WillTravel

I see that the previous Mercure Chateau Landon and the previous Ibis Place de Republique have become All Seasons hotels. From what I can tell, these are supposed to be economy, nonstandard hotels in this brand.

Has anyone stayed in an All Seasons hotel? What are the precise differences between it and other Accor brands?

kenderina

See it for yourself :
http://www.all-seasons-hotels.com/gb/home/index.shtml

I think the difference is that they work on an "everything included" basis.

WillTravel

Thanks, Kendarina. It looks like it could be a very good option for families, based on the deals they are offering. Particularly the Republique location. And they have locations elsewhere in France too.

Christina

From what I've read, this is just a marketing/branding concept. All Seasons is apparently a hotel brand that has existed for some time in New Zealand and Australia. The "all inclusive" isn't really much of anything, I don't think (it's not like all-inclusive hotels that have meals), it's just a coffee/tea maker and wifi or something.

The branding position is mid-level and supposedly more "personal" than the Mercure (eg, the boutique concept) and the all seasons name itself, I believe, reflects their claim to be "eco friendly." Accor's marketing description of all their brands lists Mercure as an all-purpose midlevel hotel, Ibis as budget, and All Seasons as "economy" (above budget) and personalized (or "non standardized&quot, and only in city centers and key locations (right now).

Christina

oh, the All Seasons hotels also are not huge like some of the Ibis and Mercure, more like 50-100 rooms.

I imagine Accor bought out the All Seasons group.

WillTravel

There also seems to be the focus on "family-friendly". It seems that at these hotels you can get two connecting rooms, booked as one family suite, with breakfast and wi-fi included, plus a few other goodies. I checked random dates for the Evry Cathedrale location, and that was 120 Euros a night for all the above.

kerouac

Accor also recently stripped the Sofitel name off a lot of its hotels and has renamed them Pullman.

The Sofitel name is now reserved for only their very top of the line hotels, with Pullman coming next, followed by Novotel and Mercure.

WillTravel

But a Novotel is not necessarily nicer than a Mercure, and both of these can vary quite a bit in "niceness", or at least that's the impression I get?

I had noticed some Sofitel hotels becoming Pullman, but didn't know the reason behind it, so that is good to know.

BTilke

It's not quite like that, Kerouac. The Vienna Sofitel is still a Sofitel even though it's not anywhere near the top of the Sofitel heap.
And the Mercure Hotel in Windsor is much nicer than most Novotels (and I would put it above the Vienna Sofitel).
Sofitels are (or at least should be) the top Accor brand.
The difference between Novotel and Mercure is more of style than quality. Novotels generally follow a similar pattern of decor and amenities while Mercures have a lot more variety in quality, decor, amenities, etc. There are Mercures that are squarely 2-star and others that are high level 4-stars. Novotel (and its less expensive sibling, Ibis) is much more uniform.

kerouac

My own understanding of Novotels is that they are ALL modern hotels, hence the 'novo' in the name. Some Mercure hotels are nicer than Novotels, especially some of the grand old ones. There are some grand old Ibis hotels, too (I am thinking of ones in Blois and La Rochelle), while most of them are prefab crap.

I think that some of the Sofitels are still awaiting their rebranding to Pullman.

Christina

I think a lot of French chain hotels are modern on the inside, if that's what you mean -- they buy and refurbish, and usually the midlevel or below get modern furnishings. And well most Novotels are quasi-new buildings, I do know of one that is actually a chateau -- the Novotel Chateau de Maffliers near Chantilly. It's a 3* hotel and has acres of gardens around it. Go check it out, you cn tell from the photo it is a real old chateau, quite old. I don't know if there are other Novotels like that, I just ran across that one when looking for a hotel near Chantilly. I guess it isn't grand enough to be a Sofitel (it is only a 3* property).

For the Mercures, I think they often buy up older 2 or 3* small hotels in cities and refurbish them, so they are not new buildings. Maybe the inside is, again, I'm not sure.

Underhill

Not all the Novotels are modern--some were built quite a few years ago and could now use some updating. One good thing about that brand is that the rooms are usually good sized; some have a queen bed plus a day bed, good for families.

kerouac

Well, "modern" is still the term used for things built in the 1970's although you can't call them "recent". Of course, plenty of them could do with a major renovation or, better yet, a demolition.

Christina, I can think of an old Novotel as well -- in Dalat, Vietnam, the Novotel is in the old governor's palace.

kenderina

I think we call "modern" everything built after WWII or Civil War here in Spain
I've heard of buildings being called "modern" just because they have a lift ! It is not a reliable concept LOL