We Arrived at the Shangri La at the end of March for a two day stop over before flying onto Borneo for two weeks. This is a very good hotel with a lot of nice touches. On arrival we were greeted by friendly staff dressed in traditional costumes and led into a cool (compared to outside), large marble lobby. The staff made us feel very welcome and offered us an upgrade to their Horizon Club option, at 100SD per night extra. For this you get to have compilmentary breakfast on the 24th floor with a nice view over city to the south west instead of the usual restaurant at the bottom of the hotel, a room upgrade and compilmentary beverages all day. Also on the 24th floor there is a business centre including internet which the upgrade gave us free access to and also an area where canapes and cocktails are served between 6pm and 8pm. All free to Horizon Club patrons. An option I absolutely recommend. The cocktails served were very nice, the wines exceptional and the canapes simply delicious.
The rest of the hotel facilities were excellent. Really nice pool area and fitness centre and if you walk round the pool area and look close enough there is a water fall/stream they've created which you can walk up. The room was really nice and there was more than enough space for the two of us. Everything was clean and well kept.
The location, although out of the way was good (in my opinion) as its on a quiet tree lined road a hundred yards or so from the busy Orchard Road. We used the bus tours a lot (two days for the price of one, bargain!) and the yellow route bus stop is at the end of Orange Grove Road. And if you don't use the buses, there are more taxis than you can shake a big stick at and they are very cheap.
Here is the "But". On arrival we explained to the reception staff that as we would be leaving at 6am on our day of departure we would be unable to take of advantage of the compilmentary breakfast which is served from 6am onwards so we initially declined the offer of the Horizon Club upgrade. After consultation with the manager we were offered free room service to compensate. On the day of departure, a beautifully laid and served breakfast was delivered to the room at 5:15 (ish), however on examining the bill when we left, we were charged for the breakfast (my own fault for not checking the bill close enough, Doh!). Anyway, after a phone call from the airport and initial denials that a deal had been made over the breakfast, and then after having a conversation with the Reception manger of the Shangri La Rasa Ria near Kota Kinanbalu (another fantastic Shangri La hotel) two weeks later who was very helpful, we were refunded for the room service. I put this down to a lack of communication and details lost in translation. This will not stop us from staying here again though.
Overall, I heartily recommend this hotel and was very impressed by the services, staff and high quality standards they have set for themselves. We will be going back (and checking the bill closer next time)!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
absolutely!
I recommend this hotel for:
A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Older travelers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Pet owners, Families with young children
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Other