rather, St. Ermin's Hotel--the first MGallery hotel in the UK from Accor Hotels. HotelChatter was able to attend the hotel's official re-opening the other week so today we have a full room tour for you. But watch out for more details on what we saw at the hotel and learned about MGallery soon.
Originally built as mansion flats (that's apartments for American folks) in the 19th century, the St. Ermin's Hotel Westminster is a grade-II listed Victorian landmark located a few minutes from St. James's Park, in the political heart of London.
Parliament is only seven minutes away (more on why that is relevant later) and New Scotland Yard is just across the street. Victoria station, one of London's transport hubs, is within walking distance, but if you can't bear the five minute stroll, St. James's tube brings you pretty much to the front door.
Having completed a top-to-bottom renovation, the St. Ermin's reopened its doors officially earlier this month. At the same time, Accor unveiled a new logo and brand identity for their MGallery Collection, of which St. Ermin's is the first UK property.
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Bye, Bye A Club: Accor Renames Loyalty Program
Very big news for Accor Hotels today. The company, which holds Sofitel Hotels and other big European hotels under its umbrella, has announced a reorganization of its hotel brands, particularly in the budget spectrum, as well as a new loyalty program name. Once called the A-Club, the program is now going by the name Le Club Accorhotels. (Yes, Accorhotels is one word like that.) Hmm...we liked A-Club better but oh well.
The biggest change is actually happening with the company's ibis hotels. ibis hotels will become a "megabrand" for Accor with all seasons hotels now going by the name, "ibis styles" and with the Etap hotels going by the name, "ibis budget. Accor hopes to finish this new segmentation by early 2013 with a large-scale communication campaign happening in 2012 to let everyone know about the changes.
Hotel Amenities / Hotel Minibars / Sofitel Hotels / Accor Hotels / London Hotels / Airport Hotels / Business Hotels / → All Tags
What's the Little Metal Thingie in the Bathrooms at Heathrow Airport's Sofitel?
Hmm—what's that metal thing stuck low on the wall just inside the bathroom door of a room at the Sofitel Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport? Well, this is a hotel that caters to weary travelers just off British Airways flights and this is a room designed with the frequent flying business traveler in mind, and what might both of those sorts want after a long day? Ah—a cold beer. Yep, that little metal thingie is a beer opener.
The Sofitel at Heathrow's T5 is one of the area's newer hotels; having opening in 2008 it boasts most of the newish amenity bells and whistles, like plug panels at the desk, flatscreen TVs and nice telephones, and even these thoughtful little extra fixtures.
Typically we're rustling around the minibar stuff or calling down to room service to score a bottle opened, but here's one right out in the open for use and its location in the bathroom means no worries about fizzing over. Love it!
[Photo: HotelChatter]
Free WiFi / Hotel News / International Hotel WiFi / Accor Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Marriott Rewards / France Hotels / Australia Hotels / Asia Hotels / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
Finding Free WiFi Just Got a Hell of a Lot Easier in France, Australia and Asia
Seen at the Novotel Gare du Lyon in Paris
UPDATE: We goofed. Accor Hotels has been providing free WiFi in all their hotels in France since July 1, 2010.
We'd like to think that this latest bit of news from Accor Hotels in France and Marriott Hotels in Australia and Asia had something to do with our Hotel WiFi Report which we released on Tuesday, but never matter, we're just happy that finding free WiFi at these hotels just got a hell of a lot easier.
First up, Accor Hotels has told HotelChatter that starting since July 1 of 2010, all their hotels (about 1,400 total) in France will offer free WiFi. This includes the brands Hotel F1, Ibis, All Seasons, Mercure Hotels, Novotel Hotels, Pullman Hotels and Sofitel Hotels. They also have plans to roll out free WiFi progressively at their hotels in Europe. Sadly, in America, you will still have to pay at Sofitel hotels.
Hotel Booking Sites / Hipmunk / Novotel Hotels / A Club / Accor Hotels / Airport Hotels / Zurich Hotels / → All Tags
How a Smiling Chipmunk Encouraged Us to Book a Hotel
Do you use Hipmunk.com? All the cool people do. And by "cool people," we mean us, because we just had a resounding success with our first hotel booking on the travel search website. Hipmunk recently began as another way to search for affordable airfare, but their creative methods of doing so caught our attention quickly. Even more recently, they've added a hotel search option to the site, where their smiling chipmunk mascot is all about finding you a hotel stay by "ecstasy," or price combined with location and ranking.
Ours was not an easy challenge. Find us a cheap hotel nearby the airport in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich—nay, all of Switzerland—is one of the notoriously highest priced vacations you can take. 5-star hotels average $1000 per night. Crappy 3-stars hover around $250 per night, and there's a chance they won't even have WiFi or a flatscreen TV. Nonetheless, our fingers were crossed. We wanted under $150 and nice.
