A belated review, but it is never too late to share the impression of such a wonderful place as the Shangri-La hotel.

June 2018

Seen                

Felt                  

Heard                                                                         

Smelled                                

Tasted               

Shangri-La is a huge chain of hotels mostly distributed in Asia. In Singapore there are several.

It happened so that with the rest of our company we ended into different hotels of the chain, at quite a distance from each other. I decided to try to get together in one and the same place.

I called the Help Desk of booking.com while traveling to the hotel in the taxi with a request to redirect our reservation, although we would already owe a penalty for the cancellation on the check-in day. The employee was very polite and instead of rushing to explain that we had no right to ask this, that we would owe penalty, that she was in a different time zone and could not help us, she just asked to give her some time and that she would do her best.

Meanwhile we were already at the front desk at Shangri-La on Orange Grove. It was close to the infamous Orchard Road, saturated with huge shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, a great attraction for tourists. The reception had something like a mobile receptionist who was welcoming the customers and eventually checking them in with a tablet. All receptionists were with mobile headsets with microphones and in full sync. After explaining our situation, we were redirected  to his colleague, where we explained the problem. The lady was very polite and said she would be happy if she could help us. She called his colleagues at the other hotel, they agreed to cooperate, but they preferred to synchronize everything with booking.com. We wer invited to sit in one of the sofas areas, until things were cleared. As we waited, we looked at the lobby, tried various drinks from the bars, looked at the amazing sculptures and decided we didn’t want to move. Meanwhile, we were contacted by booking.com to be told that they had arranged our transfer to the other Shangri-La hotel, Santosa, and we just have to decide whether to activate the transfer without paying any penalties. We thanked them for the effort and opted out. The receptionist was delighted that we were staying and offered an upgrade of the room. We were shifted to the business wing, and we didn’t regret our decision.

It’s unbelievable how a problem can be turned into a pleasant experience. Once again I was convinced  that booking a hotel through the booking.com platform, not only gives you the opportunity to explore and compare a variety of options for stay, to check rating and opinion by other travellers, but also the certainty that your expectations will be met at their best.

And now a little more about the Shangri-La Hotel and the reasons for staying in it.

See ….

…. Original sculptures of slightly flattened children’s figures in the lobby– we were explained by the receptionists that the idea is the statues to be easily seen by the youngest guests of the hotel. Shangri-La are very family orientated and they have special attractions and areas for their youngest customers.

…. Stage in the lobby for live music;

…. Many places, cafes, bistros in the lobby – including one such nooked away, for reading books;

…. The abundance of greenery and flowers, which is typical for  Singapore in general- very beautiful gazebo dedicated to orchids, in the courtyard of the hotel, at the pools.

Feel ….

…. A feeling that you can spend  a whole week in the hotel and find something new in it every day;

…. Polite, adequate, timely service on any issue – even if they cannot find a solution at the moment, they seek for alternatives, closest to the needs and expectations of the client;

…. Economy of experience in action- special attractions and amenities for both families and business guests, amazing but true;

…. Health care for guests- I had read that it is obligatory for Singapore hospitals to provide air ionizers , but I did not know that they use them also in hotels. Saturating the air with negative ions strengthens immunity, relieves breathing, acts favourably on people with asthma, contributes to good tonus, even they have curing effect;

…. The only unpleasant thing was the air conditioning, set at a very low temperature and it was extremely cold in the lobby and restaurants. For some people it may be pleasant because of the hot weather outside;

…. Attention- never leave food, unsupervised on the outdoor tables of the restaurants-danger of thievish squirrels and pigeons! 😊.

Hear ….

…. Enjoy live jazz music in the evenings in the lobby;

…. The sweet babble of the fountains around the pool.

Smell ….

…. Exotic aromas from around the world at breakfast in the restaurant;

…. Smell of freshly prepared omelette, pancakes, dim sum, rice with any additives, croissants, bread rolls and much more;

…. Maracuja, mango, pineapple, melon, guava natural aroma in the freshly squeezed juices at breakfast.  

Taste ….

…. Traditional breakfast from all over the world in the family wing restaurant, each and every ones more and more interesting and delicious;

…. The bar on the ground floor starred a world-renowned cocktails master – Jad Ballout. We enjoyed the exotic notes from  Middle East in his amazing creations;

…. I would recommend visiting the hotel a la carte restaurants, especially the Chinese Shang Palace with the Michelin star.

I definitely enjoyed staying at Shangri-La, and not just me-but the whole family!

How to book your stay in Shangri-La?

If you would like to book accommodation in Shangri-La, Singapore, you can look directly at the options here and reserve. For your convenience, I added a booking.com box, which refers directly to their site. I guarantee you will use all genius discounts and privileges. Just enter the dates, then press the Search button and voila.  You can rely on booking.com to ensure that your rights as a client are equally respected throughout the world to make your vacation a peaceful and enjoyable holiday.

Booking.com

How to get to Shangri-La hotel and Singapore?

Check-up for promotions of Qatar Airways with the QR code below. This is how we booked our tickets at very affordable prices.

Don’t worry how you get to the Shangri-La hotel on Orange Grove, in Singapore. Just use the Google map here by clicking the red pin with which I noted its location and then selecting Directions:

A: 22 Orange Grove Road 258350 Singapore

T: (65) 6737 3644

E: sls@shangri-la.com

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If you are interested in the theory of The Experience Economy by Gilmore and Pine, read my articles on it and the places that apply its principles in practice in the respective menu.