Le Club Accor

Hanoi IG

Level 2 Member
More an excess of exuberance than a question. My wife and I do most of our traveling overseas. We lived in Hanoi for two years and had an apartment in Sofitel Plaza. I was able to talk my way into loyalty points which got us aligned with Accor.

We returned pretty much every year to Hanoi and found we got huge upgrades, like pay for cheapest room and get the big suite. We began using the vouchers (2000 points=40 euro) at other Sofitels and found that we could get referrals from our GM and we would be treated like VIPs at Sofitels in many countries.

I have a Hiltonhhonors card because we do like Hampton Inn when on the road in the US and now I am booking some rooms at the Conrad in Tokyo and, when there is no Sofitel, I would consider Hilton brand in other places.

In the US, the only Sofitels are in NY, Philly, Chicago, DC and LA. We are frequent guests at all except LA and our connections are worth so much more than any points on a credit card. We just checked into the Sofitel New York for a very low prepaid rate and were upgraded automatically. But wait!! There's more! One of the front desk people noticed we were there and put us in the biggest suite I have ever seen! It has 2 bathrooms, 3 TVs, an office with a printer and windows on two sides.

No, I would be unlikely to actually book this suite, but it is worth more to my wife and me than a free room or two in a cookie cutter Hilton, Marriott, etc.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Spend a lot of time cultivating the brand
Exactly. See the OP, where he talks about having LIVED IN the Hanoi Sofitel for quite some time.

If one is a business traveler, though, or likes long stays in vacation areas, that could be duplicated by living in the hotel of your choice in that area, and going back, year after year.

Hanoi, I just thought I would point out that, while there are limited Sofitels in the US, there are Accor hotels of other ranks, and some have very nice rooms/suites, as well. We stayed at the Novotel near the Milan Airport, a couple of years ago, and the upgraded room (not a suite) was quite nice.
 
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