Private Sales / Accor Hotels / Sofitel Hotels / A-Club / Paris Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Sofitel Launches Private Sale Discounts for A-Club Members
More good news for hotel bargain hunters--Private sales have now made their way over into existing hotel loyalty programs as Accor Hotels A/Club has just announced its own private sale for Sofitel Hotels from November 26 through the end of February.
The sale is pretty straightforward--If you book two weekend nights at a Sofitel, the second night will be 50 percent off and it will include breakfast and a late check-out of 3pm. However, this sale appears to apply only to European properties and select ones at that.
For instance while the Sofitel Paris La Défense could be had next weekend for a giddy $426 for two nights, the Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg (where Hermes toiletries can be found in the bath) was $1,150--about $575 a night and no breakfast included. Funnily enough, this hotel was being advertised on the private sale's landing page. Hmph.
Lastly, there's a reason this sale is private--because it's only for existing A/Club members. But you can go about getting access by joining up here. You better hurry because the sale ends in five days.
Hotel Loyalty Programs / A Club / Accor Hotels / Sofitel Hotels / Novotel Hotels / Mercure Hotels / Ibis Hotels / All Seasons Hotels / → All Tags
What the Heck Is the A Club and How Can We Join?
Stay at the Sofitel Rio, and you can join the A Club.
When we first heard about the A Club, we wondered whether it was anything like the A-Team. We hoped it had something to do with Bradley Cooper. Alas, the two aren't related. But we couldn't be too bummed because the A Club is actually the new loyalty program for Accor Hotels, and we love hotel loyalty programs just as much as A-Team's pretty Face.
A Club gives you rewards at more than 2,000 hotels worldwide, including the Sofitel brand. For every dollar or Euro spent at a Sofitel a Pullman, a Gallery Novotel, a Suite Novotel, a Mercure and an Adagio hotel, you'll earn two points. You get awarded one point for every dollar or Euro spent at Ibis or All Seasons hotels.
Accor Hotels / Vietnam Hotels / Hotel Deals / Novotel Hotels / Mercure Hotels / → All Tags
Accor is Running a Vietnam Super Sale, But You Have To Hurry
No time to twiddle your thumbs on this one: today is the last day of the Accor sale on various hotels in gorgeous Vietnam.
Similar to the Australasia-wide sale Accor had going a few months ago, this one just runs for a few days, and the rates they're offering are up to 50% off standard.
The deals work like this: at every Novotel in Vietnam — that includes the Novotel Dalat and the Novotel Nha Trang — the rates are just $45 a night across the country. At fancier Accor properties like the Grand Mercure Phu Quocor the La Residence Hue, there's a flat rate of $75 a night in this sale. There are also $45 rates on a couple of Mercure hotels due to open soon, in Hanoi and Hue.
Vietnam hotel market is definitely heating up and Accor has another ten projects in the pipeline there, with tourism booming — so this kind of sale might have the lowest prices you see in a while. You need to book through the Vietnam Super Sale website to get these prices and remember, by the end of today it'll all be over.
Hotel Technology / Accor Hotels / Paris Hotels / Geek Hotels / → All Tags
Accor Unveils Futuristic, Gadget-Heavy Hotel Room in Paris
Hotel technology doesn't get much better than a hotel room that you can open using your cell phone, does it? Well, it sure turns us on and it's already a reality at the Pullman Paris Bercy, an Accor hotel that serves as a home-base for testing rooms from the chain's Innovation and Design unit.
You can actually book the test rooms or you might just be lucky to end up in one. As well as cell phone key technology (so far it only works from Samsung phones), there is a high tech shower with glass that turns from clear to opaque at the flick of a switch as well as having different lighting options while you're washing.
As you'd expect, all the gadgets are connected to a single remote control, which means you can fiddle with the bedroom and shower lights, lightproof blinds, TV and video projector without moving more than a couple of fingers.
The Pullman Bercy is aimed at business travelers but curious hotel tech observers are no doubt dropping by as well. Rates for a double start from around €170 ($225).
[Photo: kevin2102]
Hotel Deals / Accor Hotels / Novotel Hotels / Mercure Hotels / Ibis Hotels / All Seasons Hotels / Asia Hotels / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Accor Tempting Us With Three-Day Sale in Oz, Kiwiland and Asia
Accor Hotels in the Asia Pacific are getting ready for a three-day sale--they say there'll be a million rooms in 250 hotels up for grabs at rates discounted by more than 75%. The sale runs from February 24 to 26 and is for stays between April and July.
This region includes Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and includes a bunch of hotel chains that are all branded to Accor: Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and All Seasons are among them.
Right now at the super sale website all you can see is a tantalizing "Coming soon", but we'll be there early on February 24. We're after an Adelaide hotel room in May and we'll let you know what kind of bargain we snag.
[Photo: Wikimedia]
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