See my pitchside seat for Paris Saint Germain vs Arsenal with Accor – and you can do the same

We know that HfP readers like to attend ‘experiences’ events in the UK with their airline and hotel points, and we cover the best ones we come across.

What we spend less time looking at are the experiences you can attend in Europe. Marriott, for example, has tickets for concerts at the Uber Arena in Berlin which are cheaper than those it offers at The O2 in London – the saving can cover your hotel stay!

Accor has a long standing partnership with Paris Saint Germain football club, and invited me over to Parc des Princes for the Arsenal game earlier this month to take a look. HfP paid for all of its costs, including travel and accommodation.

You can find details of all of Accor’s experiences redemptions, at PSG and globally, on this website.

For Londoners, getting to a Paris Saint Germain game is virtually as easy as getting to (say) a Manchester United game booked with Marriott Bonvoy points.

The stadium is very close to a metro station with a direct train to the centre (it is near Bois de Boulogne) and, as I found, you can get a very pleasant one night break out of it.

Pitchside by ALL

This is, potentially, the craziest football points redemption you can do. Accor’s top offering at PSG is this row of six pitchside seats:

Looks normal? No. This is your view:

It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced at a football match. You are so close that a dedicated security guard takes one of the seats to stop you running onto the pitch! All of the media interviews on the pitch take place in front of you (David Ginola pictured below) and you’re close to the technical areas.

Unsurprisingly, this is NOT the best place to watch the match. You don’t get much of a view of what is happening at the other end of the pitch and you wouldn’t want to see every game from this position. To do it once, though, was amazing.

(There is a video screen in front of the seats, as you can see above. However, this takes the TV feed – not the in-ground feed – so there is three second delay!)

I should note that PSG is a ‘tough’ ground. You have a huge number of flares smuggled in and there is a lot of smoke at times. The chanting from the ‘ultras’ is intense. There were a lot of children at the game but the overall experience is less family friendly than a day out at the Emirates Stadium.

The ALL.com Lounge

A more mainstream (and cheaper) redemption option is to use ALL points to redeem for Accor’s seat block. This is in the area behind where I was sat and – intriguingly – includes TV screens built into the seats. The views are good.

You enter the stadium via a dedicated VIP entrance and head up to Accor’s VIP lounge. There is a decent selection of food and drink, including champagne:

…. and a pleasant outdoor terrace:

…. which allows you to watch the teams arrive:

Here is a PR shot of the interior:

This is an attractive redemption package, I think, combining fast track VIP entry plus food and drink before, during and after the match along with excellent seats.

The ALL.com Bar Parc des Princes

This is another redemption option. It sounds a little odd on paper and I didn’t go in during the match, only pre-game.

PSG has a bar which operates through the entire match. It is glass walled and you get views of the pitch:

Your ticket allows you to watch the entire game from the bar – in fact, you don’t have a seat in the ground. Apparently the sound of the crowd is piped in to the lounge so you get the full ground atmosphere without actually being outside!

Food and drink is provided, both before, during and after the game. There is also a pre- and post-match DJ set.

Here’s a PR shot of the bar itself:

Finally …. La Suite Novotel by ALL.com

Yes, it’s a bit mad. Accor has built a full Novotel-branded hotel room in the stadium.

This is NOT a stunt. Well, obviously it is, but it IS a functioning hotel room:

It has a standard hotel bathroom (a huge one, as it is accessible):

You sleep in it overnight. You get breakfast delivered.

More importantly, it has got an amazing terrace:

…. with this view of the ground:

An ALL member from Saudi Arabia had bid for it for the PSG v Arsenal game and had flown over just for the experience.

You can find out more about La Suite Novotel on the Accor website here.

Conclusion

If you enjoy your football, Accor Live Limitless has some exceptional redemption options at Paris Saint Germain.

With the current season drawing to a close, there isn’t anything available to book at the moment. However, once the first of the new season packages are available we will run a reminder.

PSG experiences – and indeed all of ALL’s other experiences redemptions – can be booked via this special website.

Thanks to Stuart and the ALL team for inviting me over.