Hotel Review: Shangri La London

The Shangri La London is located within the London Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe. It's occupies levels 35 through to 52 and offers 360 degree views over the city of London. The hotel has a range of rooms from their superior shard room through to the Shangri La suite. The hotel has a restaurant and lounge on level 35, a sky high bar on level 52 as well as a street side bar on the ground level. We decided to stay here after our UK cruise on Oceania Cruises Marina, you can read more about that trip here. We booked this hotel direct with Shangri La which meant we would earn points on our stay through their golden circle program which can be transferred to Virgin Australia's Velocity program.

The Room

We were excited to see our room as we had booked one of the Premier City View Rooms which have views of The Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the cities skyscrapers. Our view from level 36 was definitely impressive, the room was spacious with a king bed featuring Shangri La's signature bedding, lounge suite, writing desk situated next to the floor to ceiling windows and a spacious marble bathroom with seperate shower and bathtub and a heated toilet seat/bidet. The bathroom also has a mirror with a built in tv allowing you to catch up on the news while you get ready in the morning, as well as featuring Loccitane toiletries. There is also a fully stocked mini bar, Nespresso coffee machine and a flat screen tv in the room.

Customer Service

We found the customer service at reception excellent however the service in the hotels bar Gong on level 52 was slow with the average wait time around 20 minutes for your drink order to be taken and then another 30 minute wait to receive your drink, this occurred two nights in a row so its a long wait if our just after a nightcap before bed. Similarly at breakfast time in their restaurant Ting on level 35 it took around 20 minutes after we'd been seated with menus before anyone returned to take our order. This is something they could look to improve as it is not as good as the excellent service we have received at other Shangri La hotels.

Restaurants & Bars

As we had a very busy schedule we only had time to have breakfast in the hotels restaurant Ting on level 35 and although as mentioned above the breakfast service was slow we found the food and coffee excellent. It's worth mentioning that the restaurant has an amazing view so even if your not staying in the hotel the restaurant is worth a visit for breakfast, lunch or dinner just for the view. As mentioned above we had cocktails both nights of our stay in Gong the hotels bar on level 52 where the service was very slow and we found the background music too loud to hold a conversation which is disappointing in a cocktail bar, the view is excellent but unless you book a £150 champagne experience through open table in advance don't expect to get a seat anywhere near a window. Our personal opinion is that you're probably better to have drinks down at Ting lounge on level 35 where you can grab a cocktail with similar views where you can also hold a conversation.

Hotel Facilities

The hotel has a fitness centre and large indoor heated infinity swimming pool both located on level 52 with amazing views over the city. There is also an in room day spa service if you're after a spa treatment as there is no day spa located inside the hotel.

Summary

The Shangri La London has the highest view in London both day and night so if its a view your after then this is the place to stay, it's a shame that the service does not meet expectation especially in a property of this type and we hope that this is something they can improve upon in future. We enjoyed the view from the Shangri La London and would recommend it to anyone looking for a hotel with a view in London however with the below average service experienced we would personally give it a miss next time were in London.

Want More Information?

For more information about the Shangri La Paris you can visit their website https://www.shangri-la.com/london/shangrila/

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About The Author

Rob has been passionate about cruise ship holidays and exploring the world since the first cruise he went on when he was only seven years old. Since then Rob who is a Photographer and his partner Mike of 18 years have travelled the world on over 25 cruises with over 10 different cruise lines visiting every continent across the globe as well as many remote tropical islands along the way. In addition to cruise holidays they enjoy relaxing at beach side holiday resorts and first/business class air travel as well as transcontinental rail journeys. Between them both Robert and Michael have worked out the best way to maximise frequent flyer reward points allowing them to travel first/business class at economy class prices or in some cases travelling first/business class for free.