Couldn't believe my luck when I got a 'complimentary' luxury room Sofitel Club in Sofitel Brisbane for a Saturday night!....booked earlier the same week. I'd read the sales conditions and re read to see if it was definitely a comp room, press the confirm key to finalise the booking & kept the pdf confirmation as stipulated. I waited for an email confirmation from Accor Advantage Plus and am still waiting! 2 days before checkin, i phoned Sofitel for confirmation and advised I will probably check in early at 11am-ish. All went accordingly to plan and the Sofitel staff was most courteous.
Had a wonderful day exploring Brisbane, and thoroughly enjoyed the club lounge access...loved the top floor room with beautiful views of Mt Cootha and the evening drinks and canapes.
My only gripe is the $140 upgrade on checkout. Apparently I had chosen the upgrade on the booking site WITHOUT CHOOSING THE OPTION. Did anyone have this experience? All that came up on the site is "book your complimentary room OR upgrade for a small fee to a higher room category". I paid Sofitel and was advised I wasn't the only one caught out on this one..."nothing to do with Sofitel, talk to AAP".
I phoned Accor about the online booking glitch and like a broken record the callcentre guy repeatedly said I booked with an upgrade and got the lounge access, hot breakfast, drinkies blah blah....typically no satisfactory response....
On careful scrutiny, the pdf did have Rate 140AUD, however it was ambigeous as I read it as roomrate @ $140 (cheap for AAP member? my bad I didn't call AAp to check..) BTW this did not come up as I was booking -only after finalising. I did not re-sign with AAP so cannot access the websit just to check again. Can anyone give it a go?
I've used AAP in the past and have not had a problem. I believe they've change the online booking system & it is not so user friendly!!

Sorry but I disagree. When they con you into the deal for the free night, then it is about the free night. We were assured that you can book your free night in any major city and many rural centres around Australia. We have spent 3 months travelling australia and the whole time were unable to access our Free night accomodation. Now were home and have again been trying to book our free night only to find that they have none available. (funny when you go to the hotel site and find they have many discounted rooms available) I find this whole thing to be a rip off. DO NOT SIGN UP TO THIS unless your happy just getting discounted meals..

I tried to book a room today on Advantage side but I just tought to look at Accor.com and BINGO that same room on Accor web side was cheaper than one on advantage web....are we really paying $295 for advantage?

I been Accor card member since last 4 year.Before my membership expiry this year, i plan to use it and make online booking to Novotel Singapore. Guess what?? All fully book. But when I make direct call to Novotel, room still available but not for Accor member. My yearly entitlement of 1 night been forfeited due to Hotel fully book and another 1 night also forfeited as renew after the expiry date . The sales personal not doing their job well to let member/customer know aware that the free stay will be forfeited if you are late renew of the membership card. Pls do think twice before joining as member. Ask them to explain clearly on the prodcuts before you join. GOOD LUck to those newly joined.

I've been a member for 11 years now and in spite of the membership fee increasing steadily from sub $200 to about $300 this year, I have no major qualms that I have not been responsible for myself (a couple of years I have been too busy to use it properly.)

The simple fact is that it's not a secret society allowing you to show your card and be escorted to your penthouse suite, it's a rewards club with a range of benefits that you have to actively PLAN to use, not react when the end of the renewal month comes around again (and believe me I know about that too!)

On a few occasions I have had to book a complimentary night at the last minute and settle for a property that I would not otherwise stay at but still, is it that much of an imposition?

Points of advice:
1/ Plan your free night MONTHS in advance so that you get the few allocated rooms they make available in the highly popular and therefore low vacancy sites instead of somebody else (let's face it frequent flyer programs are no different in this)
2/ Watch out for the special offers in the publications as these will help you save additional money if you are travelling for specific reasons.
3/ Treat yourself to the occasional weekend or even night away close to home; it's great for your relationships (especially once the rug rats come along) and gives you an extra chance to get some more value out of it by booking a decent spa room in a nice location.
4/ Take advantage of the dining discounts most of all. Just make sure you use it at least a half a dozen times on top of your free night to break even or better.

In short, it's up to you to make the most of it. Accor know that a significant number of people will sit on their bums and not use it actively so the financial proposition for them is acceptable. Meanwhile from those of us who actually use the program for what it really offers, thank you for subsidising me.

Accor advantage is NO advantage!! Either system is down or free nights almost impossible to get, rude unhelpful customer service, we are very disappoineted. It's a real con, savings are very minimal for alot of hassle and cost of room is generally almost the same as the membership card and they charge extra booking fee if trying to make a reservation by phone... enough said. Persevered as a member for a few years but have learnt my lesson and will not renew.

I was first a member in 1999 and was a repeat customer for many years but since 2009 and 2010, trying to get a free night in Sydney is like winning the lottery. I don't want to plan one night 6 months in advance..... I have been trying to navigate through the absolutely pathetic web site they offer, it is ridiculous. I have rang to get some support,web services tell me its a membership services issue,he says ring them but doesn't tell me they are closed for the day..... on the web page I fill in the blanks,tell it i want Australia,sydney and date of booking,next page asks me do i want sydney Aus or nova scotia?????? then directs me to a booking page for hotels at charge not free....
Go Wotif,Hotels,LastMinute not this shonk.....

Thought I was doing something wrong but apparently its not me, it's Accor Advantage Plus. I have tried a number of hotels in Sydney and cannot get in to use my 'free' night. I have kids and was told it was so easy to find rooms through Accor Advantage Plus with enough space for kids. Guess what, every room is for 2 adults, no kids. What a rip off. I have been nothing but frustrated trying to use the site to find hotels. Complete root!! DO NOT SIGN UP FOR ACCOR ADVANTAGE PLUS. Use wotif.com - never had a problem with it.

Glad to hear others have had trouble. Thought I was going mad.

have been able to book into the better hotels, but overall the customer service experience with accor is horrible...we have spent tens of thousands of dollars at the ir hotels on weddings and accomodation over the last 5 years and still get treated like ****....

I cant speak highly enough of the benefits of the card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter
Melbourne, Australia